How do you take your creatine ?

L

Lars

New Member
I went out and got me some creatine today. The guys at the shop seems like knowledgeable people and after some discussion with them I ended up with an American made creatine marketed under Pharmasports' label. (They could also tell me that it wasn't too much need to worry about labels at the time - simply open the can and smell it. The bad one was supposed to smell kind of like fish.)

I've looked around for solutions to how to take the creatine, and think I've arrived at the following two delivery mechanisms.

1. As recommended in another thread. Mix creatine with warm water (not hot), 1/2 tea spoon of baking soda and 75 grams of sugar (think I may reduce it to 50 g, or option 2 might be just as good). Up side: Is supposed to create an ideal milieu for the creatine. Down side: I don't know what it tastes like, and it's a little more hazzle than #2.

2. Add creatine to 1.5dl lunk warm coke and 1/2 tea spoon of baking soda. Downside: Creatine isn't supposed to be taken with caffeine. Up side: I like the taste.

I was also considering two different times to take it:
1. On an empty stomach in the morning to speed up absorbtion

2. 30 minutes prior to working out.

Does anyone have any intelligent, preferrably scientific, takes on this ?
 
Bryan commented on creatine use in a number of posts back on Thinkmuscle.com.  One of the points he made there is that the increase blood flow resulting from exercise enhances creatine uptake.

So on training days I'll usually put creatine in my pre-workout drink (e.g., HSN Primer).

Here are some "basic principles" regarding creatine I cut-and-pasted directly from one of Bryan's more detailed postings...

1) Creatine uptake into muscle tissue is limited by the activity of the creatine transporter.

2) The creatine transporter is "down-regulated" as the level of creatine inside the muscle cell increases.

3) Creatine only has an effect on muscle cell physiology once it is already inside the cell. Creatine in the blood does nothing for performance...it must be inside the cell.

4) If you load creatine during 5 days (20gm/day), the amount of creatine excreted in the urine goes up DRAMATICALLY by the 3rd day because the muscle cells lose the ability to take in creatine because their transporters are being downregulated.

5) Creatine uptake appears to be either sodium dependant, or highly regulated by sodium transport. Insulin (from carbs) increases sodium uptake into cells, this is why carbs have been shown to increase creatine uptake.

6) Exercise increases creatine uptake. If you take some creatine and sit on a staionary bike and only peddle with one leg, the leg you peddle with will take up more creatine than the leg that is not peddling. (hint: take you creatine before you train)

7) Different forms of creatine do not effect creatine uptake. This is because creatine uptake is limited by the creatine itself, not by its form at the time of ingestion. Once the muscle cell is filled up, it won't take any more. Don't let anybody charge you for any special forms of creatine. Monohydrate works as good as any.

8) Creatine supplementation will result in approximately a 20% increas in phosphocreatine at best.

9) Some people will have a greater response to creatine if their meat intake was low before. Vegetarians respond beautifully to the stuff.
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Jon Stark @ April 05 2002,5:47)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">5) Creatine uptake appears to be either sodium dependant, or highly regulated by sodium transport. Insulin (from carbs) increases sodium uptake into cells, this is why carbs have been shown to increase creatine uptake.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Does this mean I should increase my salt intake if I want to increase creatine uptake ?
 
Depends on how much you're already using. Salt is, in the right dosages, good for intracellular pressure (or so I've been told by a few people - whom one was a Kalvin K model with the most incredible physique I ever saw! :) )

In my opinion salt is good for you as long as you don't have a condition. There has to be a reason all other mammals like salt, and our body has a fair amount of salt water in it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top