Hey guys. As you may or may not know I am in South America and will be here for quite some time. I have been working out for the last 3 monhts and have been taking no supplements other than a few myoplexes a week and some multivitamins. I have been reading up on creatine and now want to add that to my regimen. I would like to know what brands I can trust and are safe? There are a few specialty nutrition stores here in Bogota, and they charge me an arm and a leg. However I think its going to be worth it once I see the results. What do you guys use and how has it worked for you? Also any tips or advice before for me would be appreciated as well. Thanks in advance.
just look for 100% pure creatine monohydrate. i'm not sure brand really matters. i've found it effective.
I use Betagen from EAS who is a very reputable company. I really noticed a good increase in the amount I was lifting after beginning the creatine use. If you take it before your workout it gives you a good energy boost. If you can order it online that is what I would do because you can find it cheaper there than any store you will go to.
If I am trying to lean down while increasing muscle, will creatine assist me? My frame is pretty big and I am noticing an increase in my muscle mass. I do cardio every other day. I am still looking to lose about 15-20 lbs to reach 180lbs (I'm about 5'10 1/2). Will this add bulk and help cut me up if Im eating right and sticking with cardio or is it more of a mass builder? My goal is to not get really big but to have low body fat and get cut. More like an athletic frame rather than a body builder.
I don't think gaining muscle and losing weight at the same time is a great ide; one or the other makes more sense. I think creatine makes your muscles look bigger and I think helps with recovery too. Also I wouldn't do the loading up phase it doesn't seem to make much of a difference and you should cycle of it.
The best thing to do would be to lose the extra weight first and after you have done that begin to use the creatine and hit the weights hard. That way you have already lost a lot of the fat and the new weight you will be gaining through working out will be lean muscle.
Creatine works but if it's expensive, I don't think its worth it unless you are an elite athlete. It's like putting a $1000 muffler on a Civic DX.
If you're 5'10 and around 200 pounds you're pretty big for an average non-pro athlete male. Do cardio at least 30 mins EVERY DAY you work out. And for your lifting don't lift too heavy. Go for low-med weight high rep. The shedding of excess weight will make you leaner and thus make u look more cut. After this you can start lifting heavier but don't cut out the cardio ever.
only the obese are 'fortunate' enough to be able to cut fat and bulk up at the same time i recommend hitting the gym 6 days a week, DO NOT take creatine start bulking, once you gain about 10lbs of muscle, then it's time to work on your diet and focus more on cardio cardio everyday for 30 minutes isn't ideal, because you're 5'10 and just 220, you'll be losing muscle mass not just fat as a male, you want to do cardio after weight training, not long, only about 10-20 minutes (10 is fine).... in order to bulk up quickly, eat within 45 minutes of your workout, this allows maximum absorption of nutrients, especially protein like i said, dont take creatine, there is another product you want to target, whey protein isos is what it's called (i think...), there are many many many recipes for you to try once you've bulked up a bit (should take 3-4 weeks), then shift your attention to cardio, swap 2 nights from weights + cardio to full cardio, attempt to do high interval training (hiit) starting at 10 minutes, this is also the time where you'll want to start counting calories, it sux but it works good luck
I took creatine last year at this time for a 12-week cycle... gained 5 pounds and became very upset that i saw little improvement This year I started taking it - and after 1 month i gained 10 pounds. I was happy at first, until i realized that my pants started to feel a bit tighter. I realized i was gaining fat and muscle - so i got off of it immediately. I'm not looking to add fat. Now I'm on Lipo 6X pills (combined with additional HITT training) that Mr. Brightside recommended many months ago to try to shed the extra fat I gained while on creatine - while keeping the muscle. but the brand I used (and may use again in the future) was BSN Cell Mass
Sorry to hijack this thread but how safe is NO-Xplode? My guy takes it every morning before he works out. I think he does it on a cycle. Not sure. I'm concerned that it won't be healthy in long run.
BSN also makes NO-Xplode... I took it for several months as well. if he's trying to gain mass - NO-Xplode is counter-productive... it raises your heartbeat to make you "more focused" during your workout -and more energetic... but at the same time i believe it is causing your body to burn additional calories - which is counterproductive of weight training. if he's trying to get lean - i guess it works. i'm no expert though - this is just my years of layman web research due to bodybuilding being a hobby...
from what i have read as long as you cycle it and dont take it for a year straight or something (it would stop working then anyways) and he doesnt get any bad side effects, for example cant sleep at night or any stomach problems he should be fine. i dont think its a great thing to take if you have say kidney problems or something.
There's so much bad information in this thread it's ridiculous. Do yourself a favor and read up at bodybuilding.com's forums. There's nothing wrong with taking creatine whether you're trying to lose fat or gain muscle.
<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ThdFqGLq4QU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ThdFqGLq4QU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>
It's hard to build mass and lose fat at the same time. What you do is build up mass (and gain a bit of fat) and then stop building so you can trim down. But you tend to lose muscle when you lose fat. It's just the way your body works. I wouldn't take creatine if you are trying to tone down though. I have used cratine ethyl ester in the past - I didn't find it made much of a difference with mass building but it did help me with indurance and recovery. If you want to tone down, the number one thing is diet, then a lot of cardio excercise, and then lifting with a lot of reps. For me, the diet has to be pretty strict meaning small frequent and very healthy meals. No white bread, no carbs for dinner, no alcohol and no sugar. Only lean meat (chicken, steak, salmon) and never eat more than a fistful of food in one sitting. That will too a lot more for you than creatine.
