Creatine for 16 year old

RHunce

ok im starting with the gym not and i really want to bulk up big time for the GAA season and the rugby season, and just for my over all confidence also

ok so why'll obviously creatine is perfectly legal are theyre any side effects?

will i see clear effective results?

and is it in anyway harmful to you?

please give me all your opinions on past experiences and references etc.

which would be the best brand to go for? maximuscle?

cheers

trout

This might be better suited to the Fitness forum. It's more Fitness than Men's Health.

Fitness mods - hope you don't mind

brianthebard

creatine is legal but you are just starting out and therefore don't need to waste your money on it or maximuscle.

DonkeyRhubarb

Creatine. Hmm.
Take protein, and thats only if you work out to actually make it worthwhile.

I worked out for two years flat, bloody hard, 3 - 4 days a week religiously and eventually hit a plateau. I have taken creatine (ethyl ester) for the last 3 weeks. I have noticed definite increases in muscle mass, slight increase in strength, quite a bit in endurance. eg climbing 100 steps 2 at a time and not feeling anything.

Mate, I dont think you should bother with creatine. Its just my personal opinion. Work hard, have a good diet and youll see improvements in strength very quickly. When youve gone as far as you can, then maybe consider creatine again.

podge57

food is the main priority

LightningBolt

RHunce wrote: »

ok im starting with the gym not and i really want to bulk up big time for the GAA season and the rugby season, and just for my over all confidence also

ok so why'll obviously creatine is perfectly legal are theyre any side effects?

will i see clear effective results?

and is it in anyway harmful to you?

please give me all your opinions on past experiences and references etc.

which would be the best brand to go for? maximuscle?

cheers

Creatine at 16?

Eat, eat lots. Eat lots of calories if you want to bulk. Don't waste your money on creatine. Eggs for breakfast, chicken/tuna sandwhich snack, chilli con carne for lunch, egg rolls for another snack, dinner whatever you want. It's not that hard to bulk up. Take the cheaper, more nutritious and more satisfying way. Trust me I know. I use to knock three or four shakes a day into me. Worthless. I learned nothing from it. Experiment with food and you'll be amazed. It takes a bit longer but the results will last longer if you develop a set of habits.

Nate--IRL--

Good Food and lots of it, is all you require. There are no magic beans. Eat hard, Lift hard and Rest hard. They are of equal importance. Creatine will do little or nothing for you at this stage of your training. Get your Diet sorted, get 8 hours sleep, at least, every night, or you will be wasting your time at the gym.

Nate

Hanley

Someone who's only just joined a gym is prioritising creatine....??

And we wonder why it has a bad name.

Here's a list of things more important;

Training (hard)
Food (lots)
Sleep (8 hours)

Do that for a year or two first.

Patto

It annoys me sometimes the uninformed answers you get to questions about things like creatine on this forum.

Creatine is a supplement but it is also what is called an ergogenic aid.

Whey for example is just a complete protein. As a supplement it can be used to achieve a better diet balance and can also be used to get amino acids into your muscles quickly after exercise. There is nothing in whey you cannot get from normal food except perhaps convienence.

Same goes for things like fish oils, multivits and so on. They're gerat, they work and you see the results bit by bit over a long period of time.

ergogentic aids are different. I take creatine, say I bench 110kg, the last 10kg is creatine. If I didn't take creatine I would only bench 100kg.

Caffiene is another example of an effective ergogenic aid. This is also where you reach the grey areas in terms of what is legal and ethical in sport.

I think when you talk about supplements you should make this distinction. Creatine will still work even if your diet is crap.

g'em

Patto wrote: »

Creatine is a supplement but it is also what is called an ergogenic aid.

Water and lifting straps are also ergogenic aids. I sometimes feel that putting fancy terms on them somewhat demonises them unnecessarily.

Patto wrote:

ergogentic aids are different. I take creatine, say I bench 110kg, the last 10kg is creatine. If I didn't take creatine I would only bench 100kg.

Creatine is not a 'magic aid' though. All creatine is doing is supplying extra energy to your skeletal muscle. You are still responsible for lifting that weight, creatine is simply providing a little extra energy to help you do that.

Patto wrote:

Caffiene is another example of an effective ergogenic aid. This is also where you reach the grey areas in terms of what is legal and ethical in sport.

Caffeine is legal according to WADA as of 2004, the largest anti doping body used in sports worldwide. As for the ethics, well why is it so ethically dubious for an athlete to use any legal means available to enhance their performance? Is it therefore for an athlete to use proper dehydration to allow them to perform optimally?

Patto wrote:

Creatine will still work even if your diet is crap.

Creatine will only 'work' if you put in the effort behind it. It won't help you magically lift more or increase your numbers by 20% overnight, it simply helps you work harder for longer, and even at that it doesn't necessarily provide these benefits for all athletes.

OP - there is limited evidence about the efficacy and safety of creatine in young athletes. that doesn't mean it's bad, it just means we don't fully know and understand what the short and long-term implications of its use are.

As others have said there's more important issues that should be a priority (training, sleep & food) and right now there's really no need for you to take it.

Nate--IRL--

Patto wrote: »

It annoys me sometimes the uninformed answers you get to questions about things like creatine on this forum.
....snip.....
I think when you talk about supplements you should make this distinction. Creatine will still work even if your diet is crap.

If your Diet is crap, creatine isn't going to do anything as much fixing your Diet would.

Nate

podge57

Patto wrote: »

.

ergogentic aids are different. I take creatine, say I bench 110kg, the last 10kg is creatine. If I didn't take creatine I would only bench 100kg.

am i mistaken, or did you just say creatine gives you and extra 10% when benching?

qt9ukbg60ivjrn

Patto wrote: »

I take creatine, say I bench 110kg, the last 10kg is creatine. If I didn't take creatine I would only bench 100kg.

i took creatine and this was not the case with me

i found i could increase the amount of weight i was lifting week by week at a faster rate than when i wasn't on but my max lifts or top level was not higher

it was the same as when I was not on creatine

i always felt with creatine that when I trained i wasn't getting as good a work out (this could have been more of a psychological thing) as i was when i was just eating healthy on its own and training

i got heavier and bigger but my strength was about equal

i would never consider going on creatine if i was 16

just eat, train well, love your woman right and the rest will follow

shamblertine

do you lose all or most of the mass you gained with creatine when you stop taking it? thats what I heard, not sure how true it is but if it was true what would be the point in taking it in the first place?

Patto

Sorry, I forgot I posted that. The internet is great isn't it. I pretty much agree with all your points G'em.

My main point was that there should be a distinction made between supplements. I think Creatine, caffeine, beta alanine and a few more are out there in a somewhat grey area.

For what its worth I'm pretty much with you on the whole if its legal then its fair game arguement.

Is it eithical? Is it in the spirit of your sport? For weight lifting I'd agrue that yes it is. Espiceally if there are strict drug tests and there are clear guidelines as regards what is safe to take and what is not. For professional rugby I'd say the same. What about Gaa? Supplements and ergogenic aids aren't exactly the ethos on which the Gaa was founded. Its changing slowing but its very much not in the sprit of the game to be seen in a dressing room after a game having a protein shake. Only if you are an intercounty player will you ever be tested and the guidelines given to intercounty players are a joke (baically the guidline is don't take any supplements at all).

Patto

shamblertine wrote: »

do you lose all or most of the mass you gained with creatine when you stop taking it? thats what I heard, not sure how true it is but if it was true what would be the point in taking it in the first place?

In short yes. But it takes 6 to 8 or maybe longer weeks to return to your normal creatine level.

Some people don't respond at all to creatine and other do so profoundly.

Whats the point? Its a good training aid mostly. You can lift more and more often so it gives a better training response which will help make you bigger and stronger quicker (if the rest of you diet is good and you recover properly between sessions that is).

Jimmy Bottlehead

As someone who took creatine starting off, and all that... don't bother.

Just eat like a mofo, workout til you're in bits, and you WILL get bigger, and stronger. No way you can't if you follow that.

Get the folks on here to recommend a diet and workout, and you'll be flying.

Regency Black

DonkeyRhubarb wrote: »

Creatine. Hmm.
Take protein, and thats only if you work out to actually make it worthwhile.

I worked out for two years flat, bloody hard, 3 - 4 days a week religiously and eventually hit a plateau. I have taken creatine (ethyl ester) for the last 3 weeks. I have noticed definite increases in muscle mass, slight increase in strength, quite a bit in endurance. eg climbing 100 steps 2 at a time and not feeling anything.

Mate, I dont think you should bother with creatine. Its just my personal opinion. Work hard, have a good diet and youll see improvements in strength very quickly. When youve gone as far as you can, then maybe consider creatine again.

I completely agree with D.R. if your just starting out on the weights add a protein supplement to your diet. I joined a gym last Sept. to try and bulk up with some extra muscle mass, I was a measley 8st. With going to the gym, getting plenty of rest in between workouts, a very good diet & just plain & simple hard work with a little help from the protien since Sept last I'm now up to 11.5st which what I was after.

As for Creatine, I plan on taking it in the future but I plan on pushin' myself as far as I can on my own first, (all be it with extra protien). If I were you I'd hold off on the Creatine for a little while.

Whilst at the gym always strive for that extra rep - without sacrificing technique, which is mega important!!

And don't forget that aswell as a good diet, rest is a big part too. Your muscles don't grow (repair) while your at the gym, they do that while your resting!!

shamblertine

Patto wrote: »

Whats the point? Its a good training aid mostly. You can lift more and more often so it gives a better training response which will help make you bigger and stronger quicker (if the rest of you diet is good and you recover properly between sessions that is).

But shirley once you stop it you will lose that extra strength and energy that allowed you to lift more, and so you will only be able to lift what you did before you started using it no? So unless you constantly use creatine for the rest of your life it will have zero lasting effect over the long term, ie no extra mass and no extra strength?

slicus ricus

shamblertine wrote: »

do you lose all or most of the mass you gained with creatine when you stop taking it? thats what I heard, not sure how true it is but if it was true what would be the point in taking it in the first place?

I would argue that you don't lose the mass you gain when on creatine. There seems to be a lot of mistruths out there about creatine and it's effectiveness; i personally blame the media for this.

Creatine is not actually that effective a supplement. From my experience, it only really works when your nutrition/diet is very good - if your nutrition isn't up to scratch, taking creatine is not worthwhile at all. Even if your nutrition is good, the gains you achieve from Creatine are marginal. I've never noticed any losses when I've gone off it anyway.

In response to the OP, I would pretty much reiterate what everyone else said. Get your nutrition right and train hard (3-4 per weeek) - if you're a beginner, my main piece of advice would be to learn proper technique and form first in conjunction with a high protein diet.