REal Life Creatine Anecdotes?

[OZ-USF-UFGator]

I finally broke down and baught creatine. The directions say to take an 8 gram scoop daily, but I (200 pounds) am just doing 1/2 scoop.

Any of you have experience with creatine increasing strength and if so, which lifts and how much (in your estimation)

[melody]

30 lbs on my squat after the first g I snorted.

No clue. I started taking it with my LP and never quit.

[sbhikes]

I think the recommended dosage is 5 grams, or one teaspoon. I use an actual measuring teaspoon.

I don't think it increases your strength directly so much as increases muscle synthesis of protein. You may be able to lift a little more or lift the same amount one or two more times, nothing hugely miraculous, but you might notice you feel more capable (could also be placebo effect, which I'm all in favor of). Lifting more will make you stronger. In other words, it's still the lifting that makes you stronger, because if you just took creatine and did nothing you wouldn't get stronger.

[mrflibble]

Added maybe about 200kg to my deadlift after I started taking creatine.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

That's all?

I took some creatine, immediately lifted a bus of children off a cliff and pissed a double rainbow afterwards.

You and mrflibble may be mistaking creatine for test-e.

[Pluripotent]

If you take creatine as a form of protein supplementation, that's all well and good, probably as good as any other (but then there's the fact that they recently discovered that many supplements had no resemblance to their labeling. But what's wrong with GOMAD?

OTOH - If you're taking it to get some kind of direct muscle effect because of some specific amino acids found in there, then you're going to have to explain how the AAs escape the digestive system without being broken down into their base units (like any other protein) and then somehow exerting some specific effect on muscle tissue. This is the same problem that needs to be explained for those who take chondroitin sulfate for their joints. In fact, I think the problem was clearly illustrated by a particular south park episode in a slightly different context, although still applicable to this situation:

[Gerhard]

5g a day, negligible effects in my opinion, but it gives a little boost as a pre-workout combined with a couple scoops of BCAA's.

[Joe Murphy]

Snort the creatine, Gator.

Creatine suppositories FTW. Gritty, but a win nonetheless.

[Austin Baraki]

I don't think it increases your strength directly so much as increases muscle synthesis of protein.

If you take creatine as a form of protein supplementation, that's all well and good, probably as good as any other

If you're taking it to get some kind of direct muscle effect because of some specific amino acids found in there, then you're going to have to explain how the AAs escape the digestive system without being broken down into their base units (like any other protein) and then somehow exerting some specific effect on muscle tissue.

Lots of misinformation in here. Creatine is not a form of protein supplement. It also does not directly stimulate muscle protein synthesis. It (creatine monohydrate, at least) has been consistently proven to increase muscle creatine stores, so it definitely gets absorbed. Rather than typing out all the correct information about it, I'll just leave these here: http://examine.com/supplements/Creatine
http://www.jissn.com/content/4/1/6

[Bryan Dobson]

I played around with a few brands that had a bunch of fillers and stuff i didnt want and started using Bulksupplements Creatine monohydrate. http://www.amazon.com/BulkSupplement.../dp/B00E9M4XEE

I get a boost in work capacity, using creatine. In other words I can do more volume in a given session, reaching a target fatigue after one or two additional sets consistently adds up over time. I normally take 5 grams a day and add 2.5 grams pre workout on training days.