Creatine

comewatmay

Ok basically heres the story. I am a GAA player 20 years old need some advice.Basically im doing weights for the last couple of months but making very small gains.I have been recomended to take some kind of supplement to help me bulk up and have some questions.

Is cratine the best thing to take?
Will it slow me down?
Does it help my weights programme?

any advice greatly appreciated.I was given the following link and told to take this.Anyone know if its good

http://www.pronutrition.ie/offers.php?action=offer&id=17

rubadub

comewatmay wrote: »

Basically im doing weights for the last couple of months but making very small gains.

Small gains in strength? or size?

What program are you following, post up your diet and calorie intake if you know it. WHat exercises do you do, reps sets etc. read up www.exrx.net my gains in strength for the first few months were dramatic, so I am guessing you are possibly just lifting weights, without much research as to what is best.

Creatine won't work magic, get the diet and routine in check before worrying about that- good diet and routine will have a LOT more impact than any supplements.

Creatine can make you store water in the muscle/body- this is why some will say it slows you, it can add up to ~7lb in weight depending on your size. It gives you more power to squeeze out extra reps in weight training so can lead to more gains in strength, also will give you more power for sprinting etc on the pitch, good for short bursts of energy, not really endurance. i.e. would suit a sprinter more than a marathon runner.

Saabdub

Best bulking agent is protein and carbs:D But creatine can be useful in relation to muscle recovery after exercise. It supplies ATP which is the energy source muscles use to do work. If you take it with simple carbs+protein after weight training it is more quickly absorbed into the muscles. As far as bulking, don't forget that glycogen (derived from carbs)is stored in your muscles with water. If you take simple carbs after weight training and stay hydrated the carbs will be absorbed as glycogen into your muscles making them fuller over time and speeding recovery.

Saabdub

comewatmay

rubadub wrote: »

Small gains in strength? or size?

What program are you following, post up your diet and calorie intake if you know it. WHat exercises do you do, reps sets etc.

Im doing two nights a week.Dont know my calorie intake but i eat fairly healthy lots of fruit everyday etc

My programme is something like this.

Day 1

Bench 70kg x3 x8
Chins x3 x8
Arnold press 18kg x3 x8
Single arm row 20kg x3 x8
4 way shoulder 6kg each hand x3
core work

Day 2

Squats 80kg x3 x89
EZ bar 15kg(incl bar) 15kg x3 x21
shoulder press 18kg x3 x8
dips x3 x8
core work

added to this is two outdoor training sessions a week, ao cant really do any more gym sessions

EileenG

Creatine is good stuff. There is research which shows it can help increase strength and endurance, increase bone density, reduce the effects of sleep deprivation, improve heat adaption, etc. There are a few people who find they are non-responders to it, and it causes a little water retention in some people. But if you are happy with your diet and workouts, then creatine is the next logical step.

comewatmay

EileenG wrote: »

Creatine is good stuff. There is research which shows it can help increase strength and endurance, increase bone density, reduce the effects of sleep deprivation, improve heat adaption, etc. There are a few people who find they are non-responders to it, and it causes a little water retention in some people. But if you are happy with your diet and workouts, then creatine is the next logical step.

would you recomend this

http://www.pronutrition.ie/offers.php?action=offer&id=17

EileenG

I'd be more inclined to buy the cheap creatine monohydrate and see how you get on with it. Take it in your Pre or Post workout shake for maximum effect. There are a lot of recovery mixes which are mostly basic creatine and some form of sugar.

Saabdub

You can get Creatine in Natures Way/Holland and Barrett for a fraction of that as it's often on sale. If you want a simple carb to take with it buy gluocose in the supermarket. I just use ordinary sugar and jam tarts:D

Saabdub

kaner97

stay away from the holland and barret sh1t, better paying the extra few quid for a decent product, make sure its a creapure, reflex do one ye can get over on www.fitnessirleand.ie

Hanley

comewatmay wrote: »

would you recomend this

http://www.pronutrition.ie/offers.php?action=offer&id=17

Yup, great combo.

EileenG wrote: »

I'd be more inclined to buy the cheap creatine monohydrate and see how you get on with it. Take it in your Pre or Post workout shake for maximum effect. There are a lot of recovery mixes which are mostly basic creatine and some form of sugar.

I don't think buying cheap creatine to see how you like it is a great idea. You're not getting a true representation of the quality and effects a good (ie creapure) brand will have. It's probably more likely to cause stomach upsets too.

At €25 for the nutritionX creatine it's not THAT steep. Especially since it'll last for the best part of forever...

Froot

Holland and Barrett wouldn't really catch my interest beyond the odd tub of vitamin C tablets or the like. Avoid Tony Quinn too, *shudder*.

Reflex and Pro X are both good. The more expensive (imo) brands like Maximuscle etc don't really give you much of an edge over the other products.

Better off buying from Fitness Ireland. they are quite cheap, I have noticed 15-20% lower prices than the bodybuilding shop I use the odd time here in Cork.

Your workout isn't really structured that well I have to say.

Instead of doing your upper body in one day you may be better to split it. Optimally a three day a week workout plan is going to benefit you more by giving you relatively more time for recovery and allowing you to spend more time on a smaller number of muscle groups so you can maximise the work being done. Example being:

Day 1: chest, shoulders + triceps
Day 2: back + biceps
Day 3: legs and abs

You can put on mass by eating more too. Creatine works but being honest it's probably better for you to just adjust your diet than take a supplement.

On a side note, eating healthily doesn't automatically mean your eating the right stuff to put on muscle. If you want to gain a lot of muscle then you need more protein/carbs/fats etc, to compensate for what your burning. Have a look at some of the articles and discussion at T-Nation for lots of helpful stuff.

Just take a look at the stickies on this forum and see if you can find any workouts you think would suit you. EXRX will get the phraseology and the methods squared away for you.

Saabdub

I've been using creatine for years, tried all the stuff advertised in the magazines. I can't find any difference with the stuff in Nature's Way. Never had any stomach problems (I do have iron gut though:D) I think your just paying the extra spondulics for the brand name and the sponsorship to Ronnie Coleman or whoever they're using in the advert:D

I'd be interested to see who manufactures the raw product, a factory in China

Saabdub

rubadub

comewatmay wrote: »

Day 1
Bench 70kg x3 x8
Chins x3 x8
Arnold press 18kg x3 x8
Single arm row 20kg x3 x8
4 way shoulder 6kg each hand x3
core work

Day 2
Squats 80kg x3 x89
EZ bar 15kg(incl bar) 15kg x3 x21
shoulder press 18kg x3 x8
dips x3 x8
core work

That is a fair bit to be lifting after only a couple of months. You said you are not making gains? is that gains in strength or size? had you been doing bodyweight training in GAA before? you might have already increased your "normal" strength before using weights, there for you would not expect the gains a total beginner to weights would have (i.e. someone who never did pushups or chins before). I would add deadlifts to your exercises.

Saabdub wrote: »

You can get Creatine in Natures Way/Holland and Barrett for a fraction of that as it's often on sale.

I found them expensive, even on sale. It seemed a good price until I saw it wasn't pure creatine, and when you worked it out, the price per kilo of actual creatine was expensive. Cheapest I found was at www.bulkpowders.co.uk

Saabdub

rubadub wrote: »

Cheapest I found was at www.bulkpowders.co.uk

£12.99 a kg, that's not bad. Thanks for the info:D

Saabdub

kaner97

theres only really 3 places in the world that make creatine, ones in germany (the best), one in america (the second best), and china (worst), holland and barret stuff is made in america, never really got any gains out of it, only until i tried the german creapure stuff did i get any gains for creatine

timetogetfit

Creatine is not a magic pill it does work but only if your training and nutrition are right If your not making gains I would first make sure your eating and training correctly.What is your current plan?

timetogetfit

Dont know my calorie intake but i eat fairly healthy lots of fruit everyday etc

Just because you eat alot of fruit everyday doesnt mean your diet is balanced or healthy.Fruit in itself is healthy but you also need other foods in your diet.Protein is of upmost importance.Beef,fish,eggs,cottage cheese,nuts,lean ham,.You also need other carbohydrate sources aswell as fruit.Porridge,potatoes,yams,wholemeal bread,brown rice,.You also need to include plenty of healthy fat in your diet like flax or udos oil, oily fish like salmon,mackerel and trout.And dont forget the veg.Another important issue is the amount of times you eat.Its important to eat 5 to 6 times a day and include a portion of carbs and protein in each meal

As far as training is concered, if you concentrate on compund lifts like squats ,deadlifts and bench press and lift heavy and train hard you should make excellent progress

comewatmay

Froot wrote: »

Your workout isn't really structured that well I have to say.

Instead of doing your upper body in one day you may be better to split it. Optimally a three day a week workout plan is going to benefit you more by giving you relatively more time for recovery and allowing you to spend more time on a smaller number of muscle groups so you can maximise the work being done. Example being:

Day 1: chest, shoulders + triceps
Day 2: back + biceps
Day 3: legs and abs


On a side note, eating healthily doesn't automatically mean your eating the right stuff to put on muscle. If you want to gain a lot of muscle then you need more protein/carbs/fats etc, to compensate for what your burning. Have a look at some of the articles and discussion at T-Nation for lots of helpful stuff.
.

I cant realy do 3 times a week because i have out door training twice a week which limits the amount of times i can go to the gym.When i say im not making much gains i mean that i am not getting much bigger so thought that creatine would help me to "bulk up" instead of just tone up which the weights seem to be doing.Also when i say i eat healthy i eat healthy but i know for a fact that i dont eat enough.

Does anyone have a sample diet which they think is suitable for what im looking for? i.e.
breakfast- x y z
lunch
etc etc

shels08

comewatmay wrote: »

Does anyone have a sample diet which they think is suitable for what im looking for? i.e.
breakfast- x y z
lunch
etc etc

I'm not gonna go into specifics but basically you need to up your carbs and protein intake as has been said already..A good protein drink can give you a good boost but really you can get all you need if you enough of the right foods...have a look at http://www.bodybuilding.com/, great site with lots of info on nearly every question you could ask, and a good superstore.