creatine & cycling - is it legal?? would you use it?

clunkychunky

so i recently heard a couple of fellas in our bike club talking about creatine and how much its helped them improve. my question is, is a suppliment like this legal in cycling? i assume that at professional level this would be strictly forbidden, as everything seems to be apart from certain meats (mr contador)
i was wondering at what level of the sport such suppliments would be accepted?

this leads me on to testing. do they do tests in lower category races? (ie 3rd or 4th cat) and if so, would creatine show up?

and finally, anyone know what creatine is like? from what i have heard its supposed to help recovery and endurance during hard workouts, but does it have any side effects?

Headhuunter

Creatine exists naturally in the body so I wouldn't have thought it could be considered an illegal supplement. If you do a search of these forums yuo'll find lots of other threads discussing creatine, it's been brought up loads of times before. AFAIK it's used by the body in short burst efforts and is largely used by weightlifters/power lifters. It doesn't actually give you more power, it allows you to do short burst pushes for longer, so for example it would help someone at the gym doing weights work out for 2 hours rather than 1½ or whatever.

I have heard contradictory accounts of its usefulness in cycling but I think generally it's regarded as not useful. Cycling relies on long, endurance effort rather than short bursts of power (unless you're doing come kind of track event or something).

As for side effects, some experts believe that supplementing creating can reduce your body's ability to produce or reuse its own and come to rely on supplements, which I suppose would result in a drop in power if you ever stopped using it until your body got used to producing its own again, however I'm not sure this has been proven.

danowat

I think its legal, but I'd never use it.

aripallaris

creatine effects are often short lived. good whilst you take it but after a month of stopping use the body tends to go back to the point you started at. also worth noting it's known for it's water retention properties. also if you have kidney problems creatine should be avoided. might be worth you checking out a preworkout option like MRI black powder, no xplode etc. these will give you more focus, strength and great pump

Anonymous

I tried it for a while, it seemed to help a *little* with recovery (I was hoping it wold help all round but my power wasn't much, if any different) but I put weight on which probably more than counter-acted any benefits whatsoever...

Va Va Boom

My ex missis was a doctor and she said she saw lots of creatine users all the time with damaged kidneys and liver as they weren't drinking enough water to flush it through. Basically you have to drink like a fish if using it.

This put me off trying it.

Zoomer37

I'd not bother.

Possible water retention and just staying hydrated whilst on it could be a pain for cyclists.

s25scd

Va Va Boom wrote:

My ex missis was a doctor and she said she saw lots of creatine users all the time with damaged kidneys and liver as they weren't drinking enough water to flush it through. Basically you have to drink like a fish if using it.

This put me off trying it.

Exactly, I took creatine in cycles( few weeks on few weeks off) from about the age of 17 - 25 whilst playing football. Towards the end of my playing days I felt alot of discomfort from my kidney areas so stopped.I felt i always had to drink alot to rinse through my kidneys lol. Its mainly used for increase in explosive power. Me personally , i wouldnt touch the stuff for endurance sports such as cycling.

petemadoc

Va Va Boom wrote:

Basically you have to drink like a fish if using it.

Sounds great Where do I get this stuff?

sungod

it's not on the banned list

the rapid 'bulking up' some people get is due to increased water retention in the muscles, not an increase in actual muscle, so your power/weight ratio probably ends up worse

without a proper controlled trial there's no way to reliably separate actual from imagined gain

i recommend steak tartare and lots of sashimi, much yummier

Monty Dog

It is not banned in UK, but is in France for example. It is classified as a food-supplement, not a drug. There is evidence that creatine use can have an anabolic effect for endurance athletes if used correctly - on it's own it is a lot less effective - you need to use it in conjunction with other proteins and supplements. I use it to aid recovery - typically from races or hard sessions only, not every day - I use it sparingly and don't do the 'loading phase' that bodybuilders do whch leads to the problems mentioned. It aids water retention in muscles which I find help minimises cramp in hot conditions. The benefits are likely to be reduced if not doing any power / high intensity training - training still 'hurts' whether you use it or not, but I find it helps with recovery.

rozzer32

Please see here:

http://www.optimumnutrition4sport.com/?page_id=185

NapD will tell you all about Barry.

Barry also has a few pro riders under his wings including Dean Downing so I would say he knows what he is doing.

Thebigbee

I am certain that Creatine isn't illegal. I have a mate who is into the gym in a big way and from what he tells me it helps you build muscle.

He is very strong, but I wonder if it is just at building muscle for high weights? Cycling is much more endurance and cardio really so I am not sure how much benefit it would be.

As NapD says - I suspect there is a high chance of weight gain from taking it unless you really work it off.