Another Weightlifting question (on supplements)

[darkz711]

I know some of you guys dont think supplements are all that useful but ive been using creatine for about 7 months and I think its working really well or atleast it's giving me a mentality boost. Now i stopped lifting for a month a couple months back, i think around late october to late november, just had no time. I stopped taking creatine and i think i lost a bit of mass obviously since i wasn't working anything. November up until now ive been working out religiously and taking the creatine and ive noticed a lot more gain. I've also been taking soy protein since a can't stomach the whey.

To get to the point... I heard that you can sometimes plateau taking creatine and that you should stop taking it for a month but keep working out and then start again and you will start gaining again. is that true or just myth?

[Nightrage]

Just out of curiosity, what brand of creatine do you take?

[94 formula]

I used to take creatine religiously and it helped me a lot. I took the straight GNC creatine it was just the horrible tasting white powder and I mixed it with grape juice like it said to on the carton. I took 5 grams (I think it was grams) a day right after my work out to keep from cramping up and at the begginning of a new month for 4 days I would load up taking 5 grams before and after I worked out plus 2 other times a day usually when I woke up and right before I went to bed. After I used an entire can of it I would take one month off and on every workout I did I lost strength. I lost around 15 pounds off my bench and was able to gain 10 of that back by the end of the month but wasn't able to get back to where I was. After the month was over I loaded up for 4 days again and then took it once a day and shot up in weight a lot. From what I found its true that you should stop taking it for a month sometimes and when you start again it will have better results. Also I did a ton of research on it before I started taking it and many of the tests on it showed that was true because when you take it your body will quit producing it eventually because you do not need that much in your system so when you stop taking creatine you make your body naturally produce it again. After the month your body should be making it again and you start taking it that shocks your muscles and you will go up quicker.

I also go a tip from my old football coach this weekend who is huge into lifting that before your workout you should always start with leg presses because the bending and force you exert makes your body produce more testosterone and helps you build muscle. I'm not sure how much truth is in that but he said he's been doing that recently and thinks its helping. Has anyone else heard of this.

[Nightrage]

I also go a tip from my old football coach this weekend who is huge into lifting that before your workout you should always start with leg presses because the bending and force you exert makes your body produce more testosterone and helps you build muscle. I'm not sure how much truth is in that but he said he's been doing that recently and thinks its helping. Has anyone else heard of this.

I don't think this is unacceptable, but if it is, I'm sorry-


I've read that if you don't...pleasure yourself frequently, it allows your testosterone levels to build as well.

I wouldn't imagine it would elevate it by much. I guess it's good if you're fanatic about lifting and will try anything, no matter how minor to get results.

[darkz711]

I don't think this is unacceptable, but if it is, I'm sorry-


I've read that if you don't...pleasure yourself frequently, it allows your testosterone levels to build as well.

I wouldn't imagine it would elevate it by much. I guess it's good if you're fanatic about lifting and will try anything, no matter how minor to get results.

ive trried a bunch of different creatines. I first started with GNC orange effervesent then went to fruit punch normal creatine from GNC then i went to Celltech. Didn't like any of those, celltech.... lots of water weight. Then i tried Ribose D by EAG which was a creatine/ ribose stack. I thought it was good stuff, but they discontinued the product because ribose was too expensive for the gains people were seeing and now the ribose on the shelves at stores is a couple years old. I use straight up GNC unflavored pure 100% creatine monohydrate right now. I have nitro explosion which tastes awful. I take that preworkout and then i take a half serving of the normal creatine so that i dont go over the 5g suggested in take (also if i take 10 grams, i have a ring on my legs from the porcelan throne). I think im plateauing. Ive been stuck at 275lb for 4 reps on bench for about 3 weeks now. I know if i go offf the creatine right now its obviously going to go down but im wondering if ill gain more from taking the month off of the creatine.

[Jeanius]

I also go a tip from my old football coach this weekend who is huge into lifting that before your workout you should always start with leg presses because the bending and force you exert makes your body produce more testosterone and helps you build muscle. I'm not sure how much truth is in that but he said he's been doing that recently and thinks its helping. Has anyone else heard of this.

I heard something similar, It is a must to work out your legs to increase upper body mass because your quadricep is the largest muscle in your body, and when you break it down your body produces higher levels of testosterone which will go to all muscles, not just your thighs.

From my experience its very good to cycle off of creatine and give your body that shock of not having it, and then all of a sudden having it again.Ive taken 3 different types of creatine, EAS, CELL-TECH, and MHP TRAC, EAS is a good starter creatine, Cell-Tech was good, gained alot of strength but it has too much sugar and gives you the edema effect, MHP Trac is the best creatine I have taken so far, very good gains with this stuff, I went from benching sets of 155 to sets of 185 in 3 weeks, then to 205 the 4th week. I have also taken MRI NO2, which is the best supplement I have taken, I just bought a 300ct bottle of that to stack with their new creatine called CE2, which has the new ESTERFIED Creatine technology for complete absorbtion. This stack is supposed to produce amazing gains, but im still recovering from a shoulder injury so im holding out to get me moneys worth. My friend who also took MHP Trac is taking the CE2 alone right now and he says its the better.

The director of the PT certification class I took told the class never to take anymore than 5g of creatine a day, anything more is WAY too hard on your kidneys, especially if your not drinking at 120oz of h20 a day, so you fellas be careful!

[Nightrage]

I think im plateauing. Ive been stuck at 275lb for 4 reps on bench for about 3 weeks now.

I'm cursed as far as this goes. It takes me at least a month to add anything to my bench, if not longer. Curls too. My squats and leg presses see the most progress. Everything else takes forever. How often are your lifts supposed to increase?

[darkz711]

I'm cursed as far as this goes. It takes me at least a month to add anything to my bench, if not longer. Curls too. My squats and leg presses see the most progress. Everything else takes forever. How often are your lifts supposed to increase?

well i max at around 300lb for one on bench but i try not to do that often, wears nme down real quick and then my other chest exercises are lacking afterwards

[raroZ28]

cell tech is garbage.... Way too much $.. When you break it down, it's just creatine packed with sugar and glucose. Screw that. I take a pure creatine, creapure. Right now I'm taking the vitamin shoppe brand because they didn't have creapure, I can't tell a difference.

My supplement stack is Muscle Milk casein protein (tastes great), Optimum Nutrition 100% whey, and 100% pure creatine, 10G/day.

If you can't stomach regular whey, try the ON gold standard whey. Not bad at all if you take it with milk. I like the rocky rhode. Mixes good too, just stir it well with a spoon and you don't get any clumps really.

Supplements are great with a good diet. I like pure creatine, but I heard creatine ester ethyl, or ethyl ester, whichever it is, i forgot, is good for big mass gains. I've never taken one but I heard it's a bit better than pure creatine. It's just too much money. 20 dollars of pure creatine has 200 servings, that other stuff will run you like 80/month. It only has like 10 servings per jug.

[wood]

It's obviously been said already, but just to say it again.. it's good to cycle creatine in and out of your routine so that your body does not stop producing it naturally.

With that being said, I've found that taking a glutamine suppliment on top of creatine after working out and when you wake up helps out with the soreness. I've always used EAS labs products, and I shop at GNC with my little card and get the discount. If they have the shake bar in the store I really like getting the penut butter shake with a few added suppliments.. I'm a sucker for penut butter.

[darkz711]

cell tech is garbage.... Way too much $.. When you break it down, it's just creatine packed with sugar and glucose. Screw that. I take a pure creatine, creapure. Right now I'm taking the vitamin shoppe brand because they didn't have creapure, I can't tell a difference.

My supplement stack is Muscle Milk casein protein (tastes great), Optimum Nutrition 100% whey, and 100% pure creatine, 10G/day.

If you can't stomach regular whey, try the ON gold standard whey. Not bad at all if you take it with milk. I like the rocky rhode. Mixes good too, just stir it well with a spoon and you don't get any clumps really.

Supplements are great with a good diet. I like pure creatine, but I heard creatine ester ethyl, or ethyl ester, whichever it is, i forgot, is good for big mass gains. I've never taken one but I heard it's a bit better than pure creatine. It's just too much money. 20 dollars of pure creatine has 200 servings, that other stuff will run you like 80/month. It only has like 10 servings per jug.

cant drink milk either, ijust throw it back up

[raroZ28]

cant drink milk either, ijust throw it back up

man that has to be tough. I would still recommend the ON whey. It doesn't taste bad in water. It will definitely not get your gag reflex going. I have no problem chugging a 16 oz shake in one swig. It's not like a protein blend you may have tried in the past. Pretty good actually! Like chocolate milk.

[fastTa]

Creatine, Nitric Oxide, and Glutamine are great strength and mass builders when coupled with a diet rich in calories and protein. I just ordered some of that Testapren. It's supposed to be one of the best and latest test boosters. I also just bought a pretty nice olympic free weight home gym. I'm going to stack NO, Glutamine, and Creatine and work out hard. I'll let you know the results in a about 6 weeks.

[Nightrage]

If you'll allow me to butt in... I've always wanted to be very muscular (18-19" biceps, 50" chest, that type of thing) but I'm also obsessed with martial arts. I'm hooked on Muay Thai and I hope to compete in the future. Now, do you think it would be counterproductive to bulk up and compete? Obviously, being muscular won't slow you down or hinder your movement like many people seem to think (unless you're Jay Cutler's size). The thing is, I'm 5'10" and 158-164lbs. If I bulk to 190 or 200lbs, I'll have a lot more mass, but I'll be fighting in a higher weight class as well. There will be guys that are naturally 200lbs. The chances are, they'll be considerably taller. Probably 6'4" ish. This gives the opponent a huge reach advantage. Should I bulk and deal with whatever comes my way, or should I avoid the weights? If Acceleration x Mass= Force, they'll hit just as hard as I will, even if they're scrawny little nothings. I don't know if I should risk it or not. It would be a little embrassing to be a huge mass of muscle and get knocked out by someone that's built like a stick figure.

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

I've read that if you don't...pleasure yourself frequently, it allows your testosterone levels to build as well.

So that's why I suck at lifting...