creatine

[skinnyfromtoptobottom]

Hi.
When you take creatine, there are 2 different periods: one in which you take em and another one in which you drop em for a while till you take them again.
How long should i make the period in which i take em and how long the period in which i don't take em?
take em for 2 months and drop em for 1 month? or take em 3 months and drop em for 2 months? or whatever?

And if i want to gain (serious) weight, how should i train in each of these periods? do low rep sets when i take em and do high rep sets when i don't take em? or do low rep sets all the way through? i heared that i shouldn't do low rep sets when i don't take creatine because the effects won't be that good in the long run. is that right?

And now i have 1 more question: almost everybody says, that the lower the reps (the more weight), the more you train for mass. so if i do 2-3 reps, i will train mainly for mass, right? but the owner of my gym said, that if i do 2-3 reps or so, i won't gain mass, i will only gain serious strength because i will train the white muscle tissue. but this won't give me any mass. this is totally bullshit, right? if it isn't how many reps should i do to train for MAXIMUM mass?


Thanks in advance.

 

[mrt]

Creatine cycling is not so critical. You can take it 5-10mg/day without any problems unless something is wrong with your stomach and kidneys. But taking a month off after 2 months of use is a good idea

As for training you shouldn't base it on your creatine use. You should always mix low rep and hi-rep workouts and not concentrate on one of them for long periods of time. Also, your gym owner is not wrong. If you want to add mass stick to the well accepted 8-10 rep programs. I consider a 4-6 rep a low-rep heavy weight workout and anything above 12 reps is hi-rep lighter weight workouts. Just mix them in your workouts.

 

[Iceburg]

Creatine cycling is not so critical. You can take it 5-10mg/day without any problems

I believe you meant 5-10 grams.

 

[mrt]

Yeah, my bad... too busy with gear dosages

 

[skinnyfromtoptobottom]

but in the bodybuilding encyclopedia of arnold schwarzenegger, it says that ectomorph people (like me) should include plenty of 6-8 rep sets to add mass...is that too low to add mass or is this just right?

 

[me2dammit]

Well

what do you want, mass or functional mass? If you want mass hit up sets of 8-12 with 30-90 seconds rest inbetween. If you want functional mass sets of 5 with 30-90 seconds rest. To be the biggest you should do both.

Either way is good with creatine!

 

[skinnyfromtoptobottom]

what's the difference between mass and functional mass? i want mass that makes me bulky and look bigger than "normal" people. but i also wanna get "stronger", which i will anyways...

 

[me2dammit]

the

difference is going to be strength. In other words you could have a 18 inch arm as strong as a 20 inch arm, all other things being equal(tendon attatchments, etc).

You get thet density and strength from training heavy(keep the rest periods quick for growth, longer for strength when dealing with 5 reps or less). But if you want to be really huge train both ways. The higher reps can 'pump you up'(sarcoplasmic hypertrophy), and hit different fibers.

 

[skinnyfromtoptobottom]

what do you mean by do both ways? do you mean both ways at once in one training program like doing 3 sets for strength (really low reps) and then doing 2 or 3 additional sets for mass? or do a cycle for strength only and the next cycle for mass only?

and what do you mean by keep the rests quick? do you mean the rests between each set or the rest till i train this muscle again on another day?

 

[dzuljas]

hes talking about chaning it up bro. For instance, mix light and heavy days during the week and setup your training over a couple of weeks. You need to change it up so the muscles will adapt. This is called "periodization"