Creatine and other tone improving nutriants

[shorty3980]

I have heard that creatine and other simular forms of muscal enhansing suppliments can be bad for your health, and will give your muscles a round watery look. I decided not to take any because I am a relativley wide person already, but my friend who is alot thinner than me wants to gain muscle mass, and he eats alot alwready which dosent help. Ive talked to him about creatine and he dosent want to risk any unnatural suppliments to his body.

Any suggestions on other ways to get bigger???

[foolsknight362]

I personally find that creatine does help you get bigger. But your right, the muscles are bigger and more defined, and look really nice, but they are watery to the touch, and not much stronger. I decided that just supplementing creatine was not really helping, so I added protien powder. Now my muscles are defined, and strong. Its nice, but I guess that is not really an answer to your question.....
As for your friend, I would suggest buying some gainer.

If you do not want to risk anything "unnatural", eat alot more protien. Fish, Red meat, eggs, that sort of thing. Fish especially, because it contains high-quality protien without the fat that red meat delivers, and without the cholesterol that eggs deliver.

[fullcircle]

I've noticed that I'm about 235 lbs. when on creatine, when I cycle off I drop to about 225, give or take a lb or 2.

[Sean Dempsey]

Creatine is a molecule that needs to bond with water to exist in your muscles.


When you take creatine supplements, the extra creatine needs to bond with, I believe, in a 3:1 ratio, so you get triple the added water as creatine. This is what makes your muscles bigger and watery (and also will dehydrate you if you aren't drinking tons of water).


Creatine does ONE THING - gives you more creatine to burn in the first 10 seconds of explosive muscle movement. Instead of failing on 10 reps, you'll fail on 11 or 12. It is not a weight gainer, it doesn't promote muscle growth, it doesn't do anything besides give you a few extra seconds of creatine to burn before moving to glycogen.


And, once you stop, the effects go away. Creatine's biggest advantage is that it makes the people who market it rich.

[Sean Dempsey]

oh about getting bigger:

Eat lots of natural protein, vegetables. Eat many medium sized means, don't gorge (gorging is counterproductive to mass gain). Always be eating, never be hungry. Snack, then eat medium meals, healthy ones, lots of protein. Some fat too.

Gotta work out hard, do low reps and heavy weight, reverse pyramids. Also, your profile says your 16... if your friend is too, he probably just has to wait, his body is still maturing and his metabolism is probably really fast.

[usmc55555]

creatine like sean dempsey said

"Creatine does ONE THING - gives you more creatine to burn in the first 10 seconds of explosive muscle movement. Instead of failing on 10 reps, you'll fail on 11 or 12. It is not a weight gainer, it doesn't promote muscle growth, it doesn't do anything besides give you a few extra seconds of creatine to burn before moving to glycogen."

will give you a little more intensity and mabe a few extra reps and more reps and higher intensity equals more muscle

this is assuming that you are useing proper form and everything like that.

but in my oppinion why use creatine if you are working out frequently and using a program to increase mass then you can gain it without using supplements like creatine.

[Sean Dempsey]

Supplements are mostly crap for a era of people who don't work hard.

Look throughout history, there have always been large, muscular, fit people. The ancient greeks were models of this, and they didn't have any of the science we do today.

Who was always the biggest guy in the village? The blacksmith. Why? Because he woke up every morning and lifted the iron. He didn't need protein powder or creatine, he just worked hard, lifted heavy, and ate like a horse. Follow his example and you can't go wrong.

[Builderofmuscle]

I agree with Sean. I don't like creatine because it's not worth it's price. Besides, creatine is naturally made in the body anyways so why overload yourself with that shit?

[MMouse]

Creatine can absolutely be worth the money. When you work out, you push your body farther than it is used to in order to create a desired outcome, whether it is muscle mass, endurance or whatever. If I am pushing my body to that point, and am looking for maximum gains, then taking a supplement which will supply my body with enough energy to push slightly farther would be worth it. For a casual trainer though, absolutely not. If you aren't pushing to that point, then why bother with a supplement that is going to slightly extend that point?
On a side note, avoid creatine serums, anything in liquid. Creatine breaks down after being in liquid for even a short amount of time. Look for the label which says 100% pure.

And as for the comment of all supplements being for people who don't work hard, I think that's a little harsh. Some people take them just because they think they will magically make them big, while others are taking them because they push their bodies to the limits. Their bodies require more of certain substances due to the work the exert or they take them so that they can push their bodies even farther than normal. I will admit though that the majority of the market is for people who know nothing about it and are looking for a quick and " magical" solution.

Anyone who is serious about physical training should thouroughly research supplements and make sure their body is getting the nutrients it requires.

[usmc55555]

if you dont work hard you aren't going get shit out of it

[MMouse]

Originally posted by usmc55555
if you dont work hard you aren't going get shit out of it

Exactly.

[shorty3980]

as for the pushing youself to the limits, i think thats all mental. If you want to keep pushing and you force yourself not to stop, you can go way further than what a suppliment can do...i think its better to have motivation than a suppliment.

[Sean Dempsey]

The top 5% of powerlifters and other extremely trained atheletes are reaching their genetic potential and should take creatine. Everyone else, creatine might help you, but so would alot of other FREE things. A powder you mix in a blender and drink should be your very, very last option.

Besides, you can get extra creatine from foods.