Supplementation

jeff lebowski

Hi,

I have a few questions for some of the more experienced people on here regarding supplements. I've been away from weights for 7 weeks, just starting back on the StrongLifts 5 x 5 program as I was having good results on that. One area I am paying more attentiopn to now is my nutrition and supplements. Previously I had been taking a protein shake before workout and 1 after. I've decided to give creatine a try for a few months to see how I get on as well. With my current program I'm lifting 3 days a week and what I'm wondering, should I still be taking creatine on days when I'm not lifting? On those days I'll be doing cardio, maybe some HITT as well.

The creatine I bought said the 1st 5 days is the loading phase and I should be taking 4 x 5g's a day....is this a bit excessive? I'm always a bit scepticle of what the labels say as I'm sure they want you to use their product quickly and buy more.

Any advice on this or general protein and supplements is appreciated.

Cheers.

Hypertrophy

I know people who use it at high doses the entire time and then others who preload and then drop down to the lower dose. You can take the lower dose the whole time and wait for it to build up in your system also.

It's up to yourself...it's not really bad for the body

discus

It's up to yourself...it's not really bad for the body

Says who?

Please answer without refering to the creatine present in beef, it's natural etc.

Hypertrophy

In my opinion I should have said?

Based on knowing lots of people who use(d) it at high doses and from all of the non negative experiences I've read on the internet.

Surely I could find someone who lost his testicles, wife and business due to taking it if I asked google about the negative side of creatine but I'm sure the same could be found about theanine in green tea or anything for that matter.

djk1000

Hypertrophy wrote: »

In my opinion I should have said?

Based on knowing lots of people who use(d) it at high doses and from all of the non negative experiences I've read on the internet.

Surely I could find someone who lost his testicles, wife and business due to taking it if I asked google about the negative side of creatine but I'm sure the same could be found about theanine in green tea or anything for that matter.

It's one of the few supplements that has been studied scientifically, papers have been published and peer reviewed. No nasty side effects with creatine, however, no studies have been done on very high doses, nor on the very long term effects of use (not to say that this is bad, just that there have been no studies finished).

Just to let you know, there is a supplements sticky with lots of information on various supplements including creatine.

earlyapex

To the OP, I use creatine only on lifting days, 5 grams with a protein shake after training.
I lift every second day, and cardio every day in between and I dont use creatine on cardio days. I have had good results this way.

I think this is enought creatine for me anyway.
Your results may be different/better with everyday supplementation at 2g or whatever, you'll just have to sort your dosage out based on how much you wish to be spending on supplementation and results.
But more is not always better, moderation and consistency is the best approach.

Good luck.

dave80

discus wrote: »

Says who?

Please answer without refering to the creatine present in beef, it's natural etc.

wannabe mod :rolleyes:

cardio,shoot me

discus wrote: »

Says who?

Please answer without refering to the creatine present in beef, it's natural etc.

id like to see you come up with some unbiased accurate studies showing the dangers of creatine tbh

jeff lebowski

Think I'll try it your way earlyapex, 5g post workout. Whats the craic with the loading phase.....5g 4 times a day for 5 days, does that sound right?

trapsagenius

Would anyone advise taking creatine before workouts?

discus

cardio,shoot me wrote: »

id like to see you come up with some unbiased accurate studies showing the dangers of creatine tbh

Where'd I say there were dangers?

We don't know what knowledge the OP has about supplements. Likewise, I can assume that as a whole, we don't know Hypertrophys background - let's face it, he's a relatively new poster to the FF. So why wouldn't we not encourage posters to question what they are told? Should 'newbies' take the first piece of advice thrown their way, or go looking for published material?

I'm all for creatine. I've done my research, trawled through science direct, toxicology papers etc. You can be forgiven for assuming I've an anti-supplement agenda from my post, but I can assure you that I'm pro-fact, that is all.

wannabe mod

I expect mods to control the forum via whats laid out in the charter. I'm not sure my opinion - as laid out above - falls under that.

For those who dare to tl;dr - basically, "says who" means "where'd ya get that info", not "you're talking ****e, pal"

cardio,shoot me

discus wrote: »

Where'd I say there were dangers?

Fair enough, i thought you where going down the whole creatine is dangerous/joe duffy agenda. good post.

shootermacg

Hi
I started the loading phaze two weeks ago but I found it too much. I had too much nervous energy, so I stopped the loading phaze and instead took the maintanence dose (4g recommended on my tub), it will eventually reach muscle saturation, but everyones different so it's up to you.

I'm against taking it late at night, I had way too much energy to sleep, again that could just be me. I workout at 8pm from 9/9:30. I just started taking it in my preworkout shake. I don't know if this is bad or good tbh, I am of the opinion that as long as you keep topped up it should be fine(that's an assumption on my part).

Drink at least 4 litres of water a day while on it! That's the best advice I can give. Hydration is very important when on creatine!