Hey guys I just got back from the mall, I bought a 1kg tub of pure creatine monohydrate, no sugars or whatnot, for 23 bones. This is my first time taking creatine and any supplement for that matter. I have some questions.

1. Pre-workout can I take 5g with my meal and then take 5g post-workout, or is this hard on the kidneys and liver?
2. I know you want to take it with lots of carbs, preferably suagrs post-workout. How much sugar should I take with it?
3. Ive heard things like maltodextrin and salt help absorbtion out, what are some other things that help, and how much should I take w/5g creatine?
4. I know some people dont respond to creatine is there any way to tell if your one that doesnt? I know when your body disposes of excess protein your urine smells strongly of (Im at a loss what its described as), is there anything like this?

Thanks for any help and for reading through that Christmas size list of qusetions.

You can load, 5g 3x/day for a week, or simply 5g in your PWO shake, but there is no need to do a pre-workout load.

Well, there's no need to load. If you took 5g a day every day for 3 weeks, you'd end up loaded as well, but you'd use less total creatine.

I don't see a need to load because, training is a slow and methodic practice to begin with. Creatine doesn't make you instantly stronger or more muscular, so there's not a direct advantage to reaching saturation in 5 days.

Take 5g post workout. Your body creates insulin post workout, and insulin is what gets nutrients into cells. The sugar helps too, but you don't need sugar to get creatine in you. Use the sugar to replenish muscle glycogen if you want, usually a 2:1 ratio of sugar to protein powder. But, it MUST be dextrose, maltodextrin or a mix of the two. Plain table sugar is NOT THE RIGHT STUFF. Fruit doesn't work well either...again wrong kind of sugar.

I dont have protein powder, waste of money to me. How much should I mix in?

May I ask why you think protein is a waste of money to you?

Unless you get all the protein you need out of the day with foods, which would be great, but not likely unless you see yourself spending loads on good food.

5g, roughly a rounded teaspoon (and i mean a cooking teaspoon, not the teaspoon you eat with, which isn't mean for accurate measuring)

If you can get 1g of protein per pound of lean body mass from whole food, great.
Most of us don't have time, or just find it convenient to knock back a shake.

but, gram for gram, protein powder is a better investement than creatine.

my two cents on the subject.

I dont think its waste of money for everyone but to me it is, Im 17 and have to work and spend my money on supplenments. I start out the day with a shake with Whole milk, 3-4 raw eggs, yogurt, and berries. I will eat a nice big ol' pbj befor I work out and make another shake after I work out. In my other meals Im sure I get my needed protein.

I know from your other post, you're gonna get some whey powder.

but I wanted to ask about the above comment.
How are you 'sure'? are you tracking everything by weighing your food and calculating actual protein, carb and fat intake?

cuz if you're not, then its just guesswork and you're probably off on your nutrition by hundreds of calories.

weigh food, measure stuff, track in something like www.fitday.com to get close to what you really are eating. people mis-judge portions constantly.

True, no need to load. It depends on how fast you want to saturate your body. You can do it one week or a month.

i hear the pills are better then the powder like a lot better

If you believe the hype, yes.

If you're cynical like me and read research to find the truth, no.

ok i took creatine the powder for about a week.. didnt notice too much

You wont notice much right away man its not anabolic roids. Its no wonder drug or amazing break through but it does work.

the last 4 weeks i've taken creatine i've been crapping a lol is that normal

jay99 - 1 week isn't enough to notice creatine supplementation

Danny - creatine has nothing to do with crapping.