I have never heard anything saying that your body ever adapts to creatine diminishing it's strength. I would be interested in reading some literature if anyone has any.. But as far as I know.. no.

so for the last time u cant lose the pooch while bulking

Are you serious?

Have you even read the responses????
You seem like the type of person who will continue to ask the same question until you get the answer you want. READ the responses you were given man, come on.

ic.. see i dont work out everyday if i only take creatine when i work out is that alright?

5 grams per day once your muscles are fully saturated for proper maintenance I believe.

I would go with 5 per day on workouts days and 3 on non workout days.

Righto.. I suppose it depends on size too. If you are small, it probably takes less time to saturate all your muscles and it probably takes less to maintain high levels as well. 3 is likely enough for 'off' days.

some research I've seen over at tnation.com showed that most men under 200lbs only need 3g a day to hit and maintain saturation. over 200lbs, go with 5g.

sicne its cheap, I still just tell people 5g a day, no more than that is necessary.

i have not taken it for liek 4 days now.. if i start on monday can i just start with the loading cycle?

It takes a lot longer than 4 days for your muscle to desaturate. I wouldn't worry about loading at this point.

yeah on my rest day, i skip the creatine. I didn't exercise, so I didn't use any up, and 1 day of desaturation is miniscule. if it takes 21 days to load up, it should take at least half that time to unload. so after 1 day, you're down 1/10th saturation, IF you're down at all.

Oh ok I was just going to ask how you can tell your muscle are fully saturated.. You guys mentioned 5g per day post workout. 5g being for me and my size. You just take this stuff everytime you workout, post. Or there a period where you stop? No real detail needed here.. just need these things simply answered. I just got lost in this thread.

I personally take a level teaspoon almost every day...either post weight training, or post cardio. sometimes I take it on my off days, sometimes I forget and don't sweat it.

I take it post workout for a couple reasons, mainly because after heavy strength training, the body releases insulin, so it can store nutrients it just expended while training. Plus, I have carbs post workout, which further spikes insulin. This all makes it 'easier' for creatine to get where it needs to go. That was the philosophy behind 'creatine transport' drinks, which were just sugar, flavor, and creatine...with a fat price tag.

One cannot truely tell if they're saturated without some kind of blood test. a lot of people retain extra water in the muscles when they get good creatine levels provided you're well hydrated to begin with. not everyone does, but the water weight gained, especially when you do a loading phase, is why a lot of people will claim "I gained 5lbs of muscle in one week on X-creatine!" but either way, you just won't really 'see' it. mostly you train a while without it, then start taking it, and see if it doesn't feel like you get a little more out of training. that last rep comes easier. you just feel like your muscles are able to work harder. that's how it feels to me at least.


As for cycling creatine...you can...you dont' need to...you can try on/off days, or a month off, or lower doses. some researchers think you can stunt the body's own creation of creatine with too much supplementation...but no studies to show it yet.

i was talking to a buddy of mine which use to take creatine and he said the pills are better then the powder something about not wanting water in your muscle or something like that i dont know,, but he is a fairly good size now.. does it make any sense/