Creatine? Lifting and Biking
 

I've heard from a friend that he takes creatine in monthly cycles and he often uses is to enhance his results from lifting and he says it helps him with XC mountain bike races. Does anyone know much about creatine like what it is exactly? If it's safe? If it will even help? I'm thinking about getting some but I know that the guy at the vitamin shop will only tell me about how great it is so I'm looking for some testimony or advice or whatever. Ant help?

I've read about it and it seems useful but I also read that if your doses are too large then you may start to have problems with high blood pressure. It is something you find in meat, just not in large amounts, so if I were to use it I would look up how much is safe to consume.

I thought the stuff just fills your muscles with water. It give you "popcorn" muscles from what I've been told.

Give it a pass. Get some branch chain aminos.

creatine does exactly what JaRow said...It gives you "popcorn" muscles. It's good cause you see great results and then when you get off of it..they're all gone. it's just a temporary thing. I've known plenty of guys who have fallen under that misconception that creatine is a wonder supplement and they take it, get amazing results and then when they're off of it, they lose all the muscle they gained.

Creatine is a supplement used to replenish ATP-CP which is used by the muscle during more explosive exercises such as lifting, sprints, dashes, etc. It doesn't have much applicable use to cycling, because cycling is more of an endurance sport. I've heard of track cyclists using it, but other than that I can't imagine it having much use in the biking world.

Also, when taking creatine, it's extremely important to stay hydrated. If you've ever seen a swollen looking guy carrying around a gallon of water, he's on creatine. Because of all the sweating that often goes along with cycling, anyone who (for whatever reason) bikes and takes creatine should be extra careful.

+1 on the post before me. Sprint-type activites make much more use of the ATP-CP system. I think these days it's GRAS if you stay hydrated. It's effective for letting you work harder during (explosive) workouts and to recover from them better. Not much use for endurance athletes.

Creatine, like other supplements, is called an ergogenic aid, which is something that is supposed to help the body build itself, sort of like hormone/steroid treatment. Creatine was the hot ergogenic aid several years a go but was found to do nothing for you. Your best bet is to just eat a good diet. If you can, go see a nutritionist and tell them what you are looking for. They'll set you up on a healthy program that will get you going. Most of the supplements just take your money and do nothing for you, or will actually make things worse, so don't take them.

I don't know about creatine but I take lifting protein concoctions while biking

It's not temporary in any way except the 'water' weight. The creatine allows you to put more into your workouts, more power. Thus, you get the benefits of greater workouts. I don't know how/if it would help you biking, but it' s not theory when it comes to lifting.

coming from someone who has cycled creating MANY times in his life....next to protein creatine is the most basic bodybuilding suppliment used...YES once you take it some gains DO go away..creating saturates your muscles with water....hydrated muscles perform better...stronger lifts and better endurance in the gym (ability to do more reps). Applying creatine to cycling..i'm sure it will make you have better endurance, with less leg burn while applying a good effort...the only issue is your legs may have to work harder because you will gain weight....5-10 pounds depending on how you use it...

if you are strong and have a low bodyfat %, you could see some nice gains in the gym from creatine...if you are fat i would stick to cardio until you cut down...nothing is worse than seeing a fat guy all bloated out in the gym

after my charity weekend ride in the end of june i plan on using creatine extensively in july to bulk up....it def works in increasing the size of your chest and biceps

I found took the edge off of day-after-day-after-day summer rides after work. I never woke up sore, and felt ready for every day's ride.

The year before, during the summer, there was at least one time a week where several hours after, or the morning after I didn't feel too hot. This could be a ton of different things though, so maybe I can say it is all moot.

Creatine is one of the most studied supplements out there though~

How often did you take it? Only on workout days or on a daily basis?

Also, make sure you get high quality creatine. Most of the low quality creatine is carcinogenic. As far as I know the best quality is Creapure.

http://proteinfactory.com/shop/produ...1&cat=4&page=2

http://www.optimumnutrition.com/prod...der-p-234.html

I highly recommend creatine for cycling.

Creatine, found its way into many sports, cycling and long distance running being among the first sports where athletes played with it. At the time cyclists were experimenting with it, it was very expensive and hard to come by. Cyclists liked it, because the basic premise was that they didnt need to eat 10 steaks to get the same amount of stuff as you would out of a teaspoon of creatine. This was an attractive supplement for riders racing in the Tour and Giro, as anything to aid in recovery was a god-send.
Simply put, ATP-CP used up in the sprints and attacks could be replenished by creatine without eating a horse's leg.
A side-effect of creatine as many have mentioned is water retention. Which is great for people who put in high amount of hours on the bike, because hydrated muscles help with recovery after hours in the hot sun training.

I personally found that lactic acid (or lactate as some health industry clicks like to call it) was one of the main things that would send me into painful and unproductive training rides. With creatine, build up of lactic acid as i did my hill climbing bombs was padded somewhat by the good reserves of ATP in my muscles. I would do hill reps and be able to go on some nice strong rides the next day.

In no way shape or form is creatine a "pop-corn" suppliment. Anyone who uses the argument that if you stop taking it you lose all your false gains, obviously does not understand what training is. These are the same people who think that taking steroids makes you bigger. No, training makes you bigger (steroids just make you recover faster). If a desk worker takes steroids, all they are going to do is get fat. Similarly, if you take creatine and dont maximise your training, then sure, you get water retention and a few good pumps here and there, and when u stop you "lose" your "pop-corn" gains.

Creatine is extremely useful if you training hard and properly, because it aids in your recovery, to put it in very simple terms.

Is it safe? well, I have my reservations. I think that its not the best thing for you. By the way, make sure you get Creatine MONO-hydrate. Dont get any of this stuff with multi-vitamins, extra amino acids and all of that. Get pure, clean creatine. Everything else is junk, and most probably 100% reason why people get these "pop-corn" results

I'm surprised no one has mentioned kre-alkalyn, a buffered creatine. there's no pre-loading since it doesn't break down in your stomach, no body bloat, and it doesn't break down into useless creatinine

I use it when weight training in winter, and also use it as a recovery aid after hard rides. I'm definitely riding stronger this year. YMMV

For me it has been a plus, in that I have more stamina for my daily activities as well as exercise. Never caused any bloating. I have used it for over 1 year, on a daily basis without any ill effects. I can tell when I am not taking it (for 24 hrs or so I would feel slightly weak). If I decided to go off it, I think the mild weak feeling would likely pass after several days. I never use a loading dose. I always use creatine monohydrate and mix it with a smoothie or with table sugar (1 tsp) and water. This helps absorption and makes it palatable.

It is hard to recommend how to use it for any given individual since I don't think it has been studied like a prescription drug has been. I know that it has been tried as a treatment for neuromuscular conditions like myasthenia gravis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, but did not cause much of a significant improvement. It was tried in a small group of people with depression (in an Israeli study) and some of them improved, and some had onset of hypomanic like symptoms.

Someone has patented any and all potential applications for creatine, like treatment for muscular diseases, neurologic conditions, etc. So you will not be able to patent it for any such applications.

It has been studied for potential side effects for many years and appears to be safe.

I have seen people write that there are specific individuals who are creatine responders, about 50% of all, and the rest have no response to it.

I think that if you feel that you have some reason to try it that it is not going to be wildly dangerous. But no one can tell you how long to use it or what the long term effects are. So you are taking a small chance with this supplement (although it is present in food and your body should actually make all the creatine that it needs from other raw materials).

Having also cycled creatine many times over the past 10 years, I'd like to offer a few observations- mostly in support of others who've also used it:
1. If you don't stress the muscles while you're on it, you'll just be bloated.
2. Most people cycle, anywhere between 4 weeks on/4 weeks off to 12 weeks on/12 weeks off, and anything in between. YMMV, so you'll need to find your own schedule.
3. There are tons of rumors out there that anything but Crea-Pure (or ________ fill in the blank) is carcinogenic. While there is some reason to believe that some brands are adulterated or less than pure, that's true of every supplement on the market. It's not regulated by the FDA, ya know....
4. I've tried Kre-Alkalyn and was very pleased, if only because it's easy to take (it's a capsule- a large purple capsule, but you don't have to mix it with fluid). I can't say that I go any better results with it than Vitamin Shoppe's name brand for a LOT cheaper.
5. The notion that you lose mass when you go off is hooey, IMHO. I've known many lifters and BBers who use creatine and never see any appreciable loss on the off-cycle. I suspect that most of this comes from people who cycle off and don't keep up their routine so they get out of shape.
6. Yes, drink. Drink lots on hot days, as much as a gallon or more on a ride. You can get dehydrated in hot weather doing strenuous stuff.
7. There's no need to load- that's complete bunk. It's a waste of perfectly good creatine. The usual dose is 5g/day- depending on the manufacturer, that's usually one teaspoon.
8. If you're a vegetarian, you will see better results than carnivores. Why? Because creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid in red meat.
9. Yes, it definitely does help with your cycling, depending on what kind of riding you do. I've benefited on climbs (especially those obnoxious short 20% grades you see around Philly), but like others have said, I don't know that I really see much of a difference on my centuries.
10. Yes, creatine has been implicated in several deaths in extreme lifters who went into rhabdomyolysis (where the muscle breaks down) after very high-dose regimens and extreme weight stresses. It's exceedingly rare. My bet is that more people get rhabdo from statins that creatine, by several orders of magnitude.

SOOOOOOO- all that said, is it safe? Personally, I think it best not supplement with anything unless you have a good reason to. I would say it's best to work on your routines, hard as hell, and see where you are after lots of hard work. If you reach a plateau, ratchet back a bit for a little while, then ratchet up again. But creatine isn't a magic bullet- no supplement is.

^^^^^ He's got it exactly right. This is also my experience after many years of training with and without creatine.

not popcorn, Popeye

That is not at all what ergogenic means.

[citation needed]

Creatine is an amazing supplement. Buying plain old Creatine Monohydrate will give you great results, while keeping you well within even the most modest budget.

First off, drink a lot of water while taking it.

You do gain muscle size that will go away when you stop taking it, but not all of it. This is because creatine causes water to swell into your muscles. When you stop taking it, you will lose that. However, since creatine helps you with lifting, you will have also gained real muscle that will not go away. Provided you were eating right and training hard enough.

By the way, drink LOTS OF WATER.

What about amplified creatine 189? I just started taking it and I like it thus far. Anyone heard of it? it's supposed to be the newest form of creatine.