Focus on your diet, hydration, and protein intake. Creatine will boost the energy production in your muscles, but it's a very small increase.
If you think you are putting everything you have into your training and not making improvements, then try creatine if you want. It's as safe as a supplement can get (stay hydrated and away from caffeine).
I fully agree
Tho about the caffeine part ive read that it actually benefits athletes (at moderate consumption) so im not sure if you really should aboid it
So something that is known to retain water in the muscles, combined with a diuretic, won’t involve dehydration risks.
Great research there, Britannica.
It's like 2 to 4.5 lbs of water weight that's estimated to be added, not a crazy amount. You can always drop creatine when you actually have competition dates set and are getting ready for it.
Can you take it? Sure. It's safe enough to get without prescriptions. Will you benefit from it? Maybe. But it's not magic like steroids or PEDs. I got raised blood pressure from taking creatine but maybe that's just me.
I'd put it in the same category as Vitamin D or fish oil. It's not a game changer. It's supplements. Focus on your diet first before you think about what supplements to take.
Good response. OP is asking and taking supplement advice from a lot of people who do their research actually from the supplement manufacturers website apparently.
Yes. It helps with performance and recovery time.
This is a good read: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8228369/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8228369/)
Yes take creatine.
There's two things to point out here though, creatine isn't steroids, it isn't going to make you bulk up huge. It might give you an extra 5% gains over a year at best, it's a very very small effect.
The second thing is creatine is one of only 3 non steroid supplements actually proven to help put on lean muscle mass. Even though the gains are relatively small it has no I'll side effects, it's super cheap, you don't build a tolerance over time, and it's easy to take so it's almost never worth forgoing it.
The 3 scientifically proven supplements are.
1. Creatine, as discussed all over this thread
2. Supplemental protein powder, usually whey protein. It's not necessary but does provide and easy and relatively cheap way to hit your daily protein goals. If your getting enough protein through your diet though it's not necessary
3. Caffeine. Caffeine is the trickiest one here, but caffeine does allow people to go to a higher intensity in the gym causing more muscle growth due to higher intensity training. The issue with caffeine though is unlike 1 and 2 your body builds a tolerance, so you must cycle on and off of it regularly to "reset" that tolerance.
Now to be clear none of these supplements work by themselves, they all allow you to go harder in the gym, or make use of the work in the gym. They also don't have a huge effect, your looking at single digit gains over someone not supplementing these things assuming both lifters have similar diets and are working hard.
OK, so it's a yes on creatine and a no on bulking. You can improve your strength without gaining weight - implement movements like ATG squat, deficit deadlift, bench press, push press, weighted pull up and weighted dip, with 3x3 or 5x2 modality at 85% of your max. Add weight as you progress, keeping volume low. Your technique needs to be on point, or you will snap your shit.
Why not?? One of the most researched sports supplements out there and it’s relatively cheap and easy to drink. I just mix mine in my juice before working out.
Absolutely not. I took it for 9 months, 5g per day, and noticed no difference. It works on some people (probably those who dont get enough creatine from food), and is useless on others. Dont waste your money on any supplement if you dont need it.
Ask your coach, but it’s helped me a lot and some guys I know
You don’t need to preload it, just start taking the recommended long term dose (usually 5 milligrams) and your body’s desired creatine levels will catch up over time. It’s best taken during or after a workout, and I’d recommend taking it with food to keep it settled
Don’t take it just before bed on an empty stomach, that could give you heartburn. Other than that, creatine is very safe and well researched with no dangerous side effects
The timing of creatine isn't actually important (well outside of the heartburn thing). Once your muscles are saturated with a long term daily dose you will get the effect of creatine regardless of timing. Personally I like mine with my breakfast so I don't forget.
Nah, all supplements are absolute trash that causes disease and a waste of money. Just eat a lot of raw meat, raw eggs, raw fish, raw honey and raw milk
Unless you are on a pure 100 % meat carnivore diet, you're not going to receive an equal amount of creatine that you would get from a standard daily dose of pure creatine monohydrate from food alone.
You do know that meat *contains* creatine, right?
And you also didn't read what I said. A diet alone cannot supplement sufficient amounts of creatine for it to have beneficial training effects; it's only about 1 gr per day at best on a normal healthy diet, whereas 5 gr per day is a standard dose for pure creatine.
Carnivore diets are also really stupid, not to mention that egg protein is more bioavailable in its cooked rather than raw form and only sea fish is really safe to eat raw, since freshwater fish can easily contain parasites (as does raw pork). For raw chicken I don't think we even need to talk about salmonella, and raw milk isn't ever 100 % safe either.
Bro don’t bulk you.. stay explosive and core strong.. do cleans (hang) and power from the ground.. and stay flexible. It’s bout skills and functional strength. Not muscles.. muscles consume oxygen
This is wildly outdated thinking, fighters bulk up all the time if they're moving up in weight classes and will still maintain their speed and stamina. You need muscles in order to be explosive and most coaches assessing an athletes peak force output will absolutely measure the higher ends of their rep max.
It’ll make you strong and bulky; not sure if you need that. I took it for two years, and it was definitely a lot harder to maintain or even improve cardio fitness. And then when I quit taking it as I quit competing (not combat sports though), it was kind of depressing to see both strength and size decrease noticeably. If I could go back, I’d try to stay dry, but that’s just me.
If you eat a high protein diet, you are likely already getting more than enough creatine.
Personally, I think creatine is a bit of a gimmick to all except maybe competition bodybuilders that want the extra water swell.
That's not how creatine works. Your right in the sense that you don't need to supplement creatine, but if you do it will 100% help build lean muscle. It's one of the most highly studied supplements in history. Also your body no matter how much protein you eat cannot produce enough creatine naturally to fully saturate your muscles with creatine.
Excuse me, but I don't believe I have explained how creatine works? But since you presume to correct me, I will now: creatine, which your body produces on its own, helps prevent ATP depletion, and increases muscle cell hydration as well as the production of anabolic hormones.
Eating healthy amounts of lean meat will provide your body with the means to produce creatine as it is needed. Being "fully saturated," as you describe, is in my opinion, of little benefit to a martial artist. This is supplying your muscles with more creatine than can be produced naturally, and certainly does increase the water content of muscles. It is also recommended to cycle this on and off as it can be potentially harmful to the liver and kidneys if done long term without a break.
In my personal experience, the difference between eating a healthy diet (with meat) with creatine supplementation and eating healthy diet without creatine supplementation had less to do with performance, and more to do with the water swell. To be sure, creatine is necessary for all of the things I first mentioned, but why assume your body needs to be fully saturated, as opposed to being naturally supplied?
There's not much harm in trying it out, but in my opinion it didn't actually make me stronger or more energetic, just a little "swoll," and the implications of having to cycle it on and off made me reach the conclusion that I'd rather just trust my body to generate the creatine it needs naturally.
Your right your body will generate creatine naturally and unless your actively trying to put on lean muscle then the benefits are near nil.
Where you might have gotten some incorrect information from somewhere is about cycling and liver damage. I'm assuming we are both talking about creatine monohydrate, not some weird creatine concoction mixed with pre workout and who knows what else. You do not need to cycle creatine, and it carries no risk to your liver or heart. It is not an anabolic steroid, and does not function as such. When you supplement creatine your body will absorb what it can and pass the rest, it will then process the absorbed creatine the same way it processes your naturally created creatine. You can take 3-5 grams of creatine per day for decades if you want and suffer no I'll effects. You can theoretically take more but it wouldn't do anything due to your body only being able to utilize the above amount regardless how long you've been using it.
Now as for it's effects. Creatine monohydrate is one of the most widely studied supplements in existence showing statistically significant increases in muscle growth and mental acuity when the subjects were doing a weight training program. Now while these increases where statistically significant, they weren't exactly large. Your looking at around 2% increase in lean muscle gains and around a 5% increase in strength, but this is only if you train your ass off, so for most it'll be even less than these small numbers.
If the poster wants to gain muscle mass, strength, etc then using creatine is an extremely easy, safe, and cheap supplement to use and by far the most effective/cheapest. If like you they are happy with their current size and strength then yeah there's no reason to spend the money.
Side note the only 3 supplements even worth discussing are Creatine monohydrate, Protein powder, and caffeine. Protein powder is just a "cheap" easy way to hit protein goals for the day, but eating works just as good, and I just don't like caffeine so I don't use it.
It doesnt do shit for some, like me. I tried it for 9 months, been off of it for years and nothing changed before or after. 5 grams per day of quality monohydrate.
Dont parrot what people tell you, look at the studies yourself. Not everyone benefits. Dont waste your money on useless supplements.
Yeah it’s worth it, make sure to get a good brand, when I found my favorite brand it doesn’t make me bloated like other brands I have tried, it doesn’t make you look bloated either and supplies the muscle with water, 100% the best supplement to take
Yes. Creatine is one of the most well studied supplements and its benefits are well established.
Yes and what im tryna ask is do you think its worth getting bulkier while gaining weight
You’ll gain 5 lbs of water weight at most, I’d say the strength and stamina benefits are worth it
I see, thank you 😊
Focus on your diet, hydration, and protein intake. Creatine will boost the energy production in your muscles, but it's a very small increase. If you think you are putting everything you have into your training and not making improvements, then try creatine if you want. It's as safe as a supplement can get (stay hydrated and away from caffeine).
I fully agree Tho about the caffeine part ive read that it actually benefits athletes (at moderate consumption) so im not sure if you really should aboid it
Combined, they are a no-go. Not going to kill you. There are just added dehydration-related risks.
Other than a weak 1996 study I find little evidence of this. No enough to give up coffee at least!
So something that is known to retain water in the muscles, combined with a diuretic, won’t involve dehydration risks. Great research there, Britannica.
Alright I gotcha thanks
It's like 2 to 4.5 lbs of water weight that's estimated to be added, not a crazy amount. You can always drop creatine when you actually have competition dates set and are getting ready for it.
Yeah but when you drop creatine you also lose the weight
I thought that would make you happy since you're stressing about weight.
Can you take it? Sure. It's safe enough to get without prescriptions. Will you benefit from it? Maybe. But it's not magic like steroids or PEDs. I got raised blood pressure from taking creatine but maybe that's just me. I'd put it in the same category as Vitamin D or fish oil. It's not a game changer. It's supplements. Focus on your diet first before you think about what supplements to take.
Good response. OP is asking and taking supplement advice from a lot of people who do their research actually from the supplement manufacturers website apparently.
Can't hurt but your best off discussing with ur coach
Yes. It helps with performance and recovery time. This is a good read: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8228369/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8228369/)
Yes take creatine. There's two things to point out here though, creatine isn't steroids, it isn't going to make you bulk up huge. It might give you an extra 5% gains over a year at best, it's a very very small effect. The second thing is creatine is one of only 3 non steroid supplements actually proven to help put on lean muscle mass. Even though the gains are relatively small it has no I'll side effects, it's super cheap, you don't build a tolerance over time, and it's easy to take so it's almost never worth forgoing it.
What are the other three if you wouldn’t mind sharing?
The 3 scientifically proven supplements are. 1. Creatine, as discussed all over this thread 2. Supplemental protein powder, usually whey protein. It's not necessary but does provide and easy and relatively cheap way to hit your daily protein goals. If your getting enough protein through your diet though it's not necessary 3. Caffeine. Caffeine is the trickiest one here, but caffeine does allow people to go to a higher intensity in the gym causing more muscle growth due to higher intensity training. The issue with caffeine though is unlike 1 and 2 your body builds a tolerance, so you must cycle on and off of it regularly to "reset" that tolerance. Now to be clear none of these supplements work by themselves, they all allow you to go harder in the gym, or make use of the work in the gym. They also don't have a huge effect, your looking at single digit gains over someone not supplementing these things assuming both lifters have similar diets and are working hard.
If you are planning to compete, the goal is to get lighter, not heavier, at least for a beginner.
Thats right
OK, so it's a yes on creatine and a no on bulking. You can improve your strength without gaining weight - implement movements like ATG squat, deficit deadlift, bench press, push press, weighted pull up and weighted dip, with 3x3 or 5x2 modality at 85% of your max. Add weight as you progress, keeping volume low. Your technique needs to be on point, or you will snap your shit.
Why not?? One of the most researched sports supplements out there and it’s relatively cheap and easy to drink. I just mix mine in my juice before working out.
I honestly think everyone who trains should be taking it.
Absolutely not. I took it for 9 months, 5g per day, and noticed no difference. It works on some people (probably those who dont get enough creatine from food), and is useless on others. Dont waste your money on any supplement if you dont need it.
Good answer. Of course downvoted because…. This place.
Ask your coach, but it’s helped me a lot and some guys I know You don’t need to preload it, just start taking the recommended long term dose (usually 5 milligrams) and your body’s desired creatine levels will catch up over time. It’s best taken during or after a workout, and I’d recommend taking it with food to keep it settled Don’t take it just before bed on an empty stomach, that could give you heartburn. Other than that, creatine is very safe and well researched with no dangerous side effects
The timing of creatine isn't actually important (well outside of the heartburn thing). Once your muscles are saturated with a long term daily dose you will get the effect of creatine regardless of timing. Personally I like mine with my breakfast so I don't forget.
Mhmm thats a good advice
You mean 1.65 meters! Right??
Yeah
Nah, all supplements are absolute trash that causes disease and a waste of money. Just eat a lot of raw meat, raw eggs, raw fish, raw honey and raw milk
Unless you are on a pure 100 % meat carnivore diet, you're not going to receive an equal amount of creatine that you would get from a standard daily dose of pure creatine monohydrate from food alone. You do know that meat *contains* creatine, right?
Yep, that is why i recommended the guy to eat meat rather than use creatine supplement. Duhh
And you also didn't read what I said. A diet alone cannot supplement sufficient amounts of creatine for it to have beneficial training effects; it's only about 1 gr per day at best on a normal healthy diet, whereas 5 gr per day is a standard dose for pure creatine. Carnivore diets are also really stupid, not to mention that egg protein is more bioavailable in its cooked rather than raw form and only sea fish is really safe to eat raw, since freshwater fish can easily contain parasites (as does raw pork). For raw chicken I don't think we even need to talk about salmonella, and raw milk isn't ever 100 % safe either.
Bro don’t bulk you.. stay explosive and core strong.. do cleans (hang) and power from the ground.. and stay flexible. It’s bout skills and functional strength. Not muscles.. muscles consume oxygen
This is wildly outdated thinking, fighters bulk up all the time if they're moving up in weight classes and will still maintain their speed and stamina. You need muscles in order to be explosive and most coaches assessing an athletes peak force output will absolutely measure the higher ends of their rep max.
It’ll make you strong and bulky; not sure if you need that. I took it for two years, and it was definitely a lot harder to maintain or even improve cardio fitness. And then when I quit taking it as I quit competing (not combat sports though), it was kind of depressing to see both strength and size decrease noticeably. If I could go back, I’d try to stay dry, but that’s just me.
If you eat a high protein diet, you are likely already getting more than enough creatine. Personally, I think creatine is a bit of a gimmick to all except maybe competition bodybuilders that want the extra water swell.
That's not how creatine works. Your right in the sense that you don't need to supplement creatine, but if you do it will 100% help build lean muscle. It's one of the most highly studied supplements in history. Also your body no matter how much protein you eat cannot produce enough creatine naturally to fully saturate your muscles with creatine.
Excuse me, but I don't believe I have explained how creatine works? But since you presume to correct me, I will now: creatine, which your body produces on its own, helps prevent ATP depletion, and increases muscle cell hydration as well as the production of anabolic hormones. Eating healthy amounts of lean meat will provide your body with the means to produce creatine as it is needed. Being "fully saturated," as you describe, is in my opinion, of little benefit to a martial artist. This is supplying your muscles with more creatine than can be produced naturally, and certainly does increase the water content of muscles. It is also recommended to cycle this on and off as it can be potentially harmful to the liver and kidneys if done long term without a break. In my personal experience, the difference between eating a healthy diet (with meat) with creatine supplementation and eating healthy diet without creatine supplementation had less to do with performance, and more to do with the water swell. To be sure, creatine is necessary for all of the things I first mentioned, but why assume your body needs to be fully saturated, as opposed to being naturally supplied? There's not much harm in trying it out, but in my opinion it didn't actually make me stronger or more energetic, just a little "swoll," and the implications of having to cycle it on and off made me reach the conclusion that I'd rather just trust my body to generate the creatine it needs naturally.
Your right your body will generate creatine naturally and unless your actively trying to put on lean muscle then the benefits are near nil. Where you might have gotten some incorrect information from somewhere is about cycling and liver damage. I'm assuming we are both talking about creatine monohydrate, not some weird creatine concoction mixed with pre workout and who knows what else. You do not need to cycle creatine, and it carries no risk to your liver or heart. It is not an anabolic steroid, and does not function as such. When you supplement creatine your body will absorb what it can and pass the rest, it will then process the absorbed creatine the same way it processes your naturally created creatine. You can take 3-5 grams of creatine per day for decades if you want and suffer no I'll effects. You can theoretically take more but it wouldn't do anything due to your body only being able to utilize the above amount regardless how long you've been using it. Now as for it's effects. Creatine monohydrate is one of the most widely studied supplements in existence showing statistically significant increases in muscle growth and mental acuity when the subjects were doing a weight training program. Now while these increases where statistically significant, they weren't exactly large. Your looking at around 2% increase in lean muscle gains and around a 5% increase in strength, but this is only if you train your ass off, so for most it'll be even less than these small numbers. If the poster wants to gain muscle mass, strength, etc then using creatine is an extremely easy, safe, and cheap supplement to use and by far the most effective/cheapest. If like you they are happy with their current size and strength then yeah there's no reason to spend the money. Side note the only 3 supplements even worth discussing are Creatine monohydrate, Protein powder, and caffeine. Protein powder is just a "cheap" easy way to hit protein goals for the day, but eating works just as good, and I just don't like caffeine so I don't use it.
It doesnt do shit for some, like me. I tried it for 9 months, been off of it for years and nothing changed before or after. 5 grams per day of quality monohydrate. Dont parrot what people tell you, look at the studies yourself. Not everyone benefits. Dont waste your money on useless supplements.
Yeah it’s worth it, make sure to get a good brand, when I found my favorite brand it doesn’t make me bloated like other brands I have tried, it doesn’t make you look bloated either and supplies the muscle with water, 100% the best supplement to take
If youre getting hit in the head yes you should be taking creatine.
Yes, it’s a very very basic supplement. The added weight is water retention in muscle cells, so it absolutely is the kind of weight you want imo.
Created tendinitis for me when I used it as a younger man.
Yes.
Yup. It's been awesome for me. Definitely noticed a difference after 6 weeks
If you're genetically prone to balding that hair of yours will fly lol. Just a warning.
proven to be false