Creatine - the perk you need -when?

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imported_domineaux

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I'm in the second week of 5s. I've been steam rolling along adding weight each workout. Like 5 lbs per arm on upper body exercises. I've been moving up so fast on the weights... honestly it's surprised me.

Well today things began to change. I was able to up the weights as usual, but I couldn't do a complete 5 reps in the third set. I usually do 3 sets in the 5s, because I've always been reluctant to think my muscles are getting enough micro-trauma from 2 sets x low reps.

I was thinking of loading the Phosphagen HP (creatine) over the next few days and finishing off the 5s on creatine. Creatine always seems to give me a jolt. I can actually see my body get bigger, but I realize it's mostly water.

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I got to thinking while pumping the iron this morning. I was wondering if the CNS and muscle memory were actually affected by growth we attain from Creatine supplementation. I realize I seem to lose size when I come off Creatine. I'm thinking in terms of whether the Creatine has actually changed the height of the bar, and my body when on creatine is it the benchmark level for achievement for further growth...even though my body does lose some size.

In other words does it alter muscle memory with a new level for my body to grow and attain.

I don't know if I explained that well enough. Maybe if this post encourages some dialogue the explanation will clear up with a few postings.

I don't do Creatine as a normal supplement. I use it as a rule, when I start hitting the wall. By that I mean my recovery becomes more difficult and the weights I'm working with become more difficult to workout with.
 
I'm not exactly sure what you were asking, but since you were looking for some discussion about it I guess I will start, hopefully others will chime in and your actual question will be answered.  From my knowledge/experience, creatine helps with regards to lifting by giving you that one extra rep at the end of a set or maybe 5-10 extra lbs. on the bar you wouldn't have gotten without it.  This should, inherently, increase strength and with a proper diet could yield hypertrophy not attained otherwise.

Information I read, true or not, is that short, explosive bursts of energy are fueled by the creatine phosphate system, which obviously supplementing with creatine should help.  This is what translates us into hopefully pumping out a few more reps on that set, or running a little faster on the 40-yard dash.  

So if you are using it to break through a plateau, I honestly think it sounds like a good idea.  Hopefully the science guru's will clarify better than I did.
 
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