Pros and Cons of creatine and other considerations

I'm considering getting my some creative to gain muscle quicker.

What are the pros/cons of it? Does anyone here use it? What kind of benefits do you see in your workouts?

Someone told me it shrinks your junk, is that true?

Thanks!

Pros:
- Additional muscular energy allows you to perform increased workload and therefore get a more intense workout
- Increases cellular volumization (muscles have more water in them) leads to faster muscle growth

Cons:
- Some people don't like that they will gain 5-8 lbs of water weight on creatine.
- ???

It does not shrink your junk. It is found naturally in many foods like steak.

I don't think this is a supplement beginners need, since they are going to progress so quickly and they don't even use enough of their muscles to benefit from creatine consumption, but for everyone else, I think it's one of the only supplements on the market that actually does something.

so it makes your muscle look bulbous?

ive been taking it for years. i dont think i look bulbous. u can go look at my pics in the pic thread and judge for urself if u want

edit pg. 21, maybe i do look bulbous. hang on i gotta go look up bulbous 0_o, also is the pics thread now titled ♦ for anyone else?

I don't think this is a supplement beginners need, since they are going to progress so quickly and they don't even use enough of their muscles to benefit from creatine consumption

^^^^^^^^^^

supposedly it makes your muscles look slightly more swollen, but I seriously didn't notice any difference. Maybe if I had lower body fat % I could tell, but I don't and I can't.

I disagree with rayn on beginners not using it, its so cheap I wouldnt really be scared of wasting it, and the visible effects can really help out with keeping a beginner on track.

Isn't it important to be drinking a lot of water with creatine so that it doesn't cause kidney damage or something?

This could be a myth but I'm not going to Google.

yes- more than usual

I disagree with rayn on beginners not using it, its so cheap I wouldnt really be scared of wasting it, and the visible effects can really help out with keeping a beginner on track.

Last time I tried the shit it was still expensive as fuck.

I tried the monohydrate powder which made my shakes taste like chalk

and I tried the creatine fruit punch shit from GNC a while back

It all made me want to puke.

I never bothered with that fucking loading stage either. Just took it everyday with my protein shake or twice every day.

I disagree with rayn on beginners not using it, its so cheap I wouldnt really be scared of wasting it, and the visible effects can really help out with keeping a beginner on track.I think it's nice when you can use it to bust your first plateau since that's when most beginners fall off -- not right in the beginning when they go up 5 lbs every week on the big lifts.

Creatine doesn't cause kidney damage as far as anyone can tell as long as you're drowning yourself in it.

I haven't noticed any difference between loading and not loading creating. Don't bother cycling it, there's absolutely no reason to.

Only buy creatine monohydrate. Everything else is just a new marketing ploy now that the supplement guys can't sell you monohydrate with a 4000% markup.

You should be drinking lots of water anyway. I drink over a gallon a day easy. I don't think I could reasonably increase this regardless of my creatine intake.

Last time I tried the shit it was still expensive as fuck.Hm?

Creatine MH 1000g | Whey Protein Supplements Bodybuilding & Health (http://www.allthewhey.com/mcm1000.html)

This is $12ish + S/H for about 200 doses. I can eat this stuff with a spoon, too, because it has no flavor and is micronized.

Well this was maybe 3 or more years ago - back when I was dumb enough to shop GNC.

cool i decided to buy some creatine. been lifting on and off for a long while and never tried it. Didn't know it was so damn cheap.

Mix the creatine with some type of juice, just nothing cirtus, I use cranberry grape.

Maybe I'll try it again if it is so cheap.

I had that creatine burst shit from GNC it was fruit punch full of dextrose/maltodextrin and was so fucking hard to down :\ :sick:

I'm not too worried about it. Taking a straight up spoonful of piracetem has got to be worse than just about anything else.

creatine is fine to take just remember its called a supplement for a reason

There is no scientific fact that says it does you any harm, otherwise it would be a banned substance. I can't imagine it does you any good though. Try it and see if the gains are worth it..

When do you guys take the creatine? Before or after workout? And how long?

after, immediately, with dextrose