Am I a Creatine Non-Responder

[Viral]

Well Ive never really thought about it, but possibly am I a creatine non responder. How would I get a good ballpark idea?

All I know is my pump never stays after my workout when I take my creatine directly after, but it seems everytime I throw in a little creatine before workout as well I seem to bang out an extra rep or so (Could be in my mind)

Besides that, gain wise, I cant tell, because I always just go up and up so what the hell lol....

IThnx in advance ;)

[r_deese]

I know im not YJ, but I'm not a creatine responder, tried monohydrate, dicreatine malate, tricreatine malate... none of it works for me. I don't notice any stronger pumps on it than i do off it. I don't go up in strength any faster than i do naturally either. I do, however gain 2-3 lbs of water over a 4 week creatine cycle that I get to piss off 4-5 days after I quit taking it. Some of us just dont' respond.

[Shibby]

I believe the use of creating is misunderstood. It helps to keep muscles hydrated to help with increased protien synthisis.

[sekcbeast]

if you think you might be, i would suggest trying v2 swole. i had a little gain from monohydrate, but i felt like not much was different. so i tried swole and the effect was much more noticeable. PN has it for a very good price, check it out.

[YellowJacket]

Creatine is overrated. If you have adequate production of your own creatine phosphate, supplementing creatine is useless. How do you know if you have adequate production? You dont. Trial and error my friend. Regular monohydrate does nothing for me but puff my face up, but I recommend it to A LOT of people..... because Ive read studies, heard results and know it works, for a lot of people (probably for most) and just because it doesnt work for me doesnt mean I throw it out as a valid ergogenic aid.

On the other hand something like Cell Tech (oh god) worked for me, as did ISS Research's Satur8.

So my advice, before trying a super-duper creatine, trying a loading phase with it, try it before a workout, try it after, then draw your conclusion. Then move on to a super duper creatine (Swole or Iss Research's Satur8). Relatively inexpensive, and for the possible results, its worth the $$ in my opinion.

Lastely, dont set your expectations too high. Go in with an even kill attitude and see how it turns out. Dont tell yourself you want to add 10lbs to your squat in a week, or whatever. Take it as directed and give it a fair chance. If nothing, chalk it up as a loss and move on.

If you need any back up or research on creatine, let me know, I have an entire folder on my CPU dedicated to creatine. :)


YJ

[ECKARDT]

I never heard that argument YJ. Thanks for the insight.

[Viral]

Well I realize most aspects of creatine ect, and have been using it for about 3 years now. Started with reg creatine, got some cell-tech, which seemed to work, and now im using a local MM brand thats cheap and has dextrose/ala alrdy in it.

Thats why I cant tell if it helps or not =/ Because I cant rlly judge it off gains, because i train hard, eat a bunch, lots of protein, and just get stronger every week. Maybe if I took the creatine out I wouldnt gain as fast as I do? I doubt it... =/

I have no idea how to tell if it works for me...I dont seem to get a pump from it, sometimes I think I get a few more reps from it but that could just be in my head.

What do u suggest I do? Maybe it is working, helpinh hydrate my muscles ect? I sure as heck dont want to take it if it isnt helping me at all.

I may just try the loading phase. How much do u suggest? Right now I get about 2-3 g before my workout, and 10g directly after.