Creatine question

[Richiep1032]

Morning all,

I've been taking Creapure for about 2 weeks now, I completed the loading phase for the first 5 days and have been taking 5g post workout since. I plan to start my washing out phase on the 17th February.

Can anyone tell me what I can expect to see when I stop taking it, will my weight drop, will my lifts decrease?

Also after a month of washing out I plan on taking it again, (I know most people think the loading phase is unnecessary) but I have a massive bag of creapure so can I do the loading phase again?

Thanks in advance,

Richie.

[Waterfield]

The main change you'll see when you come off creapure is your wallet will get thinner because you're wasting your money cycling and loading. It's just so you use a big bulk of your powder so you have to buy the product sooner again. Technically creapure is also a waste of money unless you're thinking myprotein sells creatine monohydrate with trace elements of metals in their bags too! I digress, lifts and weight will decrease slightly as your saturation goes down.

[Billv0]

If you start your wash out on Feb 17th wouldn't that mean you have only been using for about a month?

If thats right id suggest taking it a bit longer than that, the strength gains usually start to hit you at that point.

[Richiep1032]

Quote

The main change you'll see when you come off creapure is your wallet will get thinner because you're wasting your money cycling and loading. It's just so you use a big bulk of your powder so you have to buy the product sooner again. Technically creapure is also a waste of money unless you're thinking myprotein sells creatine monohydrate with trace elements of metals in their bags too! I digress, lifts and weight will decrease slightly as your saturation goes down.

Thanks for yout reply. I appreciate that people don't agree with the loading phase, however as i have never used it before i thought i would try it. I didn't realise that Creatine Monohydrate was just the same. I'll bear that in mind in future.

[Richiep1032]

Quote

If you start your wash out on Feb 17th wouldn't that mean you have only been using for about a month?

If thats right id suggest taking it a bit longer than that, the strength gains usually start to hit you at that point.

This is interesting, I thought you loaded for a week, then maintained for a month, how long do you recommend staying on the maintenance phase for?

Thanks,

Richie.

[k.jacko]

Creatine intake is quite subjective......depending on the person taking it. Personally i've always found that loading on about 15-20g a day was enough for me and maintenance doses of as little as 3g was adequate. Conversely my friend who was only a little heavier than me at the time swore by loading of 30g a day and 10g maintenance doses. He said he didn't get the benefit from lesser doses. Now that must have cost him a small fortune back then.
Another guy i worked with who was lighter than me got no positive results from taking mono at all. His body obviously created enough for supplementation not to benefit him.

If i were you i'd start with the recommended loading and maintenance dose then experience and (although more costly) time will tell you how you can tweak your doses.
Some just take one of 2 regular doses without the loading phase.
I guess the loading phase, which obviously saturates your body wth creatine asap will let you know if creatine supplement really works for you or not. It's not for everyone.

[Dolphinski]

From playing around with it for years, I've found I can quite happily stay on it for months without any noticeable degradation in performance. Really don't see the need to cycle it very often imo. Don't overestimate it though, personally the difference in strength is as little as 1 rep, but I definitely look a bit fuller in my muscles When i'm on it, and the scales always drop by a couple of pounds in the fortnight after I cycle off it, and vice versatile when loading.

That said, there's a lot of other variables at play, you don't always train with exactly the same intensity and focus, diet varies by day, etc etc.

If you respond to creatine, it's a little help in the right direction, but don't go thinking it's some magic powder that will make you uber powerful.

[Ben]

I have found that Creatine has no effect on me what so ever other than making me need to drink a hell of a lot of water, just to prevent getting dehydrated.

[Waterfield]

Pretty sure the water intake is a myth, otherwise I may as well drink 2 litres of water every time I eat a steak just to prevent myself from getting dehydrated (obvious exaggeration).

I found a youtube channel called liftingforlife through my youtube related videos, he has some great nutritional and supplemental advice about training, his weight training section is solely for bodybuilding so I tend to ignore it. Back to the point, he uploaded these two videos which I find very interesting. He's young but has all the research/studies in the description.

He's planning to release his own supplemental line soon (so when he does mods please remove the videos).

Science in 60 seconds: Creatine


Real Talk: Creatine (35minutes)


From what I remember the second video goes over myths and other nonsense like "should I take creatine with coffee".

[Ben]

It isn't a myth for me. If I drank my normal amount of water but had Creatine, I would wake up the next morning feeling like a dry sponge, have cracked lips and my pee would look like lucozade.