Hi all,

Just a quick question about creatine usage. I've been training in the gym now for about 8 months, more than anything just to really tone up(beer belly) and I never really had much shoulder, arm or back muscle so I started training about 3/4 days a week, usually starting with 20/30 cardio(HIIT or pace training depending on how I was feeling that day) and then the following muscle splits(most of the time 2 sets of fifteen and then a set to failure, 2/3 excercises per muscle group):

Day A: Back, Biceps, leg fronts and Chest
Day B: Triceps, deltoid, leg backs and stomach

I started using 100% Whey Protein(from phd supplements), took a while to get used to but I really felt stronger and I definately got more definition. I also altered my diet in so far as I tried to get rid of as much fat from my diet as possible(I was never one for checking out exact calorie counts)

Recently I decided I'd like to up my arms, chest and stomach to a very lean muscle type physique so I've decided to bulk up a little for the next 6 weeks(up to Christmas) so I started using a creatine additive. I'm finding a few problems though, firsly my skin doesnt re-act at all well to the stuff and I'm getting bad acne, does this happen to anyone else?

I'm finidng too the creatine hard enough to stomach in the morning time(I train before work, to beat the traffic more than anything) and as well my 'regularity' shall we put isnt very regular, are these standard side effects?

Also my first ever session with the creatine I got the best burn from my biceps I've ever had, and I can be sure why because I could see myself doing anything different, could it be that my form was just a little better that caused this?

Since then though I've noticed myself getting a little softer(ie not as toned and this is really my main main goal), is this because of extra muscle growth?

Final question, my real goals for next year are to be able to do 20 wide arm pull ups(of which I can only do 2!! and then I collapse), is there anything else bar the lat pull down that could help with this?

Thanks
Ciaran

An alternative are creatine capsules instead of powder. Iv been on creatine for about 2.5 months and i dont think its really helped me. Could be different for everyone tho. Remember you need to drink a lot of water with creatine for it to work properly!

When you say drink lots of water do you mean with the creatine or just generally, I drink about 1 to 2 litres a day, is this enough, or should I be drinking that anyway ontop of what I'd drink while working out(re-hydrating)?

just regular water. I think 1-2 litres a day would be good enough but it wouldn't hurt to drink more though

And the wide arm pull arm ups, is there anything I can do. Unfortunately I dont the use of either an assited pull up machine or the training partner, I'm doing lat pull downs but it feels like I'm targeting the wrong muscles when I'm trying to pull myself up!?

How are you doing your lat pulldowns?

1 litre of water isnt enough, 2-3 at least for best results, plus you will feel more energetic at the gym.

are you talking about 2-3 litres before I go to the gym?

Lat pulldowns, basically we have a wide bar(I put my hands at the outer most extremity) and then do 2 sets of 12 reps and then 1 to failure...

Well 2-3 thoughout the day, plus what you drink at the gym.

id say 12 reps is too many if your wanting them to help with pullups. Your really best doing something like 3x6reps on a heavy weight.