I thought i would offer my advice since i have been off and on creatine for several years and have reserached it widely. Creatine has been repeatedly proven to help bouts of high intensity exercise, it has even been proven to improve times over distances as long as 600m and is speculated to improve times over distances as great as the marathon. I do not load with creatine because i do not want the added weight gain, so i take small doses (1g) four times a day. This sort of supplementation has been proven to achieve similar muscle creatine concentrations, it just requires a longer supplementation period. If you want to gain weight, you can load (5g four times a day for 5 days). The weight you gain is thought to mainly be caused by the extra water your muscle cells will absorb, hence the need to drink more water while supplementing with creatine. I believe there is no point in loading if you are a runner because the extra water will only slow you down, taking a low dose of creatine over an extended period of time (1 month) will give you all of the benefits of creatine without the added weight. The concern i have with you taking creatine is that you are young, my concern is not that it will harm you. At such a young age you probably are not competing at high enough of a level for creatine to give you an advantage; save your liver and eat lots of protein (1-1.5g per kg of body mass) instead. Remember that to date, there have been no studies examining the long term effects of creatine supplementation. I suspect that long term supplementation could teach your body to stop producing its share of creatine, thus hindering your future athletic performance.
I think what folks are trying to tell you is that you should not worry about supplements of that nature. You are better off letting nature take it's course by waiting until you are done growing AND your growth plates close to start messing around with supplements. Don't buy into the shortcut mentality that society is selling. Eat the most balanced nutritious diet you can, work out hard, recover from that workout and accept the results with grace and dignity. Creatine or any other nonsense won't give you the edge you are seeking, what's between your ears and what's in your heart will do that. Learn to train your body, but more imporantly learn to use your mind as the powerful tool it is and that will be your difference maker.
Creatine has been associated with unuseful water gain, muscle cramps and tears. Many people use too much and make their muscles too strong for the supporting tendons. Don't underestimate your body's ability to adapt to hard training and most of all BE PATIENT. Every year you train correctly, you will get stronger and faster. Some people reach physical maturation sooner than others, but don't seek to close the gap with gimmicks because they are short lived. Be the hardest working and the most focused. That's what will get you there not a supplement.
Sorry if this comes off strong but it's important.
But I have a question for you. Would you say someone his or mine age could use a ZMA for recovery? All I use right now is whey protein for post-workout and a multi, but I'm thinking of using a ZMA to help with recovery. Are you for or against this?
During the 98 level 2 a reasercher from LSU spoke about creatine, and agreed it could be a valuable training aid but issued several cautions, that made its use difficult. Witout trying to find notes they are as follows:
1. Most studies are funded by creatine manufacturers and should be taken with a grain of salt.
2. All creatine was created equal, just not all creatine supplements were pure creatine.
3. With number 2 in mind it takes some very good math skills and measuring to take the correct dose.
4. Taking the correct dose was very important.
5. Loading was necessary. He described it in laymens terms as cramming the muscles full and letting it slowly leach out over @20 plus days.
6. Taking a maintenance dose was a ploy to sell more creatine.
7. The creatine horded water, thus more water was required to hydrate.
Again, this was '98, and a lot of water has run under the bridge since then, but since, I have advised against taking creatine, its proper use is very difficult and according to the researsch they had done (all with creatine they had purchased) only effective using specific protocals.
Originally posted by QUIKAZHELL
try to get the ZMA made by biotest or prolab
Not to say that these aren't the best brands, but I recently spoke to a USATF nutritionist about this (who does sports supplement research including some on ZMA products) and he said that while ZMA is on his top list of supplements, the main benefits of ZMA products would likely be seen from just taking the minerals in separate products and that he was aware of the given company's claims about special binding of the minerals to increase bioavailability but thought they were unwarranted.
Originally posted by ktolbert
Mike any thoughts on avoiding the wt gain common w/creatine?
Sorry but not really. It actually seems that just as though there are creatine responders and non-responders, some people do gain weight and others don't. If you wanted to limit weight gain the only way I can think of is to cut back on water but this would certainly cause much more harm than good. Interestingly, in the case of sodium water retention, drinking MORE water is actually helpful at reducing water bloat. I've never seen or heard of anything about this with creatine but I would imagine it might be useful.
Originally posted by mikeNot to say that these aren't the best brands, but I recently spoke to a USATF nutritionist about this (who does sports supplement research including some on ZMA products) and he said that while ZMA is on his top list of supplements, the main benefits of ZMA products would likely be seen from just taking the minerals in separate products and that he was aware of the given company's claims about special binding of the minerals to increase bioavailability but thought they were unwarranted.
Did he mention any particular brands or products that he would recommend?
Are there any ZMA products found in GNC or hi-health? I know everyone recommends Biotest, Prolab, etc., but I can't find any of those products in a local store, so are there any products that can be?
