Do you reccomend creatine for a 16 year old. Been lifting for almost a year, been reading t-mag for almost 9 months…
And should I use it during Wrestling season?
if you are going to take any supplement besides protein powder (you really don’t need supps if you’ve only been lifting a year), than creatine would be the only one i’d take. make sure you get your priorities straight though. training smart and good diet will be a lot more beneficial than creatine. it will be fine to take during wrestling season.
At you age, just eating good quality food should do the trick.You would be better off spending your money on protein shakes if anything.
From what I’ve seen Creatine is fine for kids who are 16. However if you’re wrestling and wrestling at a low weight, or close to your normal weight I wouldn’t take creatine. It can make you hold onto tons of water weight.
Nope. Just eat and train.
Agreed with the proper training and sound nutrition for an athlete your age. plus stay properly hydrated. if you were to take creatine and are not properly hydrated, well the middle of a match is a hell of a time to cramp! good luck!
I’ve seen a high school wrestler end up in the ER with mental staus changes, uncontrollable muscle spasms and in severe pain who was on his way to weigh-in when he fell out. The reason? He was using creatine and dehydrating while trying to make weight. Also, the ER doc had no idea what the problem was, since he had no knowledge of creatine use. Fortunately, IV hydration (the solution to pollution is dilution) was automatically given, and brought the kid around.
Get your creatine from steaks. Supplements are overpriced.
I agree. I’m only 20 myself, and when I was 15 and in high school, wrestling at the time, I began using creatine and training very heavily. I personally was more interested in getting big than staying in my own weight class. Well, over the period of the season, since I was training heavily, eating a lot of good foods, taking creatine, and was a beginner to boot, I gained 30 lbs, and decreased my bodyfat, lol. Luckily, I still did fine in the higher weight class, but if you’re looking to stay where you’re at, I wouldn’t use it.
Also, of interest, I have heard of a few amateur wrestlers dying while on creatine during season. I (and everyone else) all came to the conclusion that it was because of the extreme weight loss techniques they were putting themselves through (Way too much running, rubber suits, laxatives, etc- the usual). However, I do wonder, seeing as how all of those things are pretty commonplace in wrestling, if being on the creatine while doing that made the situation worse. Not to mention being dehydrated while on creatine can cause some pretty severe cramps, etc. So, if you’re planning on doing any of this to make weight, I definitely would NOT use creatine. While it is an extremely safe supplement, it’s meant to be used in certain conditions, and if you’re putting your body through the grind of making weight by starving yourself, lots of sweating, and everything else, it could do more harm than good.
Vman, creatine is cheaper than steak by a long shot, but I do agree the kid needs to focus on food.
Swale, honestly, do you believe that an amateur athlete dropping weight dramatically would not have had the same symptoms sans creatine? The kid’s problems were from dropping tons of water weight in a short amount of time, period. Creatine was not the reason, stupidity was.
You’re a wrestler? Cool…I’d suggest staying away from creatine, or at least experimenting with it on your off season. The reason is, it can add more weight to you than relative strength that you’d get gaining muscle w/out creatine, because of the water retention. 5-10 pounds of creatine weight would not be as physically effective as 5-10 pounds of strength-trained muscle. However, if you are not concerned with staying in a particular weight class, then I’d say go for it, it worked for olympic speed skaters. As everyone else said, stay hydrated.
Just thought – hell, load the stuff AFTER your weigh-in. You should get at least some of the benefits, without the risks that other people here mention, such as dehydration during extreme water weight dropping.The spike in creatine could actually help your game.