First time on creatine

[Wizard]

I started the loading phase(even some people say it's not so necessary)with 20gr/5days.I baught Prolab's creatine monohydrate.I have some questions.
1)I will be taking 5gr/day for maintenance for a month.Do I have to cycle it and take then one month off?Or it will be ok if I'll be taking 5gr only on training days(postworkout).I think this is what Paul is doing.
2)Is ALA really good?How much of it per dose?
3)I take creatine with 40gr of maltodextrine(postworkout)and not dextrose.Is there a big difference while the GI is the same?I'm not bulking now so I considered it would be better to take a complex carb.

[Cackerot69]

1)I will be taking 5gr/day for maintenance for a month.Do I have to cycle it and take then one month off?Or it will be ok if I'll be taking 5gr only on training days(postworkout).I think this is what Paul is doing.

-skip the 5g a day for maintenance. just load for a week, 10g 2x a day, the after that week go to 5g only post workout.

2)Is ALA really good?How much of it per dose?

-it really seems to help me with high calorie shakes, kinda stupid testing procedure though :) lets just call it the "poop test". 250mg.

3)I take creatine with 40gr of maltodextrine(postworkout)and not dextrose.Is there a big difference while the GI is the same?I'm not bulking now so I considered it would be better to take a complex carb.

-not much of a difference, malto is probably a better choice anyway. might want to up the amount of malto though, i'm aware of one study that stated that at least 70g of a high GI carbs (malto or dextrose) are needed to create the necessary insulin spike for maximum creatine uptake.