Creatine as a supplement

ozzzyosborn206

Hi all, while i do a fair amount of cycling (about 12-15hours for an average working week) and quite alot of it power sets i still seem to be lacking in that department, does anyone know if taking creatine would help muscle size and strength? and much more importantly is it ok with WADA i heard it is not allowed in France but not sure how much truth there is in that?

Cheers in advance

phil s

What is a power set?

sungod

creatine increases water retention in muscle cells, which at first causes rapid weight gain - this may be confused with an increase in actual muscle

from what i've read there may be some benefit for short, intense activities, such as weight lifting, but there's little or none for endurance sports, in fact the weight gain may even reduce performance

so probably not the ideal supplement for cycling

it's not on wada's banned list, nor uci's

Once_In_A_Blue_Moon

Some studies suggest that creatine can improve recovery time between intense sessions. It doesn't increase muscle size, as sungod mentions above, but allows you to force out a couple of extra reps when say lifting weights, or hard sprint sessions because it helps delay fatigue setting in.

I use it in a capsule form, 6 weeks on 6 weeks off (don't use it for prolonged periods) and haven't actually put on a great deal of muscle mass, but due to the water retention some people put a fair bit of weight on. If you want to improve power, by all means give it a try. Zipvit offer it at an affordable price:

http://www.zipvit.co.uk/cgi-bin/popuppr ... 20Sterling

LikeUStoleIt

If you eat red meat in your diet at all, you'll likely be getting sufficient creatine, and so your perceived lack of power is unlikely to be due to a deficiency.

There were also reports a few years' back linking kidney damage with creatine supplements. I'm not sure how good the data was, but even a hint of health problems being associated with a supplement would be enough to out me off.

Karl2010

Ive used it, and still have some in the cupard for when i start training again.
I wont use it unless im planning on doing some "heavy/intense" training for 2-4 weeks in the gym.

I did a Triathlon last year i started taking it about 7 days before the event to give it a chance to get in my system. I think it may have helped on the 26 mile TT.

As someone else said it delays fatiuge & helps with recovery.
When your lifting weights in the gym you can do more reps.
With creatine you can go past the point of "fail". If that makes sense.

But dont take too much. And dont take it all the time. Prolonged use is bad for your kidneys. Oh and drink plently of water. Also creatine is naturaly found in you muscles & red meat.

shockedsoshocked

Looked into this with a physiologist at Uni.

Potentially had the benefits of improved recovery from weights and instense (1min on/1min off stuff) interval sessions, with the benefit of being able to lift more/increase how many intervals you can perform.

it does make you increase in weight slightly, but this is only a minor disadvantage if done at the correct time of the season (as in, not in competetion), and you should still reap the benefits of having been able to lift heavier/perform more interval reps afterwards.

Or something like that anyway...

Richa1181

I've done some research into creatine in the past and just as on this forum there is a lot of variation in the findings by different people. Quite a few said that out of all of the sports supplements available (protein drinks, recovery drinks, isotonic drinks etc) creatine is the only one actually proven to improve performance.

It's main function is to help flush the crap out of your muscles during intense exercise and the more of it you have in reserve the longer you can put off the build up of lactic acid. It is beneficial to both sprinters and endurance athletes alike, you only have to look at the loading instructions to see that. People training for strength would take it once a day whereas endurance athletes would have it twice a day. Having excess creatine in your system is only harmful if you're not using it but chances are if you like your steak you'll have plenty to spare anyway.

As for the kidney issue, creatine won't cause you problems in that area unless you're already suffering from reduced kidney function or on medication that would lead to reduced kidney function. A lot of anti inflammatory's like Naproxen will have that effect so it's recommended you lay off the supplements if taking them.

SIS do a creatine alternative called Beta Alanine, it's supposed to have the same effect on the muscles but without the added weight gain or water retention you get with creatine. A good alternative if you're a climber wanting to get stronger without getting heavier.

This is a lengthy reply I know, but should contain some answers I hope. Mostly my information is from the excessive time I've spent talking to my doctor about trying to remain competitive whilst trying to fight arthritis with a million drugs. And also from sports nutrition books. Also Check out Mike Stroud's 'Survival of the fittest' for some amazing stories of human endurance combined with easy to take in medical research

ozzzyosborn206

thanks guys, i will have a look into this SIS stuff richa1181

shockedsoshocked

Richa1181 wrote:

I've done some research into creatine in the past and just as on this forum there is a lot of variation in the findings by different people. Quite a few said that out of all of the sports supplements available (protein drinks, recovery drinks, isotonic drinks etc) creatine is the only one actually proven to improve performance.

All of those things have been proven to work in the areas they're intended to.

what brakes

Richa1181 wrote:

I've done some research into creatine in the past and just as on this forum there is a lot of variation in the findings by different people. Quite a few said that out of all of the sports supplements available (protein drinks, recovery drinks, isotonic drinks etc) creatine is the only one actually proven to improve performance.

It's main function is to help flush the crap out of your muscles during intense exercise and the more of it you have in reserve the longer you can put off the build up of lactic acid. It is beneficial to both sprinters and endurance athletes alike, you only have to look at the loading instructions to see that. People training for strength would take it once a day whereas endurance athletes would have it twice a day. Having excess creatine in your system is only harmful if you're not using it but chances are if you like your steak you'll have plenty to spare anyway.

As for the kidney issue, creatine won't cause you problems in that area unless you're already suffering from reduced kidney function or on medication that would lead to reduced kidney function. A lot of anti inflammatory's like Naproxen will have that effect so it's recommended you lay off the supplements if taking them.

SIS do a creatine alternative called Beta Alanine, it's supposed to have the same effect on the muscles but without the added weight gain or water retention you get with creatine. A good alternative if you're a climber wanting to get stronger without getting heavier.

This is a lengthy reply I know, but should contain some answers I hope. Mostly my information is from the excessive time I've spent talking to my doctor about trying to remain competitive whilst trying to fight arthritis with a million drugs. And also from sports nutrition books. Also Check out Mike Stroud's 'Survival of the fittest' for some amazing stories of human endurance combined with easy to take in medical research

I agree with the above!

I have used creatine quite alot and it does put more water to your muscle hence weight increase. this allows you to push out those extra couple of reps or allow you to sprint that extra 50 yards etc.

Also mentioned above it has been proven that it doesnt cause kidney damage to a healthy kidney!

Its a good supplement to use if your do endurance sports. but you do need to take a few grams a day and you can take it long term. to no ill effects...

SLN57

I used it for about six weeks and all it did for me was make me pis$ every half hour and take three trips to the toilet in the night.

I may give it another go to see if I get the same problems.

sub55

Used it afew years back, did all my research so i knew what i was getting in to , did`nt appear to put any weight on , definately did`nt go any quicker. The only disearnable difference was that i permently ( whilst cycling) felt as if my legs were going to cramp up at any second. They never did ,so you can take from that , that the creatine was in there and was doing something but it certainly had no effect on speed. Which is`nt surprising really ,when you consider what we do is generally limited by cardiovasticlar system and not strength.

darren H

Sub 55 that s a good post
Creatine doesn't do anything for a cyclist unless it's used with another well known drug and I ain't starting a thread about that.

Forget creatine.

Loretta Damage

I took it about 10 years ago when I was playing a decent standard of rugby. When I came off a course I felt like I'd been given a good kicking in the kidney area for about a week. I've not been near it since. A couple of decent steaks a week will give you everything that creatine can.