Creatine Cycle

Woofer

Can anyone give me some solid advice on creatine cycles? I would like to do a ten week cycle - is this too much?

I have ten weeks of hard training before I move to a new job where I will be travelling and working outdoors in much warmer climates for 6 months. So i really want to get in shape before I go (for the beach too ). Program involves lots of weights and sprints, 4-5 times a week. Ideally, I would like to take creatine for the full 10 weeks (and I will be off it then for 6 months immediately after)... is this too much? I have used creatine before without problems or side effects, and found it very effective (for weight training and rugby) and always took it for 4-6 weeks, then usually anything from 3 months+ off it before using it again. But I have been reading mixed messages on the web regarding the cycles. Some sites advise wildly different durations for taking and 'resting from' creatine. So is 10 weeks on it (followed by 6mths off minimum) too much?

PS - My diet is good, I am relatively experienced/fit, and please dont reply telling me not to bother with creatine for XYZ reasons as I have decided i am going to take it, and already have the tub bought! (EAS Monohydrate)

Thanks lads

tribulus

It's not AAS man, just get it into ya!

I just took a big spoonful (maybe 5-10g) after training and it worked fine.
I don't think there's any set rule really, just find what seems to work and stick with it.

Woofer

Maybe I am being too anal, but it is just that I have heard that if you take creatine for too long your body stops producing its own creatinine (?) because you are feeding it. Thought 10 weeks might be too long a cycle?

tribulus

Like i said, it's not AAS and endogenous test production, it's just creatine!

I've never heard of that tbh and would be quite skeptical of that claim, have you any decent links.

I and several others I know have used it for longer than that without any problems if it's any benefit, there's no need to complicate it.

Woofer

cool thanks. I dont even know what AAS is

Mhmm...weetabix

tribulus wrote: »

Like i said, it's not AAS and endogenous test production, it's just creatine!

I've never heard of that tbh and would be quite skeptical of that claim, have you any decent links.

I and several others I know have used it for longer than that without any problems if it's any benefit, there's no need to complicate it.

Tribulus, he is right, that claim has some truth to it but you need to be taking mass amounts of creatine 20+ grams a day for a long time before negative feedback kicks in.

Wooter, you should be fine, most creatine cycles recommendations I've read and have been told about would say 2 months on 2 weeks (to a month off), thats with the average 5gm daily intake. Youve taken it before without any negative side effects, so you shouldnt have too much to worry about. If you do have some doubts in your mind dont bother with it, ultimately I'd go with how I feel and not take the word of people on internet boards going on anecdotal advice from companies with alot to gain.

Hanley

tribulus wrote: »

It's not AAS man, just get it into ya!
.

I was just gonna say....



Anyways personally my best results from mono have come with 10ish g (a big heaped teaspoon) thrown straight into my postworkout shake. I didn't bother with it on off days. You could have 5g in the morning and 5g with dinner tho if you wanted I suppose.

It's not going to make that big of a difference either way. I haven' used it for my last 2 training cycles and I've been smashing PR after PR.

amazingemmet

I normally take ten gms non training days 5gms in the morn 5 in the eve and on training days 20gms 5 am/pm and 5gms pre and post workout. It gives me the best results that way, but you gotta see what works for you.

Taking creatines does shut down your own antural chain of making it but your own supplies kick back in after a week off

Mhmm...weetabix

amazingemmet wrote: »

I normally take ten gms non training days 5gms in the morn 5 in the eve and on training days 20gms 5 am/pm and 5gms pre and post workout. It gives me the best results that way, but you gotta see what works for you.

Taking creatines does shut down your own antural chain of making it but your own supplies kick back in after a week off

Emmet, the problem is that sometimes the process doesnt kick back in at all. Again though thats in extreme cases

Hanley

Mhmm...weetabix wrote: »

Emmet, the problem is that sometimes the process doesnt kick back in at all. Again though thats in extreme cases

How frequently does that happen? Like out of all the people who supplement with creatine, how many have this problem?

It just seems to be another case of the exception being used to disprove rule.

EDIT: It strikes me as being similar to saying "I don't want to drive a car because I might crash and die".

amazingemmet

Mhmm...weetabix wrote: »

Emmet, the problem is that sometimes the process doesnt kick back in at all. Again though thats in extreme cases

Never seen any case of that mentioned on pubmed. Any references?

thebiggestjim

I take it 12 weeks on the an extended period off, 6gm off days 12gm training days. Im still alive anyway. FYI I started taking it with a fast acting carb (sports drink) apparently aids absorption into the musclus. I found it helped.

Jim

homah_7ft

amazingemmet wrote: »

I normally take ten gms non training days 5gms in the morn 5 in the eve and on training days 20gms 5 am/pm and 5gms pre and post workout. It gives me the best results that way, but you gotta see what works for you.

Taking creatines does shut down your own antural chain of making it but your own supplies kick back in after a week off

amazingemmet wrote: »

Never seen any case of that mentioned on pubmed. Any references?

There is at least one experiement which suggests taking creatine supplements inhibits endogenous creatine synthesis. After a month without supplements creatine excretion was back to baseline.

Vandenberghe K, Goris M, Van Hecke P, et al: Long-term creatine intake is beneficial to muscle performance during resistance training. J Appl Physiol 1997;83(6):2055-2063

amazingemmet

No I've seen where it does supress natural secretion but never seen a case where natural secretion doesn't kick back in once supplementing has be discontinued

homah_7ft

Yeah I was just showing an experiment which demonstrated that and how it came back after a month.

amazingemmet

got ya

awesom-o

I got some a while ago. After 2 days of using it I got a very bad stomach flu - cramped aching muscles and horrible stomach pains. I put this down to the creatine and never touched again.

I was taking 5 grams AM and PM (pre training) mixed with water - I heard mixing with citric acid destroys the creatine. Also, I was drinking a lot of water - so the stomach pain wasn't from not drinking enough water.

Has anybody else experienced the same problems or do I have the stomach of a 5 year old girl?

JayRoc

awesom-o wrote: »

Has anybody else experienced the same problems or do I have the stomach of a 5 year old girl?

Interestingly, I do have the stomach of a 5 year old girl (as Dragan can confirm) and neither mono or cee have never given me any gyp.

Roper

CEE gave me terrible, terrible farts. I could clear a room with that stuff. But aside from that I haven't taken the stuff in 6 months and I'm still a growing boy so I don't think my creatine factory has gone on strike (I have a limited grasp of biology:)) Sounds like scaremongering to me!

Its like this one time, I heard of this guy who watched too much TV and his eyes went square....

pwd

awesom-o wrote: »

I got some a while ago. After 2 days of using it I got a very bad stomach flu - cramped aching muscles and horrible stomach pains. I put this down to the creatine and never touched again.

I was taking 5 grams AM and PM (pre training) mixed with water - I heard mixing with citric acid destroys the creatine. Also, I was drinking a lot of water - so the stomach pain wasn't from not drinking enough water.

Has anybody else experienced the same problems or do I have the stomach of a 5 year old girl?

Creatine can do nasty things to your digestive system if it isn't absorbed properly. For that reason I would greatly prefer to use micronized creatine (ie: smaller grains of powder) and mix it with sugar.

As I mentioned in another thread, I found recently that a using a moderate amount of creatine made me need to urinate in the middle of the night the whole time recently. Which was odd because I've used a similar amount before without that effect. But if a small amount goes through your system without being absorbed it causes this effect. if a larger amount goes through your system it gives you dreadful diarrhea and cramps.

Currently I use 5g in post workout shake, and 5g some mornings with a little protein and glucose.