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Creatine personal experience
Posted by: Energizer
My thoughts and conclusions on creatine.
Over the past year, I have been conducting an experiment on myself to determine what effects (if any) creatine supplementation had on my body. My first trial started september and ended a week before my first meet in January. I had been training for 1.5 years prior to taking creatine so I could rule out any possible gains from "being a novice lifter" and getting my muscles used to lifting weights.
I worked out 4 days per week and weighed myself each day. During that 5 month period, I estimated that I gained about 6 pounds due to water weight which mainly happened in the first 2 months of taking creatine (diet stayed the same as well as workout routine and level of activity). My doseage was roughly 5 grams per day. I did not do a loading phase. After 2.5 weeks of supplementation, I noticed that my muscles did not burn as much after doing a heavy workout but my strength did not improve. The 4th week, I noticed that my strength had noticably improved especially in the incline and flat bench. I don't know if it was the creatine or not but my workout routine stayed the same and when I got off of creatine, I felt weaker.
After 5 months on creatine, I started having hamstring and shin problems. Did some research and a few other people had the same type of hamstring problems. So I stopped taking it and my hamstring felt better in about 2 months.
Took 6 months off of creatine and started taking it again about 3 weeks ago. Took roughly 5 grams per day in the morning with juice on an empty stomach. Felt no effects the first week. At 1.5 weeks, I noticed that I was able to lift extra reps before the lactic acid buildup became severe. At 2 to 2.5 weeks, I was able to lift to muscle failure without lactic acid buildup. Now at the end of week 3, I notice my strength increasing. Again don't know if the increase is a result of the lifting or the creatine. So far, I have gained about 4 pounds since taking it again.
In the beginning, I was trying to determine if creatine supplementation had an effect on my body. So far, I conclude that I will gain between 4 to 6 pounds of water weight. I will be able to work out to complete muscle failure roughly 3 weeks after I start taking it. Lastly, I think it also makes me stronger but I can not prove it yet. As for the cons, I do not know if I will have more hamstring problems a few months down the line. Time will tell. Just wanted to share my findings. The research continues....
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