Weight gain due to creatine for Lb 4 Lb competition

[Lumberg]

I know cretine makes you gain weight by making you retain water in your muscles. In my case I don't notice huge results but I'd say it makes me a little stronger.

I am thinking of competing in a "pound for pound" competition with the following events, spaced out over 1-2 weeks:

bench your bodyweight
squat 1.25x your bw
dips
pull ups
preacher curl 40% of your bw

I plan to compete at about 160#

Obviously, the more I weight I gain, the more I will have to lift. Therefore, is the weight gain from cretine going to be offset by strength increases?

At the moment I am leaning away from using creatine and toward using coffee, which gives me a big endurance boost. (this event is obviously about muscular endurance more than brute strength--I'm hoping to be between 10-25 reps on all the events) Another complication is that I have heard that caffeine cancels creatine's effects.

Thanks for the input,

JC

PS of course the timing of the events could affect my strategy, for example if pull ups and dips come first, I could start loading creatine immediately after the second of those events and be heavier for the last three. I am not sure but I am assunming you get weighed on the first day of the comp and that's it.

 

[Lumberg]

Oh yeah almost forgot, the winner is the one with the most total reps.

JC

 

[dude]

I think it depends on how far away your competition is. If you take creatine now, saturate your muscles, and have time to increase your strength over a few weeks then I think it is worth it. Also, you could take creatine and then stop a week before your competition and you should lose a lot of water weight. Yes, caffeine will inhibit the use of creatine because it binds with the protein receptors for transporting creatine. There is another trick you can use for your competition. I will have to try and find the exact details somewhere but it involves the use of baking powder or soda(can't remember) and it works as a lactic acid buffer. Hopefully someone else will remember.

 

[Lumberg]

Yes, I have read some obscure references about baking soda being an athletic aid, for the exact reason you mentioned. I have also read that a lot of the oral creatine you take is broken down by your stomach acids. Taking both of these together might be beneficial. Also I have seen a thread where somebody declared the half-life of creatine to be only like 75 mintes so it's only useful to take before your workout.

Just adding some info to the mix, hopefully others will see this and add comments.

FTR the contest is at least a couple weeks away.

JC