Is there a benefit to taking 1/2 of your daily serving 30 mins prior work out, and then the other half within 30 minutes after? And then on off days taking it all at once?
Our would just taking it everyday in the morning work the same.
Doesn’t matter when you take it. Just make sure you get a serving daily.
says ‘perferably after training’ on the directions of the Biotest german creatine.
Physical activity is said to improve creatine uptake in skeletal muscles, hence the suggestion of “preferably after training.” Insulin is also supposed to improve uptake, so taken with an insulinogenic (such as sugars or simple carbs) is also benefical.
On training days I throw it in my Surge Recovery after training, and on off-days I have it with grape juice as the label suggests.
What Rich said. But since it takes many days for the level of creatine to build up in your body, it will all even out anyway.
[quote]EasyRhino wrote:
What Rich said. But since it takes many days for the level of creatine to build up in your body, it will all even out anyway.[/quote]
This. For the most part, it just takes time to build up creatine. Although I have seen many articles that PWO, along with fast acting carbs can saturate your muscles with creatine, giving it a better effect. Not sure how true this is, but it couldn’t hurt.
Okay another question. This is the 3rd day I am on it. I read that there is no point in ramping, that just taking 5g a day will still build up levels and Ill save a few scoops. How many days do you think it takes until it is in full action? A week or two?
Take 10g on lifting days (5g before, 5g after… Thib has said there has been research that 5g before is even more important or as important), 5g on non-lifting days in the morning as an insurance policy (to fill creatine stores), that is all you need. Don’t worry about about time, it’s just creatine, people make too big a deal out of it.
I prefer 3g preworkout. Postworkout never did much for me. I actually thought I was a non responder using more than 5g per day until I tried using it in my preworkout shake. People’s experiences vary.
yeah just quick question on the post workout, 1st time using creatine so please bear wit me
do i take it with my protien shake?? (i use milk with that)
or can i just take it when i get home from school with the grape juice/cordial or whatever??
thanks trav
how does tell whether he is a non responder to creatine? just curious about this coz maybe putting it in my pre shake instead of post might be more beneficial…
I take it with my pre-workout carbs.
With a protein shake is fine. Juice is fine too but they recommend a non-acidic juice, I forget why.
For the non responder question. If all other aspects of training and nutrition arent right the creatine wont do much. Basically if you arent making gains, it’s not the creatines fault. If you are making gains then you’ll have to experiment to see when the creatine works best for you.
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
With a protein shake is fine. Juice is fine too but they recommend a non-acidic juice, I forget why.
For the non responder question. If all other aspects of training and nutrition arent right the creatine wont do much. Basically if you arent making gains, it’s not the creatines fault. If you are making gains then you’ll have to experiment to see when the creatine works best for you. [/quote]
My understanding as to why it was recommended to put the creatine in a lower acidity juice was to avoid degradation of the creatine…this makes sense until you think about stomach acid. Maybe the idea was to not let it sit in the acidic juice for an extended period of time…
Hello,
There is two interesting tnation articles about Creatine, that should answer your questions.
Catching Up On Creatine :
The Creatine Controversy :
I’ve just started Creatine too, however I’m afraid to take it pre-workout because of possible muscle and tendon damages caused by dehydration, both articles suggest to take Creatine PWO only. Just saying, I don’t know much personally about Creatine.
Regards,
Guillaume.
[quote]guillaume76 wrote:
Hello,
There is two interesting tnation articles about Creatine, that should answer your questions.
Catching Up On Creatine :
The Creatine Controversy :
I’ve just started Creatine too, however I’m afraid to take it pre-workout because of possible muscle and tendon damages caused by dehydration, both articles suggest to take Creatine PWO only. Just saying, I don’t know much personally about Creatine.
Regards,
Guillaume.[/quote]
Not contradicting - just adding in my own experience. I take micronized creatine mixed in with Power Drive 45 mins before workout with 8-10oz water, mixed up very well. Then during WO I am drinking almost 2 quarts of liquid - I don’t notice any dehydration, GI distress or any other abnormalities.
[quote]guillaume76 wrote:
I’ve just started Creatine too, however I’m afraid to take it pre-workout because of possible muscle and tendon damages caused by dehydration, both articles suggest to take Creatine PWO only. Just saying, I don’t know much personally about Creatine.[/quote]
Drink enough fluid so that you’re not at risk of dehydration.
Problem solved!
I personally started taking 5g pre and 5g post instead of just 5g post and noticed a positive difference in my energy and pumps.
[quote]guillaume76 wrote:
Hello,
There is two interesting tnation articles about Creatine, that should answer your questions.
Catching Up On Creatine :
The Creatine Controversy :
I’ve just started Creatine too, however I’m afraid to take it pre-workout because of possible muscle and tendon damages caused by dehydration, both articles suggest to take Creatine PWO only. Just saying, I don’t know much personally about Creatine.
Regards,
Guillaume.[/quote]
mate thank you for these!
have read one of them, but never hurts to re-read
absolute gold guys highly recommend a read to further ya education on this stuff
3rd day into taking 5g post workout, only just put it in my shake
all MAX’s stuff (aussie supp brand)
Another gem from Bryan Haycock hope it helps;
Creatine is taken up into cells by the creatine transporter. It is a sodium (Na+) dependant transporter. It is estimated that 2Na+ are transported with each Cr molecule.
The transporter is saturable. Meaning, it can only go so fast no matter how much creatine is present around the cell.
The creatine transporter is NOT directly affected by glucose, insulin, or caffeine. However, when insulin reaches very high levels, it has been shown to increase the amount of creatine that is taken up into cells. There is no evidence that it increases the total amount that the cell can hold.
Caffeine does not inhibit the uptake of creatine into cells.
There is no evidence that “low blood sugar”/hypoglycemia will be affected by creatine supplementation.
- Creatine uptake into muscle tissue is limited by the activity of the creatine transporter.
- The creatine transporter is “down-regulated” as the level of creatine inside the muscle cell increases.
- Creatine only has an effect on muscle cell physiology once it is already inside the cell. Creatine in the blood does nothing for performance…it must be inside the cell.
- If you load creatine during 5 days (20gm/day), the amount of creatine excreted in the urine goes up DRAMATICALLY by the 3rd day because the muscle cells lose the ability to take in creatine because their transporters are being down regulated.
- Creatine uptake appears to be either sodium dependant, or highly regulated by sodium transport. Insulin (from carbs) increases sodium uptake into cells, this is why carbs have been shown to increase creatine uptake.
- Exercise increases creatine uptake. If you take some creatine and sit on a stationary bike and only peddle with one leg, the leg you peddle with will take up more creatine than the leg that is not peddling. (Hint: take you creatine pre-workout)
- Different forms of creatine do not affect creatine uptake. This is because creatine uptake is limited by the creatine itself, not by its form at the time of ingestion. Once the muscle cell is filled up, it won’t take any more. Don’t let anybody charge you for any special forms of creatine. Monohydrate works as good as any.
- Creatine supplementation will result in approximately a 20% increase in phosphocreatine at best.
- Some people will have a greater response to creatine if their meat intake was low before. Vegetarians respond beautifully to the stuff.