5 ms·

I've been lifting five to six days a week since 2012, with some de-loading periods between, and have had my nutrition and sleep locked in for the majority of th

I've been lifting five to six days a week since 2012, with some de-loading periods between, and have had my nutrition and sleep locked in for the majority of that time. Anecdotal of course, but I will still sit here and say that creatine is the only supplement that has actually worked over all those years - in fact, it's the only one I currently take. I recover so much better when on roughly 5mg of Creatine for an extended period of time versus when I am not taking any. I also very clearly notice added water weight. That recovery leads to better training sessions which in turn leads to increased muscle and strength. The difference in water retention and recovery is measurable whether doing a PPL or something like Tactical Barbell blocks.. call me crazy. EDIT: 5g not 5mg

world2vec 2y ago
Totally agree with your personal experience. I'm able to do a few more reps and recover a bit faster between sets and from one session to the next. That will definitely have a positive impact on muscle mass in the medium/long term.
dmbche 2y ago
I know nothing about this, but in the article they mention that their trial was for 5g a day, but I see you mention 5mg - was that a typo? It's interesting either way - not meant as a jab.
- WXLCKNO 2y ago
  Definitely a typo
- LostMyLogin 2y ago
  Sorry, yes - typo! I take ~5g.
d0mine 2y ago
The dose is 5g, not 5mg
- LostMyLogin 2y ago
  Was a typo on my part. Too early to be on HN haha.
vanillax 2y ago
This.. These articles are fake news.
markdog12 2y ago
Similar experience here. Started taking it around a month ago. The strength gains I've had in that short amount of time have been nothing short of shocking to me.
lowqualityworld 2y ago
I've had the exact same experience, it took a while for creatine to start truly having an effect but I could see the extra water retention in the mirror and feel it in the gym. I think this study may have been too flawed to reach a strong conclusion. > After the 7-day wash-in, both groups followed the same RT program that comprising 3 full-body sessions a week for 12 weeks... > For all assessments, participants reported to the Exercise Physiology Research Lab (UNSW Sydney, Australia) at the same time of day between 8 h and 9 h following an 8-h fast which included refraining from all liquids except water... So extra stamina isn't rewarded due to the same workout plan and conventional wisdom on insulin and its effect on muscle absorption of creatine is completely ignored due to the 8 hour fasting period. This study seems to paint creatine as a magic muscle bullet where it seems to be common knowledge in the fitness community that it aids recovery and stamina. I have my doubts.
- ActivePattern 2y ago
  Wouldn't the extra stamina have been rewarded, assuming creatine allowed you to perform extra repetitions? All exercises were done to repetition maximum.
  - lowqualityworld 2y ago
    You're right, I read that too quickly.
    - TomHenderson3 2y ago
      You may want to delete your comment as it is spreading misinformation about this study.
      - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 2y ago
        They can't delete the comment because 1) it is past the 2-hour deletion window and 2) it has replies.
globular-toast 2y ago
I've never really understood what people mean when they talk about recovery. Is this something you can feel? Or does it mean you couldn't lift the same weights the very next day or something? I lifted consistently for years, no supplements, 1RM around 65kg OHP, 115kg BP, 140kg squat, 200kg DL and apart from immediately after the gym I never felt like I needed to recover. Maybe my volume wasn't high enough? I was very much a 3x5 compound lifts then out kind of guy rather than spending hours in there doing 10 rep sets and accessories etc.
- jdhendrickson 2y ago
  Yes, if you were not experiencing a need for recovery, you were not providing enough stimulus. I was a powerlifter. there were times when I couldn't walk the next day. recovery is a major factor.
- tekla 2y ago
  I mean your 1RM for any of those lifts isn't particularly interesting if you're around a young man 180-220lbs or so. You weren't loading enough. At my max weights (600lbs Deadlift, 400lbs Squat, 340 Bench) , I needed to take 2-3 days off minimum
  - globular-toast 2y ago
    ~160lb, 30yo. I know it's nothing special on the world stage but it's irrelevant because everyone is on gear these days and I've never even taken creatine (got scared about hair loss, lol). I also used to rep out both dips and chinups with 60kg of weight attached which tended to attract attention. But no matter what I did I never felt like I needed to take days off. I remember the DOMS in the very early days of the gym, but that just stopped happening and never came back. Maybe I wasn't pushing myself hard enough, but I also never got injured. How much more could I have realistically achieved by pushing harder? I don't think much. I got really put off trying so hard when I realised how many people were on gear.
    - tekla 2y ago
      I think you just plateaued which is normal for everyone and just ended up staying there. Most likely a combination of not eating enough and not really pushing to failure to get past it. If you're repping things with no problem, you're at the your current "optimal" level so yeah, you won't feel like you need to recover. Like in cardio, I could rip out a half-marathon at a 8:00m pace and feel fine the next day, but try and reach 7:30 and I would be shattered. At 30, probably better not to try and go too ham, but you have plenty of room to get much stronger. I don't know why other people using gear influenced you. Get fit for yourself, fuck the others.
ddorian43 2y ago
But isn't it like 1kg more water retention? How did you notice it?
- TomHenderson3 2y ago
  According to this paper, yes, the 1kg could very well just be water retention, or the increase in lean body mass during the loading period.
joncrocks 2y ago
I've been lifting a similar period of time (although only 3 days a week, with some breaks during COVID etc.) and would concur. I have improved intra-workout endurance when taking creatine, i.e. I can do more reps/the last reps feel easier. Anecdotally I do also notice a cognitive impact when taking it, e.g. I seem to have improved concentration. Or more that when I have stopped taking it I have decreased concentration. Anecdata 1 of 1.

world2vec 2y ago

Totally agree with your personal experience. I'm able to do a few more reps and recover a bit faster between sets and from one session to the next. That will definitely have a positive impact on muscle mass in the medium/long term.

dmbche 2y ago

I know nothing about this, but in the article they mention that their trial was for 5g a day, but I see you mention 5mg - was that a typo? It's interesting either way - not meant as a jab.

WXLCKNO 2y ago
Definitely a typo
LostMyLogin 2y ago
Sorry, yes - typo! I take ~5g.

d0mine 2y ago

The dose is 5g, not 5mg

LostMyLogin 2y ago
Was a typo on my part. Too early to be on HN haha.

vanillax 2y ago

This.. These articles are fake news.

markdog12 2y ago

Similar experience here. Started taking it around a month ago. The strength gains I've had in that short amount of time have been nothing short of shocking to me.

lowqualityworld 2y ago

I've had the exact same experience, it took a while for creatine to start truly having an effect but I could see the extra water retention in the mirror and feel it in the gym. I think this study may have been too flawed to reach a strong conclusion. > After the 7-day wash-in, both groups followed the same RT program that comprising 3 full-body sessions a week for 12 weeks... > For all assessments, participants reported to the Exercise Physiology Research Lab (UNSW Sydney, Australia) at the same time of day between 8 h and 9 h following an 8-h fast which included refraining from all liquids except water... So extra stamina isn't rewarded due to the same workout plan and conventional wisdom on insulin and its effect on muscle absorption of creatine is completely ignored due to the 8 hour fasting period. This study seems to paint creatine as a magic muscle bullet where it seems to be common knowledge in the fitness community that it aids recovery and stamina. I have my doubts.

ActivePattern 2y ago
Wouldn't the extra stamina have been rewarded, assuming creatine allowed you to perform extra repetitions? All exercises were done to repetition maximum.
- lowqualityworld 2y ago
  You're right, I read that too quickly.
  - TomHenderson3 2y ago
    You may want to delete your comment as it is spreading misinformation about this study.
    - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 2y ago
      They can't delete the comment because 1) it is past the 2-hour deletion window and 2) it has replies.

globular-toast 2y ago

I've never really understood what people mean when they talk about recovery. Is this something you can feel? Or does it mean you couldn't lift the same weights the very next day or something? I lifted consistently for years, no supplements, 1RM around 65kg OHP, 115kg BP, 140kg squat, 200kg DL and apart from immediately after the gym I never felt like I needed to recover. Maybe my volume wasn't high enough? I was very much a 3x5 compound lifts then out kind of guy rather than spending hours in there doing 10 rep sets and accessories etc.

jdhendrickson 2y ago
Yes, if you were not experiencing a need for recovery, you were not providing enough stimulus. I was a powerlifter. there were times when I couldn't walk the next day. recovery is a major factor.
tekla 2y ago
I mean your 1RM for any of those lifts isn't particularly interesting if you're around a young man 180-220lbs or so. You weren't loading enough. At my max weights (600lbs Deadlift, 400lbs Squat, 340 Bench) , I needed to take 2-3 days off minimum
- globular-toast 2y ago
  ~160lb, 30yo. I know it's nothing special on the world stage but it's irrelevant because everyone is on gear these days and I've never even taken creatine (got scared about hair loss, lol). I also used to rep out both dips and chinups with 60kg of weight attached which tended to attract attention. But no matter what I did I never felt like I needed to take days off. I remember the DOMS in the very early days of the gym, but that just stopped happening and never came back. Maybe I wasn't pushing myself hard enough, but I also never got injured. How much more could I have realistically achieved by pushing harder? I don't think much. I got really put off trying so hard when I realised how many people were on gear.
  - tekla 2y ago
    I think you just plateaued which is normal for everyone and just ended up staying there. Most likely a combination of not eating enough and not really pushing to failure to get past it. If you're repping things with no problem, you're at the your current "optimal" level so yeah, you won't feel like you need to recover. Like in cardio, I could rip out a half-marathon at a 8:00m pace and feel fine the next day, but try and reach 7:30 and I would be shattered. At 30, probably better not to try and go too ham, but you have plenty of room to get much stronger. I don't know why other people using gear influenced you. Get fit for yourself, fuck the others.

ddorian43 2y ago

But isn't it like 1kg more water retention? How did you notice it?

TomHenderson3 2y ago
According to this paper, yes, the 1kg could very well just be water retention, or the increase in lean body mass during the loading period.

joncrocks 2y ago

I've been lifting a similar period of time (although only 3 days a week, with some breaks during COVID etc.) and would concur. I have improved intra-workout endurance when taking creatine, i.e. I can do more reps/the last reps feel easier. Anecdotally I do also notice a cognitive impact when taking it, e.g. I seem to have improved concentration. Or more that when I have stopped taking it I have decreased concentration. Anecdata 1 of 1.