All you gym goers, do you use this stuff?

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  Jan 20, 2008 7:49 PM GMT

  So I bought one of those big 5 pound containers from Walmart the other day. It was in the Health section, and it's this energy powder drink mix. It's supposed to help you do more reps, and build muscle faster. It's called "Creatine" I believe. So is this stuff actually useful or is it a waste of money and time?

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  Jan 20, 2008 9:17 PM GMT

  Waste of money and time. Eat whole foods with as little processing as possible. Eat well, and ye be well.

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  Jan 20, 2008 9:25 PM GMT

  I've used it, and it does seem to have some minor effect on performance. Unfortunately, the biggest effect on me is making me feel bloated, so I no longer use it.

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• DiverScience
  
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  Jan 20, 2008 9:30 PM GMT

  There's little point in using something like creatine until you've truly maxed the potential of your body without supplements. Otherwise your body will just learn to rely on them.

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  Jan 20, 2008 9:33 PM GMT

  First of all, purchasing supplements from Walmart is nonsense. You are basically throwing your money away. Supplements do work. If you have questions email me. I am a owner of a national supplement store.

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  Jan 20, 2008 9:33 PM GMT

  It does work great if you use it right, but you end up pissing away the gains pretty quickly when you quit. I've talked to several other people that felt their metabolisms slowed down after they quit using it and they gained a lot of fat while maintaining the same workout schedule/intensity and eating habits. I think this might be related to the effect of rapid loss of muscle mass on the metabolism. Someone might know a bit more about biochemical particulars involved, but thats my experience.

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• Artesin
  
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  Jan 20, 2008 10:57 PM GMT

  Creatine is in red meat and fish if your already eatting a good amount of it then you dont need extra creatine and it will not do you much good. For vegetarians it actually works. Though I still think body fortress products aren't the worst in the world.

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  Jan 21, 2008 3:16 AM GMT

  Walmart? How suburbanly cute! Is all in the head. As Tim Gunn says... Make it work!!!

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  Jan 21, 2008 3:46 AM GMT

  I posted the same thing a week ago.....
  
  http://www.realjock.com/topic/81557/
  
  Survey says....drop it.

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  Jan 21, 2008 4:52 AM GMT

  Creatine can help with volumization and with your ability to train longer, but, it's not a panacea.
  
  Bodybuilding.com has a number of articles about creatine.

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  Jan 21, 2008 5:42 AM GMT

  Onixotto said As Tim Gunn says... Make it work!!!

  
  
  Lol, I used to love watching Project Runway. None of the judges ever seem to actually look like they know what they are talking about though hehe..though I bet they do.
  Havent seen that in a while though . Lost touch with it after season 2 actually .
  
  Like other "preformance enhancers" can't you actually get so your body needs you to consume more and more to have it be just as effective?
  

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  Jan 21, 2008 5:52 AM GMT

  Creatine is one of the few supplements the use of which is supported by peer-reviewed research.
  
  Yes, it occurs in red meat and fish, as Death states, but in fairly limited quantity.
  
  The function of creatine is to improve the efficiency of your krebs cycle, giving you more energy with which to do your lifts, and speeding up your between-set recovery. As a side benefit, it transports molecules of water into the muscle cells, making them larger more or less right away.
  
  The bloating and discomfort many people report comes from a failure to get the creatine fully into solution before drinking it. Creatine has a high affinity for water - if you consume it before it is fully in solution, it will draw water from your small intestines, which can cause cramping and other unpleasant side effects.
  
  To get it into solution, use room temperature or even slightly warm water, stir in the creatine, let it settle out, stir again, let it settle, and repeat until little or none actually settles out. I usually do it while busy with something else - like shaving or whatever.
  
  As for whether it is Walmart's or someone else's, if it says USP grade, that's about as good as it gets. I happen to prefer a particular brand because it's more finely ground and goes into solution more easily - but once there, it's no better than anyone else's.
  
  Joey
  NSCA-CPT

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  Jan 21, 2008 5:53 AM GMT

  
  Powerade does the same thing.

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  Jan 21, 2008 6:10 AM GMT

  creatine proven research blah blah blah
  
  Now look at the studies and see what difference it actually makes. I havent heard anyone at our stage of the game "last longer" and of what benefit is that if you are training more than what you need to anyway or your training sucks?
  
  Granted Creatine does bloat the muscles with water and help you get a fuller look sooner but all this shite about recovery time and increasing performance. Arent we all a bit old for fairy tales!
  
  Save your pennies another time, OK probably didnt cost you that much but its good money you could have saved towards a personal training session which would give you a far better return

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  Jan 21, 2008 6:34 AM GMT

  Do I have to go find some of the citations for you BFG?
  
  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=10731017&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google
  1: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000 Mar;32(3):706-17.
  
  American College of Sports Medicine roundtable. The physiological and health effects of oral creatine supplementation.
  
  Terjung RL, Clarkson P, Eichner ER, Greenhaff PL, Hespel PJ, Israel RG, Kraemer WJ, Meyer RA, Spriet LL, Tarnopolsky MA, Wagenmakers AJ, Williams MH.
  
  Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia 65211, USA. TerjungR@missouri.edu
  
  http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/83/6/2055
  Long-term creatine intake is beneficial to muscle performance during resistance training
  
  K. Vandenberghe1, M. Goris1, P. Van Hecke2, M. Van Leemputte1, L. Vangerven3, and P. Hespel1
  
  1 Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, and 2 Biomedical Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Unit, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven; and 3 Department Rega School, Katholieke Hogeschool Leuven, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
  
  [url]http://www.supplementfacts.com/Creatine%20Part%205.htm[/url]
  Recent Creatine Research Reviews, Focus On Body Compostion and Strength
  

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  Jan 21, 2008 6:41 AM GMT

  There was a time when peer-reviewed research said margarine with all it's yummy trans-fats were better than butter. Science can never be wrong!
  
  Wait! Apparently peer-reviewed research now says trans-fats are worse than the saturated fats they replaced.
  
  Oops! Scientists made a boo-boo!
  
  
  

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  Jan 21, 2008 6:49 AM GMT

  Yes, which means we should throw out everything we've obtained from the scientific method. Good deal.

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  Jan 21, 2008 6:53 AM GMT

  PSBigJoey saidDo I have to go find the citations for you BFG?
  

  
  
  Not at all Big Joey and with all due respect I can read and have done my research but what I am saying is lets step back into the real world here. We are talking your average gym goer, maybe someone that works out 3 or 4 maybe possibly 5 times a week, their diet is not squeeky clean, their training is far from perfect.
  
  We can all read studies and we can all find pros and cons in them to support our argument hence base your opinion on them then get a reality check and apply them into a real life situation.
  
  In a real life situation I do not see much value in creatine, its a piece in the puzzle not the be all and end all and the recovery value and explosive values of creatine supplementation in my opinion offer minimal benefit when everything else is not spot on and that getting the other elements spot on will yield far great return

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  Jan 21, 2008 8:39 AM GMT

  bfg1 said[quote]In a real life situation I do not see much value in creatine, its a piece in the puzzle not the be all and end all and the recovery value and explosive values of creatine supplementation in my opinion offer minimal benefit when everything else is not spot on and that getting the other elements spot on will yield far great return

  
  
  So you agree that it works. Fine.
  
  The original question was "is it actually useful or is it a waste of money and time?" - and the answer is that it is useful.
  
  Is it everything? Is it a miracle substance? Hardly. But it's cheap, it's relatively benign, and it does give you something of a boost in your recovery from sets.
  
  If your training sucks, yes, that needs to be addressed. If your nutrition sucks, yes, that needs to be addressed. If you're not getting sleep, yes, that needs to be addressed. But those things weren't part of the question.

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  Jan 21, 2008 1:00 PM GMT

  Eat sound, pump hard and sleep often! The other stuff is all crap.
  
  

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  Jan 21, 2008 4:19 PM GMT

  Wow you guys, this is all really great info and opinions.

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  Jan 21, 2008 4:40 PM GMT

  A good friend of mine is a nutritionist and she taught me that your body will make everything that you need. If your amount of activity increases then your body will learn and adapt. As long as you eat correctly for working out and gaining muscle you shouldn't need that over priced horribly tasting crap!

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  Jan 21, 2008 5:05 PM GMT

  Creatine and glycogen loading definitely improve performance, from just about everything that I've read, and in my personal view.
  
  I don't use it as much if I'm trying to stay "dry", but, I think it's probably valuable for me.
  
  Now, if you're 135 at 5'8", and not eating right to begin with, you're still better off to spend that money on groceries.
  
  Calories are the single most important thing in bodybuilding / lifting. PERIOD.

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  Jan 21, 2008 5:10 PM GMT

  terra22 saidCreatine has always made me EXTREMELY HYPER! I would buy Black Powder from GNC and I would just go crazy....Just avoid taking it before bed. You'll never fall asleep lol

  
  
  From the Black Powder label:
  Proprietary Blend of Neuromodulators for Focus & Intensity 401.00 mg **
  Caffeine **
  Betaine anhydrous **
  Green Tea Extract **
  
  That's why you weren't sleeping, Terra...not the creatine.

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  Jan 21, 2008 5:12 PM GMT

  danielryan saidA good friend of mine is a nutritionist and she taught me that your body will make everything that you need. If your amount of activity increases then your body will learn and adapt. As long as you eat correctly for working out and gaining muscle you shouldn't need that over priced horribly tasting crap!

  
  
  And is your friend trained in SPORTS NUTRITION? When you are working out hard and have specific muscular gains in mind, standard nutrition is insufficient to support recovery & growth and insufficient to provide the energy you need.
  
  Read the work of some nutritionists who specialize in athletic performance and strength sports, then form your opinion, OK?
  
  ...and just for the record, Creatine Monohydrate is essentially tasteless.

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