creatine

by kmacsm on Jun 25, 2007 11:29 PM EDT Comment 7 comments

im a high school football player, and ive been on the fence about this for awhile.

i wondered if i should. about half of my friends do it and like it and the other half say it messes you up...

so just wondering.

i've tried to do research about it, and it seems fine but most of that research was done on GNC.com so i doubt i can trust that.

yes, no, maybe so.

0 recs | Comment 7 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

the difference between the legal stuff

and what you would get from a healthy diet seems pretty negligible to me

by joelbarlow on Jun 26, 2007 1:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I like creatine

I think the research behind it is very solid. You should see your strength improve 5 to 10 percent in the first few months, and over time you'll develop more muscle mass using creatine than you would without it, all else being equal.

Creatine is found naturally in meat and fish, and creatine supplements have a long track record in terms of safety.

I won't say it's necessary, or that you'll get steroid-like benefits from using it. But you should get some benefits, with virtually no risk.

by Lou Schuler on Jun 26, 2007 3:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

5-10% ?

i don't think thats worth it

by joelbarlow on Jun 27, 2007 12:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

is creatine better...

than just a fill-in-the-blank weight gainer?

i came up in the game on Tiger's Milk

by joelbarlow on Jun 27, 2007 12:26 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Creatine plus protein ...

... seems to be the best combination of all for strength and muscle mass.

I'm not out to pimp supplements here. I just think we have pretty good reason to believe that protein powders and creatine, separately or together, are useful and safe.

Where they fall on the cost-benefit spectrum is really up to each individual.

For me, it was really fun and motivating to see my strength numbers go up 10 percent in a couple of weeks after loading with creatine. But I've never been particularly good at power lifts, so we're talking about an average of 20 pounds per lift. Even for a middle-aged guy, that's pretty unimpressive ... unless you happen to be that middle-aged guy.

Like I said, I got a kick out of it.

by Lou Schuler on Jun 27, 2007 9:14 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

creatine info

You mentioned in your post that your research wasn't all that successful, so I would suggest the following link for more info: http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1085045 Bottom line, as Lou said, some benefit, no risk, little cost. Plus there have been reports about creatine enhancing other qualities (other than strength, that is) such as short term memory as well.

by raw on Jun 29, 2007 7:52 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

creatine for your brain

Great point.

There's some really exciting research going on at McMaster University. They've been using creatine on patients with muscle-wasting diseases. I don't know what the latest findings are, but the short-term trials were promising, IIRC.

by Lou Schuler on Jun 29, 2007 8:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs