Creatine Monohydrate or Ethyl Ester

[jimbowsky101]

Will these substances keep me from losing weight, and do they have any effect on my heart?

[ryuage]

no

[jimbowsky101]

No on both accounts?

[BBar23]

you might die if you take them

[jimbowsky101]

Im being serious. can someone answer truthfully?

[cosmicdebree88]

Truthfully, it will put on water weight. You may or may not mind this if you trying to lose weight. Just keep in mind that it will make you hold more water. It should have no effect on your heart.

[ryuage]

what part of no was hard to understand

[jordonwuff]

Shouldn't have any effect on the heart.. And you can cut or bulk using Creatine.

--Jordon

[eps]

Maybe I'm just being an idiot .........

but why would you want to add water weight? is that all creatine will do for you?

does creatine add muscle? if not, what's the point of it??

[Holto]

but why would you want to add water weight?

water helps stretch the fascia of a muscle and the cell membranes themslevels

it helps increase muscle torque



is that all creatine will do for you?

NO

water retention is a side effect of creatine

the reason creatine was invented is because we can't make synthetic ATP

ATP is your bodies only useable form of energy

the purpose of creatine is to increase the amount of ATP in your muscle cells


does creatine add muscle? if not, what's the point of it??

creatine increases the growth rate of muscle by improving recovery

[icanrace]

water helps stretch the fascia of a muscle and the cell membranes themslevels

it helps increase muscle torque




NO

water retention is a side effect of creatine

the reason creatine was invented is because we can't make synthetic ATP

ATP is your bodies only useable form of energy

the purpose of creatine is to increase the amount of ATP in your muscle cells



creatine increases the growth rate of muscle by improving recovery


nice post bro

[BG5150]

Wasn't there a "Creatine" sticky on here before? What happened to it.

Not much on CEE in here, but here's an article on creatine:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/gastelu8.htm

[cavman21]

CEE is a joke. There are no tests on it done proving that its any better than monohydrate. So i would just buy mono cause it works just as good if better for half the price.

[Shao-LiN]

There are no tests proving otherwise, either. It's all personal experience.

[dxiw]

The physiology of creatine (how it works)
When you exercise a muscle your body first uses teh readily available ATP for energy, when that runs out it uses an anaerobic energy mechanism (you need oxygen for the ATP system) and the second mechanism results in lactic / pyruvic acid burn you feel when u get tired.. now.. the body makes ATP by bonding ADP with creatine phosphate ... the average 150lb man has somewhere around 120g of creatine in his muscle.. 99% of creatine is stored in skeletal muscle, with 1% in the heart, brain, etc... the idea behind creatine supplementation is that you can max out your muscle's potential for holding creatine, therefore giving you the most readily availebl ATP (burst energy). Human muscle can store roughyl 5g/kg and normally you have 3-4g/kg depeneding on your creatine intake from natural sources (like beef) in your diet.

benefits and drawbacks of supplementation:

benefits - increase in energy, increase in strength, allows you to work longer and harder in the gym

neutral effects - causes water retention within the muscles which iin itself is anabolic and may help you get bigger, but also adds water weight if you care about that and you may look a little less defined

negative effects - usually no major effects. Overdose (>20g /day) can cause renal failure in humans, and people with existing kidney problems should avoid creatine at all costs. The idea behind overdose is that your kidneys must process whatever creatine is not used daily, and the waste product left behind is creatinine. This conversion can mess up your kidneys with time if you use too much.

avoid problems:
The key is to use it only when your regularly lifting (every day is fine) and not in excessive dose (use a 3-5g daily dose to slowly saturate your muscles, it takes 2-4 weeks though the difference should be noticeable within a few workouts)... loading has been found to be a waste of creatine as after 2-4 weeks creatine concentrations are the same whether u load or not..

my advice: take 3-5 gram daily, either all in the morning or on workout days half in the morning and half preworkout (this gives u a little preworkout energy).. drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration

ethyl ester vs monohydrate

creatine monohydrate is the standard creatine thats been around for ages, it works as discussed above. Ethyl ester is a new version of it that yields the same physical gains in strength / etc, but has less side effects. People notice less water retention and no upset stomach when they take it. Also, it sometimes comes in capsules meaning slower absorption and saturation (less stress on kidneys too).. Truthfully however, there is not a lot of research behind it so while it is probably slightly better.. it may not justify the cost.. kind of like driving a ferrari over a bmw.. both show off, the ferrari is just a little excessive

Final Verdict: If you have the money, buy the ethyl ester, otherwise get the monohydrate. Just make sure the monohydrate you get is pure and micronized, it will mix easier and not contain any bad other chemicals. Never buy 99% pure or anything like that, because the other 1% are creatine production byproducts the lab was too lazy to remove and can be very unhealthy in the long term.

Also, I would suggest cycling creatine as to 1) prevent natural production shutdown 2) help your kidneys a little. 2 months cycles are good.

One final tip, do not take it with fruit juices, or anything with citric acid. This will cause instant conversion to creatinine and you will be wasting 100% of your creatine as it will all be pissed out in an hour or so. The best is to meaure ur dose, put it in your mouth, drink it down with protein or water and then eat some sugary carbs to help it get delivered (not fruits though). You can also take an NO supplement with it, but thats a whole nother story.

From experience: you should experience a slight weight gain, ability to do slightly more reps and look a little bigger within a couple weeks. If your not seeing results, either 1) you are a nonresponder 2) your not using it correctly. DO NOT RAISE YOUR DOSE HOWEVER, 10g is not any better than 5 if your not feeling anything and may lead to problems