A shout out to my main man, Mufasa! Wassup, buddy! I was notified by the Dogg Father himself (Nate Diggity) that there was a search party out for Timbo–led by the Lion King himself–and promptly searched for the thread and responded…looks like it didn’t quite make it though. Anyway, Timbo just wanted to thank you, King, for your concern on your lil’ buddy’s state of affairs. The Dogg was right: Timbo’s been hella busy with classes, researching grad school, prepping for the GRE and Final Exams, and training and eating like a T-Man. Although TEK’s theory on Timbo’s disappearance was pretty cool, it’s not quite the truth but would be a hella sight! Timbo will do his best to frequent the forum and keep in touch with his tru bros as in the past:-)
Max-OT...Timbo believes that he's heard Slaine talk about Maximum Overload Training and its effectiveness. Slainey, if you're out there brutha man, Timbo's got a question or two for ya, bro. I've followed the principles in the past with some nice success but just have a Q or two for ya.
Creatine...Timbo just wonders what the jurisdiction is on the need to cycle creatine. Specifically, should one drop creatine from the supplement schedule after a certain period of usage? Particularly if one uses only 5-10g/day, is there a need to stop taking it?
Drop it during periods when you’re broke! Otherwise, don’t sweat cycling it. If you’re one of the people that benefits from creatine, stick with it. It usually takes 4 weeks (or so) for the body to get it’s synthesis back to normal. If you cut it, I’d suggest doing it during a maintenance or transition phase.
Hey Timbo, I just read this in an old T-mag interview with Dr. Eric Serrano. It should help you out.
“Sure. I want to tell people not to take creatine before a workout. It’s completely wrong. It’ll lead to cramps. Number two, always, always take it after a workout. That’s when your body is ready for it. Number three, you should always cycle it. Number four, never take anti-inflammatories with it because it can increase your creatinine levels and it can also effect your kidneys—that’s the only time creatine can adversely affect your kidneys. Also, maintain a certain amount of hydration. With my athletes, I recommend .7 ounces of water per kilogram of body weight. As far as the precise method for cycling, I’ll tell Testosterone readers later. I haven’t got it specifically worked out yet, but I guarantee a 20% increase in your strength, and a 15% increase in your body weight by cycling it the way I’ll recommend.”
Just a quick note: That method of taking creatine that Serrano talks about was later posted in T-mag, in reader mail I think. Me and a few of my training buddies tried it and none of us noticed any improvements over the old method of loading up a little then using 5g per day after training. Still, creatine is cheap if anyone wanted to try it.
i believe there is a study done by dr tarnopolsky that showed that creatine transporters do not down regulate with a 10 gram creatine serving. id assume this would mean we dont have to cycle it
Thanks for the input, guys. Dogg Father…I actually tried Doc Serrano’s method a while back without any noticeable differences. I do have the outline for any interested. I’m also not a “responder” so to speak, from creatine in the form of weight gain or much of an additional pump, but I do benefit from an extra rep or two, which I consider beneficial. Where’s the King?!?
Nothing exciting to add…just wanted to say hello to my friend Timbo. Good to see you on here…hope everything is going well. I’ve been a little busy myself finishing up my ISSA cert and working, and I’m getting in condition for indoor soccer with Coach D’s assistance. Take care!
chris…thanks for the input, buddy. That’s what Timbo was looking for, some hard core scientific stuff. Tarnopolsky is a pretty solid researcher.
Teddy, my man! Long time, little correspondence. Hope all’s well with you too, bro, and it sounds like it is. Are you in the process of ISSA certification or do you have it already? It seems like one of the higher quality certs available in Timbo’s opinion. Thanks for the well wishes and same to you. Stay busy and keep working hella hard.
Slainey...you come out of the darkness, my friend. Just want to throw a few at ya, if ya don't mind. I trained Max-OT style for 8 weeks or so about a year and a half to two years ago, so it's hard to imagine that I've got questions, but what the hell. Okay, just wondered if you followed the program to a T (as in T-Man)...with splits (5 on/2 off), sets, reps, rest intervals, and the like. Man, seems like Timbo had more questions, just can't think of them all right now and in between classes Timbo's kinda rushed. How long have you been training with these principles? Good results (mass, strength, etc)? Diet...do you go supah-dupah high protein as preached by AST or more Massive Eating style? Cardio? There's some great info over there on AST too. Thanks in advance, Slainey. Any other dimes ya wanna drop on Timbo are welcome with open arms.
No such thing as a non “responder” to creatine. Maybe your not using it properly Tim.
I thought I was a non responder as well and after trying it a quite a few times I respond really well now. I went through Cell-Tech first and then started useing different brands - loading for 2 weeks -maintaining for 2 and then breaking for 2 and repeated that for about 3-4 times. Now when I take a month break and load - I gain 5lbs and get huge pumps.
A little note on creatinine: Because of the increased creatine in one’s system there will be obviously be more creatinine. Yet this does not mean there are any kidney problems. The sole reason why many doctors feel that creatine cause renal complications is because they are assuming that creatine levels are average thus creatinine levels should follow accordingly. Yet if you actually calculated it all out, you would find there would be little wrong. BTW creatinine levels are, and should be, used as simply a flag for Kidney problems.
Just calling this bad-boy back up cause Timbo sees that his main man the Lion King (aka Mufasa) was in the house the other day. Muf! Hey, buddy, thanks for sending the shout out to me, my man.
Slainey, if you’re out there, drop a dime on me, bro.
Goldberg thinks that Timbo should stop speaking in third person. Goldberg thinks that it makes Timbo sound like a 100 million dollar per year superstar. Goldberg knows Timbo doenst really mean to sound that way. Goldberg is LOL.
T-Bo’s LOL too…T-Bo thinks Goldberg’s a hella cool T-man, so he’ll take his advice and return to the lame ol’ first-person, same thing everybody else does, talkie talkie. T-Bo apologizes for coming across as an arrogant SOB…or a Million Dollar T-Man…that’s the last thing that was intended. T-Bo is glad that he got Goldberg to laugh though…whether he was laughing with or at T-Bo is beside the point:-)