Thread: Creatine Questions

Hello to all,
I have been reading a lot of posts concerning Creatine and understand that every supplement works differently for each person, but I am 41, 6'6", 240 lbs, workout 4-5 days/week and have a few questions concerning Creatine.

1. I have read conflicting reports about the necessity of a loading phase. If what I read was true about the loading phase, I would need to take 32.7g/day (approx. 6 serving of 5g) for 5 days and 3.2g/day for maintenance. Is the loading phase necessary?

2. I have also read some people prefer to cycle due to the possible strain on the kidneys and then the body not being able to produce its own creatine. Then there are those who do not believe in cycling. Is cycling necessary and, if so, what would be a good cycle?

3. I was planning on taking Creatine Monohydrate and mixing it with Welch's Concord Grape Juice (transport). I understand that for best results, it should be mixed and consumed immediately after a workout. I am currently taken Muscle Milk protein twice/day (one in the morning and one within 30 minutes after my workout now). My questions are should I take one before the other after my workout and will one negate the other if taken too close together, if so, how much time should I wait before taking the second?

Thanks for any and all help,
Bill

Originally Posted by ClintZ28

Sorry to bring up an old topic, but, have you guys read anything convincing that suggests that creatine must be cycled? I've been on it for almost a year straight, and I'm thinking of dropping it for a couple weeks.

Please tell me why you would cycle it? Why do you want to drop it? Creatine helps your recovery time, so why not use it all the time? Its not harmful.

Originally Posted by Phred

I have read several posts indicating that creatine is "unstable" or "breaksdown" once mixed. I cannot find any studies or manufatures suggestions on mixing and consuming creatine that supports this. Can anyone point me to some documentation that indicates creatine is to be consumed ASAP after mixing? I am just trying to make sense of it and understand the concept. I read that it is not good to mix creatine with citris juice, however this does not make sense to me as stomach acid is harsher than the citris.

I heat up a cup of water and add the creatine. It disolves (no noticable solids) then mix in gatorade for simple carbs. I mix it before I WO and consume as soon as I am done with my WO (45-60 min. later). Apparently this is blasphemy. I would like to read for myself why.

Dont know where to find a study. Maybe LAM will chime in, he might know of one. Its just something that I learned long ago, thats why "liquid creatine/syrum" is assanine. They did tests on it to meet label claims, and in some cases it contained less then 10% of advertised claims.