Creatine ??

[Darkstranger]

Have you noticed any negative effects from it? I've heard some say that it causes water retention, leading to a softer/less defined look? How is your endurance on it?

No negative effects for me. I don't box any more and I don't lift weights for physique. I'm into Powerlifting, so Creatine is perfect for my goals. It does make you retain water but it isn't noticable unless you're super lean. The dilemma for a boxer would be making weight, the water retention obviously makes your weight go up slightly.

[Sugarj]

Depends on the creatine. I tried tricreatine malate and I think it doesnt retain water. Here are reasons why. When I go off it I dont drop in weight. And I just dont look bloated. But I might be tripping out...

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Guys who are against creatine, I wonder why. Lets say someone suppliments with it for a while, where is the harm? It helps you recover quicker and work more. In the time you were using it, you got stronger. That strength doesnt go away when you stop using it. You already built that muscle up. It's not like creatine is an energy drink.

Sure you might not have the same amount of energy, but your muscle doesnt suddenly disappear because you stopped using it.

There is no harm in taking it that we yet know of barring some kidney, water retention issues. Long time usage may yet show up some interesting results over the decades, but thats not for me or anyone else to say right now. Its not illegal, I just think that for every advantage there is a disadvantage.

As for what I've highlighted in bold, I have seen people's physiques depreciate quite noticeably after they stopped taking creatine over the period of perhaps a month. I've seen folks have to drop their weights quite a few kilos also. As I've said in previous posts, i have seen guys become so disheartened that they have quit their training because they couldn't match their performance when taking creatine.....and the cost made it a real issue.

I train alongside folks who take allsorts of dubious suppliments/enhancers and am not judgemental at all. Each unto his own but I'm not a fan of creatine.

No hard feelings.

[Trick]

As I don't eat much red meat or fish I take about 2-3g a day. No weight gain, and I suppose it helps a little- though most people take 2-3x more. I just keep it at a low dose to make sure I don't put on any weight. As for cost- one $30 container lasts me like 5-6 months.

[colly10]

2 athletes both preparing for a 10K run. One has taken creatine for the last three months, the other just natural food. Both can run it in identical speeds at present.

Now, lock both in a house with only natural food present for one month. Who wins the race? Most likely the one who didn't take creatine in the lead up.

Creatine would be unlikely to make much of a difference in performance over 10k anyway. It's useful for short burst high intensity activity, thats why bodybuilders use it, it's not really useful for distance running.

Correct diet for your goals is far more important, i've taken Creatine for a while (mono, cee, kre-alkalyn) and changing my diet for stength gains was far more effective for me than any supplement ever was

You have spoke about the manufacturing process making it unnatural, would you feel the same about taking Whey or casein? What about multivitamin tabs, thats hardly natural either or glucosimine for your joints. These are all things that I can just change my diet to get more of if I want. It makes no difference how they extract it from food, I just don't fancy eating loads of chicken fillets (or similar)

Have you noticed any negative effects from it? I've heard some say that it causes water retention, leading to a softer/less defined look? How is your endurance on it?

It depends on the type and how much of it you take, I only take it before training and I don't use mono any more and I don't get bloat

i have seen guys become so disheartened that they have quit their training because they couldn't match their performance when taking creatine.....and the cost made it a real issue.

Thats probably mainly a placebo effect, i've never notice much difference in my training without it. The only supplement i've ever noticed a real difference in performance with was NO, I stopped taking that though cause it was hard on the stomach so I used to through up if I pushed myself hard on it. I felt on edge when I took it as well, just didn't like it

[Sugarj]

Creatine would be unlikely to make much of a difference in performance over 10k anyway. It's useful for short burst high intensity activity, thats why bodybuilders use it, it's not really useful for distance running.

Correct diet for your goals is far more important, i've taken Creatine for a while (mono, cee, kre-alkalyn) and changing my diet for stength gains was far more effective for me than any supplement ever was

You have spoke about the manufacturing process making it unnatural, would you feel the same about taking Whey or casein? What about multivitamin tabs, thats hardly natural either or glucosimine for your joints. These are all things that I can just change my diet to get more of if I want. It makes no difference how they extract it from food, I just don't fancy eating loads of chicken fillets (or similar)



It depends on the type and how much of it you take, I only take it before training and I don't use mono any more and I don't get bloat



Thats probably mainly a placebo effect, i've never notice much difference in my training without it. The only supplement i've ever noticed a real difference in performance with was NO, I stopped taking that though cause it was hard on the stomach so I used to through up if I pushed myself hard on it. I felt on edge when I took it as well, just didn't like it

Thats fair enough, I do know runners and boxers who take creatine and swear by it. I have never taken it myself, so I can only comment on the performance of gym colleagues.............whose performance has been noticeably improved after taking it.

As for the placebo effect, who knows?

As for natural products I must admit I dont take protein shakes. Iron tablets, vitamins C,B and E are my only non diet suppliment. But they aren't performance enhancers.

Perhaps I'll give creatine a go on a trial basis to see if my performance improves drastically. I keep a training diary, if my results improve more than usual we have our answer, likewise if I notice no improvement. I dont like to rely on a suppliment for improved performance.

Perhaps I'm being a little harsh on creatine users, its just not my cup of tea.

[check hook]

Would you say it would help with boxing training .My goals are to increas lower limb strength , fitness and stamina and also roadwork times for boxing .I don't want to gain size but increase strength and also for bagwork and sparring

not a fan of creatine, even though i have no basis for that as iv'e never used it....lol!

I like to use:

HORLEYS Ripped Factors (Whey isolate). It's a product from New Zealand, designed to help you retain muscle + recover etc and enhance growth, but also to lose body fat. Seems that it would suit your needs. It's top quality.

[colly10]

Perhaps I'll give creatine a go on a trial basis to see if my performance improves drastically. I keep a training diary, if my results improve more than usual we have our answer, likewise if I notice no improvement. I dont like to rely on a suppliment for improved performance.

Give it a go and let us know how it goes for you. You should notice an improvement for short burst high intensity excercise because the main benefit of creatine is that it helps recycle ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which is your muscles energy of choice for high intensity bursts. The body has very little ATP supply so recycling it helps.

At the same time, saying that you feel like your lacking something without it is a bit much in my mind unless your mentally dependent on it. If you feel like your missing something it can be hard to motive yourself to work as hard as you would if you believed it was the creatine rather than your determination that used to do the work

The toughest training I do is my circuit training (all weights), it's torture but i've been doing it for 2 years. I've done it with and without creatine. While I feel that I perform slightly better with creatine I don't feel i'm lacking anything without it.

The gains you make on it either should not really be lost. It allows you to push yourself that slight bit harder and by pushing yourself a little more you gain a bit more strength. That muscle you gained from pushing yourself a bit harder is still there when you stop taking it and that muscle will still be there to give you the extra strength you need to maintain it.

Thats my understanding of it anyway

[Clegg]

Give it a go and let us know how it goes for you. You should notice an improvement for short burst high intensity excercise because the main benefit of creatine is that it helps recycle ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which is your muscles energy of choice for high intensity bursts. The body has very little ATP supply so recycling it helps.

At the same time, saying that you feel like your lacking something without it is a bit much in my mind unless your mentally dependent on it. If you feel like your missing something it can be hard to motive yourself to work as hard as you would if you believed it was the creatine rather than your determination that used to do the work

The toughest training I do is my circuit training (all weights), it's torture but i've been doing it for 2 years. I've done it with and without creatine. While I feel that I perform slightly better with creatine I don't feel i'm lacking anything without it.

The gains you make on it either should not really be lost. It allows you to push yourself that slight bit harder and by pushing yourself a little more you gain a bit more strength. That muscle you gained from pushing yourself a bit harder is still there when you stop taking it and that muscle will still be there to give you the extra strength you need to maintain it.

Thats my understanding of it anyway

Is this from taking mono or one of the other types?

[T.Horton]

great thread lads!

[aciovacco]

No Creatine

Creatine is good for muscle endurance if taken properly, but as soon as you stop taking it you will loose what you have gained. Creatine basically makes your muscle bodies retain water, which will also cause you to gain water weight. It also requires a lengthy loading time to get a full effect. If you want a good supplement that will help you with sparring, endurance and an overall edge check out USP Labs Jack3d. It rocks!

If you have any questions feel free to PM me, or email me directly.