I thought about it. And I have a friend that started cycling creatine and his gains are going through the roof. Alot of my football teammates take creatine also.

I am really starting to think I am at a disadvantage even though I know that Supplements does not overtake a good diet. It seems like the guys taking Creatine are having some really good gains.

What do you guys think?

First of all, creatine is something that your body already produces naturally and that it stores in your muscles as a source of energy.

One of the more common opinions pertaining to the alleged benefits of creatine, at least based on what I've read, suggests that creatine supplementation results in making more creatine phosphate available in your muscles, and having more creatine phosphate available will make more ATP / energy available to fuel your muscles for weight training etc. So, supplementation simply makes more creatine available - beyond what your body already has produced on it's own.

The thinking is, as I understand it, is that this added creatine allows your muscles to work harder before becoming fatigued. As a consequence, you might be able to blast out a few more hard reps out of a given set. And as a result of that, the added power in your reps may eventually translate to gains in strength and muscle mass.

Now, whether those gains are ' significant ' or not is open to debate, and if nothing else, likely varies person to person.

But as far as supplements go, creatine would appear to be the one of the ones most generally accepted by health & fitness professionals as having some net benefits associated with it IMO.

I myself have never experienced anything notable from creating. But I think that is due to me eating a poor diet and not using creatine properly.

I know heaps of people that have and do have real good results on it.

I've never noticed anything from creatine too. Though I'm on a higher quality now, so we'll see how that goes. Some people just don't respond to creatine that well, but for those who do respond, it works. However, like Der says, it doesn't make an athlete.

First off, are you and your teammates doing the same routines? How's their intensity compared to yours? How's their work ethic compared to yours, etc?

If everything's the same you might look to supps as the answer. If not then you got some 'splainin' to do

Interesting ..I've never used the stuff ( though I've thought about it now and then ).

What sort of response and difference did you see exactly ?

Don't you read no good huh? It works for some and others feel no different.

Hey Tribal - how are you ?

I made a huge jump in the amount I could lift, and also the reps.

I made a topic about it actually.

I think that if you are trying to bulk there really isn't any reason not to take creatine. It's really cheap for one thing, all the studies say it's safe and good for you, and why miss out on any gains that creatine can provide?

I say get some Jman, I was also on the fence about taking it or not for a long time, but i'm glad I did the research and decided to start taking it.

According to Fitness USA, people taking creatine at a cost of about $120 per month is unnecessary, when they can get the same benefit by eating and exercising properly.

Umm, the creatine I got was atleast a 2 month's supply for 13 bucks.

dang you guys are lucky, because of the darn customs over here everything is expencive (pretty much all supps get imported) so it's like 50 bucks here for 300g of high quality creatine. Can get cheaper though, but that didn't work.

From where? The internet?

Nope, the local organic market.
And the huge creatine bottles where only around 25-30 bucks. Not expensive at all, for how long it lasts.

Hey Bubba, I hear your not a guy (but you act like one) but fitness USA says that people taking creatine at a cost of about $120 per month is unnecessary, when they can get the same benefit by eating and exercising properly.

The guy above says that he can get it for 12 rather than 120 but that 12 or 120 is like digging a hole in the ground and filling it in. Would you rather fill a hole in the ground with 12 or 120?