Creatine -- anyone use it regularly?

[TigerVols]

How often?
Shown any improvement?
Is it worth the cost?

And no, I'm not Jason Grimsley.

 

[21]

I can tell you this: if you use it, you'd better be working out heavily, or expect to just get fat.

 

[Double Down]

I used it in college and if you work out a lot, you will make serious strength gains. If that's what you're interested in, it's probably worth the cost.

However, I'm still waiting for the long-term studies that will come out 5 or 10 years from now and show what the crap did to my kidneys.

Looking back, wish I would have said no thanks.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

If it was in Anheiser-Busch products then I'd use it all the time,

What the **** are you looking at?

You got a pproblem?

I'll kicj your ass.

Yeah I',m talking yo you

(mumble, mumble, discontention)

 

[SportsHack1818]

When I was a college athlete (about a decade ago), our strength and conditioning coach had a meeting with our team to tell us all about creatine, extolling its many virtues.

I was thinking it sounded pretty good until he got to the point where he said you needed to take a break from it every so often (I don't remember the exact timeframe now) so that "your liver will have a chance to clean itself out" before starting up on it again.

That was all I needed to hear to know I needed no part of it.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

There’s no " I " in TEAM. And there is no "WIN" in liver.

You big ****in' chicken bastrard

 

[Norman Stansfield]

I'm a big advocate of it.

I've used it in the past and am in the midst of getting back on again. 21 is correct in saying, though, that you must work out regularly in order to see the full benefit.

In roughly a two-month cycle, I gain between 10-12 pounds, tighten up considerably and also experience big jumps in strength. The last time I used it, after about seven weeks I had upped my (unassisted) bench to 295 pounds, and did as many as 15 reps at 225. I work out pretty regularly even when I'm off it and without it, the best I've done on the bench is 255. Really, the difference is remarkable.

Now, the down side. No one really knows the long-term effects of regular use. I also am fairly certain that I separated my left shoulder from lifting such heavy weights on a regular basis -- the tendons and ligaments just aren't used to such big increases in such a short period of time. I'm still feeling the effects of it more than a year later, too.

But it all depends on what you're looking for.

There's different ways to take it, also. You can buy pure and mix it with a delivery powder, or buy it already mixed.

Anyway, feel free to PM me if you have any more questions or want me to get more specific.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Works for me.

 

[Idaho]

Works for me.

My sympathies to Mrs. Micro.

Who knew the micro referred to your nutsack?

 

[micropolitan guy]

You should see the before picture! :D

 

[Idaho]

You should see the before picture!  :D

I did. Wasn't that you in the San Fran nekked bike rally?

 

[WHA73]

used it in 1996-99...having kidney problems now

 

[DyePack]

Using it is a bad idea. It says right on the can to expect a loss in flexibility and that muscle strains and tears are a definite risk.

In addition, pumping quantities of this into your body is going to be hard on your kidneys. It's sort of like eating two steaks for every meal and following those with a protein shake. Your muscles love it. Your internal organs absolutely hate it.