Don't know who told you that, but it's nonsense. so what happens after 5 hard efforts? Get dropped? Wouldn't last long in the races I do if that were the case...not unless you had the aerobic capacity of the Jan!

Hi there awx,

Dont have time to answer all your questions now, il try and get online later.

Theres alot misconceptions about creatine use out there! On tuesday i was speaking to an amatuer weightlifting coach who seemed to think people who take creatine, take it because it makes you aggressive before a lift! He's not in the minority though, i found about 3 of my students drinking the liquid creatine you speak of, like pop, in class! When i asked if they knew anything about creatine they said "its like lucozade, it gives you energy". I sent them away to research it - they came back to me with a better idea of what creatine, how it was used, and what its best used for.

Firstly, the loading phase is a high dose of creatine intended to "load" the muscles rapidly with creatine over a period of 3-7 days. The high dose loading phase is NOT critical, the body can uptake the same amount of creatine with a lower dose, just over a longer period, 5-10 days.

Research has shown that creatine supplementation can improve repeated sprint performance. Sprints that last between 3-10 seconds, with bouts of rest between 30s and 3mins. Im not aware of any research that has studies creatine and cross country cycling, but then i havent been looking. Whether creatine would be useful to you, would depend upon on the duration of uphill bouts and the intensity you ride at.

My advice would be to give it a go. Creatine does increase water retention though which is the reason for the increases in body mass. Im thinking that an increase in body mass would be detrimental to your uphill performance as you fight against gravity. But try it out see how you get on.

Alan

Hi alan, thanks for your reply.

I'm sorry but could you elaborate more on the loading part? i'm rather confused, i have quite a few questions but i'd wait for your follow-up-reply first.

But here are some more question that i would like to add:

5. What are the possible detrimental effects of higher than usual (from meat and fish) intake of creatine? I often hear people say that creatine is harmful, and my friends think they're as harmful as steriods. I've read a article saying that it is not safe for people under 18. Why is that so? is it because using creatine supplemnts would mean more creatinine formed?

6. Ingesting creatine can increase the level of phosphocreatine in the muscles up to 20%, how long can it stay that high? for an active individual.

I might give it a shot if im convinced enough, its costs quite a sum (for a student) :(

Thanks for your advice!

Sorry i ask many questions :oops:

The first thing you have to realise is that when you take a dose of creatine it is not instantaneously available for energy, like an energy drink. Do you know anything about energy systems? I dont want to confuse you if you dont. Creatine has to be available, "stored" in your muscles before it can work. This is what the loading phase attempts to acheive, a base of stored creatine in your muscles larege enough to cope with the demands of exercise.

You wont be able to overdose on creatine by soley eating red meat and fish, there just isnt enough creatine in it. Cant remember exactly off the top of my head but theres something like 4.5g of creatine in one KG of beef.

A recent 10 year study using resistance trained men showed no ill effects of prolonged creatine consumption. I can say without doubt that creatine is NOT harmful and is should definitly not be compared to steroids.

I recently worked with a 16 year old thai boxer, we tried a 3 week creatine programme in training where he consumed 5g per day. The idea was to monitor his weight increase as an alternative to traditional weight increase methods. He showed no obvious ill effects from the period, but then this was only for 3 weeks. It is advisable that you cycle creatine consumption, month on month off etc.

The levels of creatine in the muscle can stay elevated for however long a person is supplementing for. However, prolonged elevated levels may "turn off" the natural creatine production response in your body because your body being the efficient machine it is thinks "hey! we dont need to waste our time producing creatine when were getting fed it!". Making, pardon the pun, cycling, important.

The only downside is that creatine is really expensive for the high quality versions. To be honest I dont think that at your age and the level your competiting at and especially the event, supplementing with creatine will provide much benefit to you - it would be a waste of time and money. However, theres no harm in educating yourself on the matter further. Please feel free to ask me any more questions.

Alan

AWX,

I would not advise you to use the liquid forms of creatine. Many of them are simply 'fad products' that do nothing. If you are going to use it, use a simple 'creatine monohydrate' and make sure you take it with a fair amount of carbohydrates.

It does not have to be expensive, if you live in the UK either email me or PM me and I can help you out and stop you getting ripped off.

Creatine may help you with your events as it will increase your glycogen stores which are basically one of the major fuel stores your body uses. The 'multiple sprint' benefits from creatine may not however help you in long distance events.

Loading is pretty unneccessary, you will still reach the same levels of saturation in the muscle and this can be maintain with small doses each day.

Creatine can cause an upset stomach if you take too much but your diet will not cause you to 'overdose'.

HTH

Martin

I am 15 years old male. Is it safe to use creatine i dont want to make myself look like a bodybuilder but i want to get in GREAT physical condition for upcoming events.

Hi Martin,

I've never heard of creatine increasing glycogen stores before. Could you expand on that statement please?

From the research i've looked at it works in 3 ways, the first two of which are relevent to this post.

1. Increasing initial amounts of Phosphocreatine (PCr) in the muscle cell.

2. Provides more free Cr available for PCr regeneration.

3. Increases protein synthesis rate by greater satellite cell activity.

Reg,
leave Cr alone. Develop yourself physically before even thinking about using creatine.

alan,

yes i do know abit about energy systems, there are 3 pathways, oxidative phosphorylation, anaerobic glycolysis and direct phosphorylation of ADP which is also known as anaerobic alactacid system am i right? I am also aware that creatine phosphate is stored in the muscles, just wasn't sure how fast supplemental creatine can enter the muscles in the same way, a question you've already answered :D thanks!

Oh sorry i think i misphrased, i meant overdosing creatine in the sense that creatine supplements are consumed, on top of those that you naturally gain from normal meals of red meat and fish. Doubts cleared too

Thanks for all your help! Really informative And yes i have more questions! Let me sort them out first. :wink:

Hi martin,
thanks for your advice too, the liquid creatine comes from GNC pro performance, it is quite a credible brand right? :? I can't remember which brand sells those in pill forms, but the pills are purple in colour (lol sorry poor visual memory).

The contents both read "creatine monohydrate". What other forms of creatine are there? What's creatine ethyl ester then? What's the difference?

I reside in Singapore, but thanks for your offer :) What is an acceptable price? You can quote in US$ and i can do the conversions!

I have also not heard of creatine increasing glycogen stores before, please explain too thanks.

Sorry may i digress a little, what's a meniscal bruise? I've been recovering from it since last december, but it was only diagnosed in april. Is it just a small meniscal tear? I'm afraid of pissing him off by asking too much.

awx,

CEE is a new version of creatine that is supposedly better however, the research is still catching up. One is supposed to be able to take it without carbohydrates (for the insuline spike). This makes it ideal for Pre-workout. I would advice using creatine monohydrate powder first though before using this.

A reasonable price is probably less than £20 per kilo........for powder.

GNC is credible but credible companies only have to abide by the law and this is VERY loose when it comes to supplements. Trust me on this one......don't waste your money on liquid forms.

Alan,

I will have to have a look for you now...... :roll:

It is to do with the cell volumising effects of creatine. I was also unaware of this until I spoke to Prof. Ron Maughan and he highlighted this fact.

Ok, all my papers etc are packed up in boxes at the moment so if you are UBER interested then drop me an email and I will find the specific papers I was thining of.

I have just found these two studies that show something of what I was referring to

Acta Physiol Scand. 2001 Feb;171(2):169-76.
Effect of creatine supplementation on creatine and glycogen content in rat skeletal muscle.

Extract: Five days of creatine feeding increased (P < 0.05) total creatine content in soleus (+ 20%) but not in red gastrocnemius (+15%, n.s.) and white gastrocnemius (+ 10%, n.s.). In parallel, glycogen content was markedly elevated (P < 0.05) in soleus (+ 40%), less (P < 0.05) in red gastrocnemius (+ 15%), and not in white gastrocnemius (+ 10%, n.s.).

Clin Sci (Lond). 2004 Jan;106(1):99-106.
Creatine supplementation increases glycogen storage but not GLUT-4 expression in human skeletal muscle.

Extract: Creatine loading significantly increased total creatine, free creatine and creatine phosphate content with a concomitant 18 +/- 5% increase in muscle glycogen content (P<0.05).
:D