Creatine Use in Weight Lifting

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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
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Munk--

A few thoughts on Creatone:

Web MD article

Another Article from WebMD

Some items of interest--

As one article points out, high-protein diets strain the kidneys, and creatine may make this problem even worse. Something to consider when evaluating the cost-benefit balance of using creatine is the possibility of long-term effects which we don't know much about yet.

Another issue--one of these articles quotes a trainer as saying, once the supplement is discontinued, the bulk disappears; and that the bulk is mostly due to water retention. If this is true, then creatine won't help you in your goals in any significant ways. This would impact the cost-benefit analysis (see above).

And finally, beware of your blood pressure. Lifters generally have high blood pressures, and their high protein diets usually have a fair bit of cholesterol in them. This can lead to early heart disease. And heart diseases can end your life. Thus, I like to recommend people balance their lifting with crosstraining. Good aerobic exercises are running and swimming. I'd recommend swimming if your goal is aesthetics--it helps to tone your body and balances the workout between your arms, torso, and legs. Running has a habit of making people look like frogs if they don't lift (frowns from personal experience). :-)

Some (more) personal experiences--

A friend of mine in high school was a linebacker on our football team. He took creatine for two reasons: (1) to improve performance and (2) to increase his mass from the water retention. He swore by the stuff, but claimed he got dehydrated much quicker using it. Now, protein metabolism uses a goodly amount of water in the first place (I assume you are on a high-protein diet to compliment your lifting regimen) so this is probably something you should take note of.

Another friend (my roommate last year, in fact) was built very similar to your description (6foot +, ~140lbs.) and over the course of three or four years of dedicated lifting he built himself up to 170lbs. Most of it was muscle, well-toned. Of course, I could run him into the ground, but he could outlift me by nearly 2x. (And he got more girls :-)) He did not use creatine, but he is a good example of what sheer dedication can do for your physical shape.

So, in sum I must cut to my advise. I do not know how much I trust the articles linked above, as they seem to contradict some of the individual experiences my friends have had with creatine. It probably will help a modest amount to your lifting, but I would recommend you not invest too much emotion in creatine as a "magic elixer" for your body. Instead, invest it in your lifting and try to break out of your plateau.

Also, getting out of the weight room is important for your overall health. Swimming is probably the best bet but if that's not an option all year because you don't live in California (but instead you're on the East Cost! Brrrr!) then running will work in a pinch. The aim here is to get in some aerobic exercises, to combat the high blook pressure and heart disease which may result from exclusive weight lifting. Of course, incorporating running or swimming into your training schedule probably will decrease your lifting performance, but it will help you tone your muscles.

Cheers,