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Creatine - Yay or nay?

C

Chris

Well-Known TRIBEr
Originally posted by ethnik

it's all about periodization friends. lifting the same old weights week after week, with the same excercises is useless. your body will plateau after about 6 weeks or so at the max.

any balanced weight training program (or cardio program) will have you progress through training cycles. i highly recommend slowly building for 3 weeks (no more than 10% more weight per week), then slowing down the 4th week to 75% of the previous weeks weight. it gives your body time to adjust to the workout level and the stres being placed on your muscles/joints etc.

and most importantly, you have to build REST into your training programs. easy to say, hard to do, especially if you are a type A personality that always feels the ned to go harder or heavier.

there are tons of variations on periodization...it all depends on your goals, your present level of fitness, how much time you have to devote in the gym, what sport you are specialising for etc etc. find a good trainer and get some proper advice. everyone can and should get 1 consultation per month as it is well within anyones means.

rant over

mike
Click to expand...

great post Mike, this cannot be said enough in these posts

cycle your training, weight loads, exercises, etc
cycle your diet
keep you body guessing

The results will come, but will come overtime, be patient.
 
C

CLUSTER

TRIBE Member
Originally posted by ethnik
to continue on my previous post....and this is just a personal rant of mine....most gyms and the trainers that work in them are absolutely clueles as to how to advise people to train effectively. gym owners don't give a rat's ass about peoples health. they just want to cash in on the big $$$ in the health club industry (the smart ones know how to cash in anyways).

it's all about periodization friends. lifting the same old weights week after week, with the same excercises is useless. your body will plateau after about 6 weeks or so at the max.

any balanced weight training program (or cardio program) will have you progress through training cycles. i highly recommend slowly building for 3 weeks (no more than 10% more weight per week), then slowing down the 4th week to 75% of the previous weeks weight. it gives your body time to adjust to the workout level and the stres being placed on your muscles/joints etc.

and most importantly, you have to build REST into your training programs. easy to say, hard to do, especially if you are a type A personality that always feels the ned to go harder or heavier.

there are tons of variations on periodization...it all depends on your goals, your present level of fitness, how much time you have to devote in the gym, what sport you are specialising for etc etc. find a good trainer and get some proper advice. everyone can and should get 1 consultation per month as it is well within anyones means.

rant over

mike
Click to expand...

*amen
 
J

Jeremy Jive

TRIBE Member
Oh I am definetly cycling and changing things up regularly. I have a four week cycle where I push my max weight on each set. After the four weeks I put in one week at a smaller weight and then the sixth week I rest and do mild workouts just a few times a week.

Then on the next repeat I change up my exercises.

My diet is regular and very balanced.

The problem is that with my work schedule I'm usually tired and I just don't have the energy to lift past my plateau and progress further. I need to find something to help me over the hump.

I'll give Creatine a try for a week or two and see what I think.

jeremy -my situation- jive
 
C

Chris

Well-Known TRIBEr
A training partner helps as well, great for motivation and helps out with your intensity I find. But Im a gym mongo.
 
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D

depraved

TRIBE Member
Nay
Your muscles may do more while on it, but the tendons can't keep up; you set yourself up for injury.
 
Last edited:
L

lok

TRIBE Member
Creatine doesnt make you stronger so much as more endurance. The ligaments are only put in seious stress situations when you can overlift in terms of sheer weight.
 
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T

The Tesseract

TRIBE Member
Creatine is bad for the tendons, yeah

but stretching before and during workouts helps that.

just be sure to build up flexibility before going on creatine and all will be good.
 
W

wyrm

TRIBE Member
Originally posted by Jeremy
Oh I am definetly cycling and changing things up regularly. I have a four week cycle where I push my max weight on each set. After the four weeks I put in one week at a smaller weight and then the sixth week I rest and do mild workouts just a few times a week.

Then on the next repeat I change up my exercises.

My diet is regular and very balanced.

The problem is that with my work schedule I'm usually tired and I just don't have the energy to lift past my plateau and progress further. I need to find something to help me over the hump.

I'll give Creatine a try for a week or two and see what I think.

jeremy -my situation- jive
Click to expand...

I'm not a gym rat anymore. I prefer to get in and out and on with life. My one critique is 'pushing max weight on each set' for four weeks is not really cycling.
 
C

Chris

Well-Known TRIBEr
Originally posted by depraved
My bad late edit.
I meant tendons (connecting muscle to bone).
Click to expand...
gotcha

You can do simple exercises to work on your tendons to prevent this. Usually tendon damage is in your shoulders. Often from performing sloppy technique when lifting.
 
T

The Tesseract

TRIBE Member
Don't forget...

even though Creatine causes water retention, you can wean yourself off the stuff to keep the bulk up. But you have to be extremely gradual (about 2months i've heard)
and you have to maintain your protein intake, maybe increase it.

1gm protein per 1lbs of body weight.
 
F

fuzzy

TRIBE Member
Originally posted by depraved
Nay
Your muscles may do more while on it, but the tendons can't keep up; you set yourself up for injury.
Click to expand...

This is an important point for anyone on it or thinking about taking it
 
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D

DEEPHOUSEGRL

TRIBE Member
I brought this thread back because I was wondering if anyone had noticed mood changes when taking this stuff? Do you become a bit miserable and develop an aggressive attitude?
 
C

Chris

Well-Known TRIBEr
Ive cycled creatine for quite sometime, and havent noticed any "mood" changes. I suspect that its not the creatine your taking but perhaps overtraining, ie little rest maybe?
 
D

DEEPHOUSEGRL

TRIBE Member
Rest? Perhaps. Or I was thinking if it someone takes this on a daily basis, and doesn't 'work out' enough....would it cause some sort of aggressive type behaviour when outside of a gym?
 
C

Chris

Well-Known TRIBEr
^^^

Interesting, maybe but I dont think so, most of the negative press out on creatine have been:
severe muscle cramps or muscle injury when taking creatine. causes cramping, dehydration,
changes in electrolyte concentrations,
or increases susceptibility to muscle strains/pulls
"bad poo"

To note though however, no study has reported any of these claims.
 
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C

Casper

TRIBE Member
all i know is that i went on it 5 weeks ago and i'm getting pumps brushing my teeth, gaining strength, and with zero side-effects,
peace
 
P

PosTMOd

Well-Known TRIBEr
What's funny is that when people occassionally just have a rapid change in mood, and yell at someone, they don't want to take responsibility for it.

Sure, blame it on the water, or the french fries, or the creatine... it's much easier that way, than having to deal with your own psychological hangups.
 
C

Chris

Well-Known TRIBEr
Originally posted by Casper
all i know is that i went on it 5 weeks ago and i'm getting pumps brushing my teeth, gaining strength, and with zero side-effects,
peace
Click to expand...

stop brushing your teeth with Winstrol for fucks sake ;)
 
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