Creatine

hey guys, i will start the loading stage for creatine tomorrow, but before i do it, i have some questions. it is recommended to take 2 to 4 servings per day for the first five days, should i just drink like 2 servings pre-workout and then 2 more post-workout? also, what carbs should i eat afterwards to help "activate" the creatine? i know a lot of you guys take protein, but is it really necessary? or should taking creatine be sufficient? if you guys have any suggestions for taking creatine, please help me out. thanks guys.

You need protein to build muscle. Creatine is a great supplement, but if i had to pick one or the other, protein would be the one to have no doubt. As far as the loading phase goes, you need to spread out 20-25g throughout the day, usually in 4-5 servings of 5 g's each time. Like take a seving in the morning, one pre-workout, one post, and another serving at night i.e. If you're taking creatine monohydrate, water is all that is needed, no need to add carbs and such. just sppon it directly into your mouth, and chug it down with some water

thanks a lot bimmerchop. i bought creatine monohydrate, but should i go out and pick up some whey protein?

Whey is great post workout

hey bimmerchop, i really appreciate the advice, but i have one more question. isnt is suggested to take about 100 grams of carbs with creatine? the monohydrate formula comes with about 38, so should i eat a little more carbs to go with it? should i just add the creatine to a protein shake? can you give me the best recipe for a PWO shake with measurements? thanks once again.

IMO creatine isnt the greatest suppplement. creatine forces fluid in to your muscles and thats why some people look bloated and so forth. just drink plenty of water and it will do the same thing.

reason why so many people get so much bloat with creatine is because they make the mistake of not buying pure monohydrate, or using some crazy amount of sugar or carb source for the delivery system, too many shitty products out there that do this like cell tech. Pure monohydrate won't give you much bloat at all if taken correctly, and although you'll gain some water weight, it's nothing significant and you won't lose your strentgh once off it. You'll hardly get anywhere near the same result with drinking a lot of water, which you should be doing already whether or not your're taking creatine.

http://abcbodybuilding.com/creatine%...0and_facts.php

fayjairay... take a look at that link, it talks about carbs/sugars for a delivery system, as well as other aspects. If you bought pure monohydrate, it shouldn't have any carbs at all.

hey bimmerchop, the creatine i bought was gnc brand because it was on sale... 2 for 60 bucks... http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp...entPage=family
was this a bad idea? thanks to your advice, i went out to buy some ON whey protein today, so we will see what happens.

Your first mistake was going to GNC. Buy your supplements online, 1fast400.com is one site you can check out. As far as that creatine goes, it's crap imo. ON has pure monohydrate, so next time you order some ON whey, get some mono as well

hmm, well its still not too late to return them. your advice has helped me out alot bimmerchop. im suppose to get the creatine powder, http://www.1fast400.com/?products_id=77 correct? thanks.

I'm glad I could help, and yes, get the powder.

thanks bimmerchop. so one more thing, should i just put the creatine in with my PWO shake? or drink seperately?

drink the first half of your pwo shake immediately after your workout. Let that settle in your stomach for about 15 minutes. Then take your creatine with a few sips of water. After that, for the rest of the 40 minutes out of that first hour after your workout sip on the rest of your shake. Then have a meal about 45 minutes after you're done with your shake. i find this to be the best method