Okay, so for the past dozen days or so I’ve read quite a bit on Creatine. I feel that I’ve gotten well versed enough to know that it’s a good quality supplement. That said, I feel that I’ve been exposed to some contradictory information and I would like some help sorting it out:
Caffeine/stimulants with Creatine: This seems to be a no-go. Caffeine and other stimulants (ie, ephedra) seem to cancel out the effects of creatine. Where there is some debate is when these stimulants are ingested.
Is this debatable? In other words, to get the most money from my creatine, should I simply avoid coffee for the X amount of days while on it?
Should we cycle creatine? There is some discussion that creatine seems to lose it’s effectiveness after a month (or so). So the prevailing wisdom is that you take it for a month, stop for 3 weeks, and then get back on. Is this fairly accurate?
Using creatine while dieting, is this a bad idea? Obviously you are not going to maximize your protein synthasis and your muscle building while dieting, but it seems to me that creatine supplimentation could help with maintaining muscle (perhaps helping build some in new lifters) and the like. More muscle means greater metabolism, which seems to indicate to me that creatine could (theoretically) be an aid in fat loss.
Those are my three questions. Thanks for the help!
[quote]Meatros wrote:
Okay, so for the past dozen days or so I’ve read quite a bit on Creatine. I feel that I’ve gotten well versed enough to know that it’s a good quality supplement. That said, I feel that I’ve been exposed to some contradictory information and I would like some help sorting it out:
Caffeine/stimulants with Creatine: This seems to be a no-go. Caffeine and other stimulants (ie, ephedra) seem to cancel out the effects of creatine. Where there is some debate is when these stimulants are ingested.
[/quote]
I think it mostly depends on how much caffeine, and more likely you’re worrying about the small stuff too much.
Is this debatable? In other words, to get the most money from my creatine, should I simply avoid coffee for the X amount of days while on it?
Should we cycle creatine? There is some discussion that creatine seems to lose it’s effectiveness after a month (or so). So the prevailing wisdom is that you take it for a month, stop for 3 weeks, and then get back on. Is this fairly accurate?
[/quote]
No, it’s fine to keep using it.
It’s fine to use it when dieting. If anything it’ll likely help you a bit.
Those are my three questions. Thanks for the help![/quote]
With all that being said, you’re worrying too much. It’s creatine, use it if you can afford it.
Forget about it, Creatine has a multitude of effects as does caffeine, the only overlap is water retention, with the former retaining water and the latter having the ability to be a diuretic. The actual beneficial effects of creatine (ATP replenishment, cognition) are not affected by caffeine.
It’s really up to you, some people cycle with a loading week, maintenance, and off phase. And others (like me) just grew tired of it and add 5g to our shakes around workout time. Creatine will NOT ‘lose’ it’s effectiveness, it just won’t give you overly noticable results because you don’t have an ‘off’ phase to compare it against.
Not a bad idea, it can preserve or gain lean tissue around a workout (Only time I have used it on a cutting diet) which would be beneficial in the long run. Anything that can help build muscle is good, even on a cutting diet (unless it interferes with the cut, which creatine would not, although you may retain some water and not look as defined, even though you are still losing body fat)
[quote]chimera182 wrote:
With all that being said, you’re worrying too much. It’s creatine, use it if you can afford it.[/quote]
Heh, yeah, my wife says something to that effect too…It’s in my nature to pour over something, even if it’s inconsequential - thanks for the help though.
Forget about it, Creatine has a multitude of effects as does caffeine, the only overlap is water retention, with the former retaining water and the latter having the ability to be a diuretic. The actual beneficial effects of creatine (ATP replenishment, cognition) are not affected by caffeine.
It’s really up to you, some people cycle with a loading week, maintenance, and off phase. And others (like me) just grew tired of it and add 5g to our shakes around workout time. Creatine will NOT ‘lose’ it’s effectiveness, it just won’t give you overly noticable results because you don’t have an ‘off’ phase to compare it against.
Not a bad idea, it can preserve or gain lean tissue around a workout (Only time I have used it on a cutting diet) which would be beneficial in the long run. Anything that can help build muscle is good, even on a cutting diet (unless it interferes with the cut, which creatine would not, although you may retain some water and not look as defined, even though you are still losing body fat)[/quote]
Thanks for your help. In regards to 1, I didn’t know the issue was water retention. I guess I didn’t stumble upon that. That makes a lot of sense though. I thought it had something to do with the chemicals interacting with the creatine. Can you offset the diretic effect of caffeine by just drinking more water?
Forget about it, Creatine has a multitude of effects as does caffeine, the only overlap is water retention, with the former retaining water and the latter having the ability to be a diuretic. The actual beneficial effects of creatine (ATP replenishment, cognition) are not affected by caffeine.
It’s really up to you, some people cycle with a loading week, maintenance, and off phase. And others (like me) just grew tired of it and add 5g to our shakes around workout time. Creatine will NOT ‘lose’ it’s effectiveness, it just won’t give you overly noticable results because you don’t have an ‘off’ phase to compare it against.
Not a bad idea, it can preserve or gain lean tissue around a workout (Only time I have used it on a cutting diet) which would be beneficial in the long run. Anything that can help build muscle is good, even on a cutting diet (unless it interferes with the cut, which creatine would not, although you may retain some water and not look as defined, even though you are still losing body fat)[/quote]
Thanks for your help. In regards to 1, I didn’t know the issue was water retention. I guess I didn’t stumble upon that. That makes a lot of sense though. I thought it had something to do with the chemicals interacting with the creatine. Can you offset the diretic effect of caffeine by just drinking more water?[/quote]
Something else to bear in mind is the fact that the diuretic effect of caffeine is different for everyone.