uzzi_786

hi, iv just bought some creatine and it says that the first week is the loading phase were i am supposed to consume it 4 times a day (as i am under 86kg). my question with this is that do i take it 4 times a day even on the days which i do not work out??? the sales person said that i should take it four times on days i work out and once on days i dnt work out....

my second question is...as creatien bloats the body, will i lose my 6 pack as currently it is extremely toned n riped.?????

any help appriciated. thanks

Tha Don

take 5g of creatine 4 times a day for the first 5 days (regardless of whether you are working out or not) - this is known as the loading phase and will get the creatine into your muscles a lot quicker

after this you'll need roughly 5g of creatine twice a day, and continue on this for upto a month, after this time you should cycle off for a couple of weeks

and yes creatine will bloat you a bit, but drinking lots of water will help prevent this and the bloating will go away a few weeks after you stop taking the creatine (so its nothing to worry about)

oh and you will keep your 6-pack i wouldn't worry about that, it will look great when you come off

good luck with it, n' remember to train hard!

peace

uzzi_786

young d thanks alot

on the container it does say ONE heaped teaspoon 4 times daily so im guessing dat adds up to 5g....

the maintenance phase it says to take one heaped teaspoon daily for 11 weeks....which would u recommend...this one or the twice a day for 1 month as you said??

and finally after the rest period do i start the cycle again??

redspy

A lot of people (myself included) don't think loading is necessary. Muscles are quickly saturated with creatine and so after a couple of days you'll be excreating creatine and wasting money. I take 3g of CEE every day with no loading.

Tha Don

each heaped teaspoonful is 5g, you take this 4 times a day and this adds up to your 20g a day, which is the most common amount that people use to load up their muscles with creatine

after this you have the 'powers of creatine' in your muscles so their is no need for the extra creatine, so i'd say drop it down to 2 teaspoons a day (which is 10g a day in total), take 1 serving in the morning (when you wake up), and 1 after your workout

you can stay on creatine for months, it won't do you harm, but if you want to use it the smart way (less risk of minor sides, and more risk of it been highly effective to your body in the future) i'd say 2 months on creatine max, at this stage it would be good to back off it and give your body a break for at least a month, then if you want start it again

hope that helps, i remember when i first did creatine i was a bit unsure about what to do, everyone tells you something different but try that and see how it goes

bulletproof1

5 grams of creatine per day is enough for maintenance.

uzzi_786

o cool thanks alot for all you replying. it really does help! my final question is, and excuse me if it seems silly, but what would you recommend mixing it with? it just says to mix with beverages so can i mix it with water or should i mix it with milk or something?

gococksDJS

You need something like apple juice or cranberry juice

Tha Don

i've always been told 10g for maintenance when using creatine monohydrate?

uzzi - mix it with dextrose/glucose bro, go to your local health store, pharmacy or supermarket and ask for some, its cheap and it is the best (most cost effective) transport for plain creatine... i used apple juice last time with my creatine and i felt that the cycle wasn't as good as the previous 1 (which was a creatine/dextrose/glutamine all in 1 style supplement), about 20g of dextrose in 200ml of water should do nicely

uzzi_786

thanks alot mann...il let u knw hw i gt along