Is Creatine worthless ?

L

Louno

New Member
Why would ppl want to use creatine if it doesnt really add muscle mass ? it add temporary mass ? from what i understand the gain only comes from water, and when you stop taking creatine you lose your gains, so why use it anyways ?
It doesnt make you stronger either...

The only real use i could see for it would be for someone who is going to a bodybuilding event, he takes some before to gain a maximum amount of weight, but after the event theres no need to continu taking it ?
 
Creatine does three things that we know about:

I) Increases water retention. Some steroids have this effect too, and it's generally considered good. It makes the muscle look fuller, and the intercellular water retention could possibly help lubricate the muscle fibers themselves.

II) Aids the ATP/ADP energy cycle giving you more energy for the workout.

III) Helps increase the activity of the satelite cells surrounding the muscles so they donate their nuclei more readily and help build muscle more effectively.
 
hey thanks,
Ok, i think that in most case, water retention is the main effect and main reason why people use it,
it gives a fuller look quickly, but as soon as you stop taking creatine you lose that, so it was kinda worthless... unless you take creatine for ever ( and even then it only serves to keep that water retention that has already maxed out )

but are the other 2 things worth taking creatine or are they neglectable.

Im not interested in water retention im interested in actualy getting my muscles to grow.

ive been supplementing with creatine for 2-3 months in the past and i didnt really notice i had more energy...?
I did gain weight tho, but lost some ( all ? ) after stopping taking creatine.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Louno @ Mar. 02 2005,10:25)]Im not interested in water retention im interested in actualy getting my muscles to grow.
ive been supplementing with creatine for 2-3 months in the past and i didnt really notice i had more energy...?
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You seem to be overly caught up in the water balance side of things, that is only the first, most obvious benefit of creatine. The other things it does is ultimately beneficial in the LONG term. You may not feel anything in the short term, or even see any 'difference' because you dont know where you would have been without creatine.

Have you actaully made any gains in the 2-3 month period?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Louno @ Mar. 01 2005,4:25)]I did gain weight tho, but lost some ( all ? ) after stopping taking creatine.
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There is a certain percentage of the population that won't respond to creatine, probably because of dietery and genetic reasons. The purpose of supplementing with it is to top off your body's stores. There's a limited amount your muscles can hold, and the closer you are to that maximum the harder it gets to up it with supplementation. If you've already got naturally high levels you won't notice much if anything from creatine supplementation.

You may want to try one of the different types, such as one of the malates or ethyl ester. Some people, myself included, see a difference with these types and not with monohydrate. Best thing to do is make sure diet and training are as good as can be, then look into supplementation. If you think you can still improve your diet and training, leave the supplementation for later and concentrate on those two areas.
 
Im not saying creatine didnt help me gain weight, it did.
It worked pretty well in fact , since i didnt take alot, i was a bit afraid so i decided to be safe and go slowly on it, but even tho i didnt take much i did gain weight and i was happy, until i stoped taking it and lost some if not all the weight i had gained while taking it... maybe its just bad luck or something else i dont know...

anyways so thats why im asking whats the point? how "real" are the other benefits of taking creatine... if we put the water retension aside, how effective is creatine at gaining real weight(muscle) that will last after you stop taking creatine?
 
wow. once again, the added endurace/recovery will help your training, which will help your gains.

Doing 10 reps of 100 pounds with creatine won't do much more than doing 10 reps of 100 pounds without it, but by taking creatine, ideally, you'd be able to do more reps/sets, etc, therefore, growing more.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Louno @ Mar. 02 2005,11:59)]anyways so thats why im asking whats the point? how "real" are the other benefits of taking creatine... if we put the water retension aside, how effective is creatine at gaining real weight(muscle) that will last after you stop taking creatine?
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They're very real. Once more, you may be a nonresponder in which case you might get some water retention but nothing else. Being a nonresponder doesn't mean creatine is useless though, it just means you're already producing enough naturally to get the benefits.
 
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