Loading with Creatine

[motof]

Hey there
I wanted to start bulking and using creatine. How much should I load with and how should I cycle the creatine to make the most gains?

peace

[Slated]

Creatine, of any type, does not need to be loaded.

Long term studies have shown that use of creatine dose not need to be cycled or loaded, as the overall outcome will remain the same.

Creatine loading will create faster weight gain, this is however, primarily due to water retention. Most would consider this to be unwanted and unnecissary.

Creatine monohydrate can be ingested in 2 doses spread out during the day, one of which should be immediately post workout with 15g of high glycemic carbohydrates, with a fast absorbing protein source, such as whey, 30 min post training. Supplementation with 7-12g of free form leucine with carbs (cho) and protein post workout has also been shown to be very beneficial.

CEE will not provide better gains than mono, but may reduce water retention in some people. Being an ethol ester however, during de-esterfication, ethenol is released which creates strain on vital organs such as liver and kidneys. This is not the case with creatine monohydrate.

[BigBen001]

hey from what iv heard a buddy of mine did this but you take one scoop when u wake up one before lunch one before your workout take that one with some protein 30-45 mins before you workout and right after ur workout and then before dinner you have to do creatine right you need to cycle on and off of it go like 3-4 weeks like i just explained it and then go a week without from what iv heard and experience ur creatine receptores in the body have to like recooperate or something of the sort thats it

[Slated]

Creatine does not need to be cycled or loaded.

Creatine 'receptors' do not become desensitized from use.

If you would like to state otherwise, please provide proof to this as you're using outdated information and bad science

[gymBum]

http://www.chronicfitness.com/forum/...e.html#post143

Cycling and loading is a myth, not sure where it originated, good one to clear up though. There is so much info about cycling and loading creatine on the net it is unfortunate.

Originally Posted by BigBen001

from what iv heard

Good to include info like this, sources are very important to know whether it be websites, people or books.

[gpowlftr]

I agree, the loading phase is really not necessary. Taking a daily dose of 5 grams post workout is just as effective.

Flavored powder or pure powder? I pretty much use the pure powder whenever possible. Recently, I used Cell Mass from BSN the Artic Blast flavor, which was good and didn't create much water retention.

[BigBen001]

geeze my bad guess i was trying to qoute anything i just mentioned what was going through the grapevine haha i dont use creatine anyways i dont like the water retention u get from it makes u seem bigger then u really are and kinda disappoints you after you get off of it. Really what i would use would be a testosterone booster alot of athletes use them for bulking and general usage good stuff.

[jpzciii]

I would be careful with creatine. If you decide to take it, DRINK PLENTY OF WATER!!!! This is vital because it may put a little hurt on the kidneys (IMO). 5 Grams per day should be plenty. BSN makes a good CEE product, but I have had the same benefits from creatine monohydrate. The good thing about CEE, as mentioned above, is you don't get that BlOaTiNg factor you do with mono. It may give you the poops though : (

In reply to:
---really what i would use would be a testosterone booster alot of athletes use them for bulking and general usage good stuff.
Sent by BigBen001

Testosterone booster's may provide good gains, but beware of the less known products. Don't let yourself fall into a silly gimmick. Before you buy any substance you are unfamiliar with, always do your research and read up on the forums and on the net about how the product/substance really works with people. Also, if you are still young (young being any age up to 22) there really isn't a need for a tes. boost. Your body should be making plenty of that naturally.
Good luck with your situation!

[Jay]

My personal opinion is that loading helps, i used creatine monohydrate for 4 months and saw a great improvement while using the loading phase, you may call this unwanted water retension, but i gained a serious amount of bulk, and strenght.

i have also used creatine monohydrate without the loading phase (the first time i used it), i didnt experience the same kind of bulk, and strenght gain, it also gave me side effects such as headaches, i followed the guidlines, drank plenty of water. Basically in my opinion your body needs time to adjust to creatine mono hydrate, so loading phase is a definate yes.

but at the same time, i didnt experience anywhere near the same gains from monohydrate as to what i gained for ethly ester.

[stormn1187]

From what I researched, the body will only absorb a certain amount of creatine anyway. So any extra you load up on is just going to get flushed from your body as waste.