Stay on Creatine or cycle it?

[adamuscle]

Question for you guys. I have always taken Creatine on workout days. Have done so for the last few years. Only time I dont take it is non workout days (twice a week).

Do you guys come off Creatine or no?

Thanks

[Bouncer]

I do exactly as you do. I use it on workout days. Never really cycle off it. I use Vitargo.

[dna9488]

I have used creatine in the past and have takin it on non-training days...and i have cycled it
Basically wit any product u need to cycle off of it so ur body doesn't get used to it and doesn't have to depend on it

When it comes to creatine, u should cycle on for 3 months and than cycle off for 3months so u don't do kidney damage.

[The_Grinder]

I cycle it because I can't afford to stay on it all the time. :)

[Bouncer]

I have used creatine in the past and have takin it on non-training days...and i have cycled it
Basically wit any product u need to cycle off of it so ur body doesn't get used to it and doesn't have to depend on it

When it comes to creatine, u should cycle on for 3 months and than cycle off for 3months so u don't do kidney damage.

lol. i love ya bro but sometimes i feel like you give advice that has no backing or are repeating something you heard from a firend.

please explain to me why and how your body "gets used to it." does your body "get used" to protein? how about vitamins?

also explain to me how you came to the conclusion that it causes kidney damage and also where you got the magic 3 month on 3 month off numbers.

[YellowJacket]

Br J Sports Med 2000; 34:284-288
© 2000 the British Journal of Sports Medicine
Dietary creatine supplementation does not affect some haematological indices, or indices of muscle damage and hepatic and renal function
Tristan M Robinson, Dean A Sewell, Anna Casey, Gery Steenge, Paul L Greenhaff

School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, United Kingdom

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to: Dr P Greenhaff email: [email protected]

Background—The use of creatine (Cr) as a nutritional supplement to aid athletic performance has gained widespread popularity among athletes. However, concerns have recently been expressed over potentially harmful effects of short and long term Cr supplementation on health.

Methods—Forty eight young healthy subjects were randomly allocated to three experimental protocols aimed at elucidating any potential health risks associated with five days (20 g/day) to nine weeks (3 g/day) of Cr supplementation. Venous blood samples were collected before and after periods of Cr supplementation and were analysed for some haematological indices, and for indices of hepatic, muscular, and renal dysfunction.

Findings—All measured indices were well within their respective normal range at all times. Serum creatinine concentration tended to be increased the day after Cr supplementation. However, values had returned to baseline six weeks after the cessation of supplementation. These increases were probably attributable to increased creatinine production rather than renal dysfunction. No indication of impairment to the haematological indices measured, hepatic function, or muscle damage was apparent after Cr supplementation.

Interpretation—These data provide evidence that there are no obvious adverse effects of acute or more chronic Cr supplementation on the haematological indices measured, nor on hepatic, muscle, and renal function. Therefore there is no apparent health risk associated with Cr supplementation to healthy people when it is ingested in quantities that have been scientifically proven to increase muscle Cr stores.



Long-term oral creatine supplementation does not impair renal function in healthy athletes.

Poortmans JR, Francaux M.

Chimie Physiologique, Institut Supérieur d'Education Physique et de Kinésithérapie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. [email protected]

PURPOSE: Oral creatine supplementation is widely used in sportsmen and women. Side effects have been postulated, but no thorough investigations have been conducted to support these assertions. It is important to know whether long-term oral creatine supplementation has any detrimental effects on kidney function in healthy population. METHODS: Creatinine, urea, and plasma albumin clearances have been determined in oral creatine consumers (10 months to 5 yr) and in a control group. RESULTS: There were no statistical differences between the control group and the creatine consumer group for plasma contents and urine excretion rates for creatinine, urea, and albumin. Clearance of these compounds did not differ between the two groups. Thus, glomerular filtration rate, tubular reabsorption, and glomerular membrane permeability were normal in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Neither short-term, medium-term, nor long-term oral creatine supplements induce detrimental effects on the kidney of healthy individuals.

[Bouncer]

Read that DNA, ^ and stop repeating nonsense. :) love ya brother.

[Mr I]

Nice thread guys, I use it on workout days only, permanent

[caged]

i only take creatine on workout days 5 to 10g 2xed. i do take time off from it, and my muscles can tell. i used to take it before work years ago -for the energy in the morning.. i could tell my body was getting use to it though.

[dna9488]

lol. i love ya bro but sometimes i feel like you give advice that has no backing or are repeating something you heard from a firend.

please explain to me why and how your body "gets used to it." does your body "get used" to protein? how about vitamins?

also explain to me how you came to the conclusion that it causes kidney damage and also where you got the magic 3 month on 3 month off numbers.

OK, will i apoligize for any incorrect information posted. I am still new to the game, and i am here to learn as wit some of u all.


Indeed ur body does not get used to protein becuz ur body needs protein to function normally. Just like creatine, your body needs only enough, giving too much creatine in excess of 5.0g a day is high concentrated and causes strain on your kidneys (according to my doc)



As to the getting used to part. I used to take N.O Xplode and Cell Mass together.
The N.O Xplode worked wonders on me for 1 month. After that 1month...NOTHIN...no pump feeling, no more gains. so i jumped the dosage to 3 scoops....NOTHIN...Than i was talking to a few friends and a few BB forums and they said ur body got used to it becuz it saw it as a regular pattern (hence i jumped to 3 scoops a day)...after a 1month break to get my N.O levels back to normal i took Nanox9 and that didn't work. i also was takin Creakic at the same time wit Nanox9. Creakic helped me cut even though i was taking the full dosage's for 2months straight

After taking those 2 stacks for 2months, my mom took my BP and it was 160/100 for 2 weeks straight, and when i stopped, in 1 week my BP dropped back to normal levels.
I was also reading that when ur body holds excess water ur BP goes up. and what does creatine do...hold water....right?

I am not saying tis is correct, just telling what i had experienced, what my doc said, and i have read

Also, the magic 3 months on and 3 months off is what i read on products that i use to sell at GNC. Most of the creatines, N.O's, test, etc... read take for 3months than get off for 1-2months.

[Bouncer]

OK, will i apoligize for any incorrect information posted. I am still new to the game, and i am here to learn as wit some of u all.


Indeed ur body does not get used to protein becuz ur body needs protein to function normally. Just like creatine, your body needs only enough, giving too much creatine in excess of 5.0g a day is high concentrated and causes strain on your kidneys (according to my doc)



As to the getting used to part. I used to take N.O Xplode and Cell Mass together.
The N.O Xplode worked wonders on me for 1 month. After that 1month...NOTHIN...no pump feeling, no more gains. so i jumped the dosage to 3 scoops....NOTHIN...Than i was talking to a few friends and a few BB forums and they said ur body got used to it becuz it saw it as a regular pattern (hence i jumped to 3 scoops a day)...after a 1month break to get my N.O levels back to normal i took Nanox9 and that didn't work. i also was takin Creakic at the same time wit Nanox9. Creakic helped me cut even though i was taking the full dosage's for 2months straight

After taking those 2 stacks for 2months, my mom took my BP and it was 160/100 for 2 weeks straight, and when i stopped, in 1 week my BP dropped back to normal levels.
I was also reading that when ur body holds excess water ur BP goes up. and what does creatine do...hold water....right?

I am not saying tis is correct, just telling what i had experienced, what my doc said, and i have read

Also, the magic 3 months on and 3 months off is what i read on products that i use to sell at GNC. Most of the creatines, N.O's, test, etc... read take for 3months than get off for 1-2months.

well you have a lot of misinformation going on there. creatine has never been shown in science to cause kidney damage, so your doctor was just repeating a myth to you.

creatine also does not increase blood pressure. creatine causes the muscle to hold water. that is different from being bloated and holding water all over the body.

[dna9488]

creatine also does not increase blood pressure. creatine causes the muscle to hold water. that is different from being bloated and holding water all over the body.

ok, straight, did not know that...thx for clearing that up for me :)




Thank you YJ for that article, it has opened my eyes and informed me about creatine :)

[YellowJacket]

Thank you YJ for that article, it has opened my eyes and informed me about creatine :)

No problem, buddy.

[Ashop]

Question for you guys. I have always taken Creatine on workout days. Have done so for the last few years. Only time I dont take it is non workout days (twice a week).

Do you guys come off Creatine or no?

Thanks

I only use off cycle.

[YellowJacket]

A good reason to use creatine while "on":


I dont know where I got this one.....been in my database for awhile so I'll post it.


All anabolic steriods are synthetic compounds whose structure is similar to that of the natural male sex horomone
testosterone. Testosterone affects development of the male body in two important ways: it has an anabolic effect-increased growth, expecially of muscular and skeletal tissue and an androgenic effect-increased development of mail sexual characteristics. Once taken into the bloodstream, anabolic steriods bind to hormone receptonrs on skeletal muscle and other cells and stimulate synthesis of certain specific enzymes. These enzymes promote two improtant biochemical reactions: creatine phoshate systesis and protein sythesis. Creatine phospate is a molecule that can be metabolized in the absense of sufficient oxygen as a shot-term source of energy. Increased creatine phospate synthesis thus allows athletes to train harders and for longer periods of time, and therefore build more muscle. Protien synthesis is essential for long-term development of increased muscle mass or "bulk". In addtion, anabolic steriods promote nitrogen retention by the body. By allowing for better utization of the nitrogen in ingested protein, anabolic steriods help athlets to build mass. However this effect is offset by the bodys homeostatic mechanisms, which are designed to maintain a stable environment: therefore in order to increase body mas by using anabolic steriods, athletes must also adhere to a diet with suffiecent protein and calories - up to 10,000 calories daily with 300 to 400 grams of protein.



Question: Creatine synthesis, if you increase creatine intake while on AS will it help you get stronger. I had always thought it just added to the amount of water you retain ?


Although creatine does have testosterone-like effects,it doesn't act as a steroid hormone.Instead,it's a mediator of some of the
androgens' anabolic effects.In fact,steroid users get far more out
of their cycles if they take in massive amounts of creatine along
with the drugs.Androgens are among the hormones that can force the entry of creatine into muscle cells.While there's a clear
relationship between muscle strength gains and increases in muscle creatine stores,unfortunately,the relationship is not as obvious when it comes to increases in muscle mass.Animal-based studies have shown that the muscles of untrained rats take up as much creatine as the muscles of trained rats,but the ANABOLIC effects of creatine are only obvious in trained rats.Therefore,training increases the muscles sensitivity to the anabolic actions of creatine.(Although it's not related to this article,the study also demonstrated that the anabolic effects of creatine are DIRECT,and not mediated by waterretention.In fact,in the 1970s American and Russian studies pointed out a DIRECT anabolic effect of creatine on muscle cells.)Testosterone increases the muscles'sensitivity to the anabolic properties of creatine in addition to enhancing the creatine buildup in muscle fibers.It's also obvious that part of the strength gains people experience while on steroids are mediated by an increase in muscle creatine stores.An interesting discovery A/S users have made is that they should dramatically increase their creatine intake during a cycle to boost the potency of the steroids.Thanks to creatine,people can build more muscle mass with fewer drugs.Anecdotal evidence from A/S users points out that it
takes at least 10-15 grams(maintenance)of creatine a day to visibly enhance the the anabolic potency of a steroid stack.There are probably good reasons for the increased creatine requirement when androgen levels are high.As mentioned above,steroids increase the muscle uptake of creatine,and if the muscles are ready to accept more creatine,why not give it to them?I also think that even though steroids enhance creatine synthesis,they may increase creatine degradation as well-so more creatine is used up every day.That could be due to an increase in muscle creatine turnover and also the fact
that an elevated muscle protein synthesis rate will likely consume
creatine at a faster rate.Other reasons for a higher creatine
requirement may be indirect.Because the muscles of drug users are stronger and receive more training,they may waste greater amounts of creatine during training.Once inside the muscle,creatine provides not only an anabolic effect,but also a rapidly mobilized source of fuel.Muscle protein synthesis is a process that wastes great amounts of energy.Anabolism is an ATP-dependent process,which means that it's essential for protein synthesis.If the cellular level of ATP is reduced even a little,IT STOPS ANABOLISM.So even if you can increase the testosterone content of your muscles,nothing will happen if your
ATP level is low.Creatine supports anabolism by providing energy to the muscle...