Creatine before or after workout?

[Ercole]

Creatine "loading" a scam?

I take creatine just before working out, since its main action is to permit stronger muscle contractions. How does this help you AFTER your workout?

You don't need a lot of creatine. Taking too much puts stress on your internal organs and will make your creatinine level skyrocket, freaking out your doctor.

I've read that creatine's half-life in the body is very sort, only about 40 minutes or so. If so, there's no use taking it any time except just before working out.

The short half-life reveals creatine "loading" and other high-dose schemes as marketing scams to persuade us to buy and use way mroe than we need. Remember, the supplement companies want you to run out and buy more as soon as possible, so they tend to encourage ridiculously high doses which are useless and may even be harmful. My 2 cents!

 

[RdStrcklnd]

I actually wrote a paper on creatine for my psychology lab, from all the journals I read only 2g is needed per day to maximize its effects. I take 5g just to be safe, but from my reasearch more than that is overkill. Maybe with insulin your body could utilize more, but i didn't see any reasearch on it.

 

[Super Halo Man]

Keep a balance between grams of protein and grams of creatine. That should do it.

300g protein
300g creatine... Yummy.

**Not meant to be followed.**

 

[Bluto]

300g of creatine? How in the blue hell?.....

In a week? That's still a lot. That's funny.

 

[Bill W]

For me, it doesn't really matter when I take it. If you want to take it with simple carbs, perhaps its better to take it after a workout, but generally, I don't worry about when I take it. I was under the impression that the level builds up in your system, and that you have to maintain the level.. Glutamine I take after working out, but I don't stress about the creatine. I keep it at my office, so if I workout in the morning or at lunch, I'll take it after, but if I workout at night, I'll generally take it before I leave the office.

 

[Jabs]

I like it right before and right after

 

[g-dogg]

I have taken creatine for the last 8 years and from what I've done, the best gains come from taking 2 grams of creatine before and 2 grams after my workout

 

[Ercole]

There is some benefit to taking it after a workout -- something to do with glycogen, as I recall.

So taking it before AND after the workout is probably ideal. You want it during your workout for the extra contractile power, which amounts to extra reps.

About creatine "building up in the system", from what I've read so-called "creatine loading" is a marketing scam. Because of the short half-life, creatine won't build up anyway. You'll just use it up faster and have to buy more sooner -- which is why so many companies enthusiastically recommend "loading". It means more bucks for them.

 

[Whiskey]

I ahve a feeling Ercole is on to something here....... not saying it's not true, but I would like to hear some other input on its half life..... I would like to know. He makes a very good point in my eye.

Whiskey

 

[Whiskey]

real quich BUMP.

Whiskey