09-29-2004, 04:26 PM
I've recently started to take pure Creatine to suppliment my workouts. I have a lot of friends here at school that have use creatine or have used it in the past. The reaction is a mixed bag.
I've done my fair share of reading up on Creatine, both online and from the little resources in our library, spoke to a friend of mine about it (a Chemistry Grad student), and had many conversations in the gym with users.
From what I've read Creatine became popular in the mid 70's. The actual chemical is Creatine Phosphate, and is commonly labeled Phosphagen now a days (a marketing ploy, I'm sure). Creatine is naturally found in the body, and works to give an extra boost when muscles are almost burnt out. The idea behind Creatine use is that it allows you more reps of the same weight, therefore increasing the 'tearing' to muscles which in turn creates more size and mass. There is also a residual effect of water absorbtion. Creatine suppliments do not work for everyone, since the body naturally produces Creatine and some people already produce the maximum amount a muscle can absorb.
The biggest issue is that there are no long term studies on Pure Creatine. There are plenty of brands out there that have additives that play with insulin levels in an attempt to increase muscle absorbtion, which obviously have some very detrimental long term effects.
So I'm left with personal experiences to draw the best educated conclusions about it. The question is, do any lurkers have experience, and/or friends who have used Creatine?
I'm well aware that many people feel at the end of the day suppliments shouldn't be used, and no suppliments are the only real way to minimize the risk to gain ratio. I'm trying to approach this in a way that I have a wealth of information to draw on for people who have already made a concious decision to use suppliments.
Any comments would be much appreciated. I'm not expecting much, but this is a community I value the opinions of, and wanted to be sure I posed it.
Biggest reason for this is my own personal knowledge/use. The second reason is I am planning on becoming a personal trainer.
Cheers,
Munk
I've done my fair share of reading up on Creatine, both online and from the little resources in our library, spoke to a friend of mine about it (a Chemistry Grad student), and had many conversations in the gym with users.
From what I've read Creatine became popular in the mid 70's. The actual chemical is Creatine Phosphate, and is commonly labeled Phosphagen now a days (a marketing ploy, I'm sure). Creatine is naturally found in the body, and works to give an extra boost when muscles are almost burnt out. The idea behind Creatine use is that it allows you more reps of the same weight, therefore increasing the 'tearing' to muscles which in turn creates more size and mass. There is also a residual effect of water absorbtion. Creatine suppliments do not work for everyone, since the body naturally produces Creatine and some people already produce the maximum amount a muscle can absorb.
The biggest issue is that there are no long term studies on Pure Creatine. There are plenty of brands out there that have additives that play with insulin levels in an attempt to increase muscle absorbtion, which obviously have some very detrimental long term effects.
So I'm left with personal experiences to draw the best educated conclusions about it. The question is, do any lurkers have experience, and/or friends who have used Creatine?
I'm well aware that many people feel at the end of the day suppliments shouldn't be used, and no suppliments are the only real way to minimize the risk to gain ratio. I'm trying to approach this in a way that I have a wealth of information to draw on for people who have already made a concious decision to use suppliments.
Any comments would be much appreciated. I'm not expecting much, but this is a community I value the opinions of, and wanted to be sure I posed it.
Biggest reason for this is my own personal knowledge/use. The second reason is I am planning on becoming a personal trainer.
Cheers,
Munk