Anyone had any experience with Creatine?

professorben

Gassage said:

siraxeman said:

been on creatine for about 2yrs - 1 small scoop (about a teaspoons worth) in my porridge every morning...with a scoop of protein powder as well. It works...but its NOTHING like as effective as steroids, which I don't use and never will. Evilmags brother balding has ZERO to do with creatine use. It is naturally found in meat but you'd have to eat an awful lot of it to get a scoops worth of it. It just dpes as stated above - draws more water into the muscle and this also means more glycogen so allows for a bit more strength and endurance on short heavy workouts. It does nothing for long distance/time stuff. Its widely used by athletes as it is legal and not a drug or a banned substance.

I can tell you some horrors in rugby. It kinda stopped a bit in 93 when we got mandatory random testing.

The deal was, May, stop training and eat.
End of June stand on scales and realise you're 10kgs heavier.
June- Creatine for anarobic training; Ephidrene/Caffine/Asprin Stacks for fat loss. (the best fat stripper ever, and a quick way to a heart attack)
July- Creatine and muscle build via Clenbuterol- a steroid used for asthma but amazing for muscle bulk.
August- stop so your system could hit the magic 30 days clean before first game c. 1st Sept.

And, it still goes on, I assure you.

There's a certain very recent (last 12 months or so) England back rower that habitually used to call me after the last game of season to blag some spliff !!!

When you say 'back rower'......

octatonic

Gassage said:

July- Creatine and muscle build via Clenbuterol- a steroid used for asthma but amazing for muscle bulk.

Clenbuterol is a bronchodilator but it isn't used for muscle bulk.

From steroid.com:

The manner in-which Clenbuterol effects the body is truly rather simple but for the performance enhancer it is stimulation of the Beta-2 receptors that makes this potent bronchodilator worthwhile. Its long been understood; of the various Clenbuterol effects fat-burning is the most commonly desired one with its original intent revolving around cardiovascular efficiency now being a far distant second. Lets take a look at metabolic efficiency by-which Clenbuterol effects can provide.

Clenbuterol Hydrochloride, a bronchodilator designed to treat chronic asthma and other cardiovascular ailments, while effective for this purpose is more popularly known for its fat-burning abilities.

The manner in-which Clenbuterol effects the metabolism is truly powerful and the process by-which it exist, while powerful is quite simple; Clenbuterol stimulates the Beta-2 receptors which in-turn increases total metabolic activity; so how does this work? One of the primary noted Clenbuterol effects is an increased body temperature and this is brought on by the Beta stimulation caused by an increase in cell heat.

As stimulation occurs the mitochondria within the cells produce more heat, thereby the cells release more heat, the body now runs hotter and the metabolism burns stronger.This truly may be a little over simplistic but look at it like fire; the primary Clenbuterol effects that revolve around the metabolism stem from the increase in heat; look at the increase in heat like an increase in fire; the more fire the stronger the burn; the stronger the burn the faster the undesired item is destroyed and in this case that is body-fat.

While this is primary other Clenbuterol effects exist that promote a leaner look; most notably appetite suppression.

Clen, as most refer to it can greatly suppress ones appetite but this is not across the board and in-fact theres no way to predict if youll show signs of this trait. Further, it appears to be one of those all or nothing kind of things rather than some falling in the middle you typically have appetite suppression or none at allThere is also one more Clenbuterol effect that is worthy of note and it revolves around anabolic activity. No, Clenbuterol is not an anabolic steroid but it can provide a very modest anabolic effect that can promote a slight increase in lean tissue; assuming adequate calories are in place. This anabolic effect is due to the medication having a positive effect on protein synthesis, meaning, protein synthesis is increased and becomes more efficient. In the end, as the anabolic effect is so mild growth itself is not going to be noted but coupled with the Clenbuterol effects above it simply enhances the metabolic increasing nature of the medication.

You might look leaner after a clen cycle but you won't have bigger muscles, you'll just have less fat around them.

57Deluxe

I creosoted my garden chairs in the summer... muscles like water melons now...

Nabokovs_Monkey

octatonic said:

Nabokovs_Monkey said:

octatonic said:

Nabokovs_Monkey said:

However, isolated things like creatine I find a bit weird and wary of. I am more interested in more natural supplementation such as fish oils, greens and natural proteins.

Fish oil: mostly a waste of time, or at least the benefits are overstates. Eat oily fish, supplements are probably not worth the expense. https://skeptoid.com/blog/2014/07/19/something-fishy-about-omega-3-supplements/

Greens and natural proteins: If you mean green vegetables and protein from whole food sources- excellent.

Good to know. Yes I prefer to get as much of everything from my normal diet so may introduce a bit of fish. Have been dating a vegan for 6 months and recently split up so I'm back on meat and I think I'm someone who really struggles to be at maximum performance without it.

Vegan or lazy vegan?
Many vegan people eat a nutritionally poor diet, just one that is lacking in animal products.
They overload on sugar oil & salt though.

I'm a healthy eater. As a vegan I ate vegetables, nuts, whole oats, fruit, potatoes, rice, seeds, salads. Im fortunate enough to enjoy healthy food. As a meat eater I eat the same but with meat added. 

Nabokovs_Monkey

Hertz32 said:

Nabokovs_Monkey said:

Hertz32 said:

Nabokovs_Monkey said:

Thanks for the responses. To answer a few questions, I've been indoor bouldering for a year now, 3 times a week. My body is starting to become conditioned to the rigours of climbing. I climb for fun, for the discipline, for the psychological experience and a little bit because I like the way it is changing the shape of my body. Al these things combined mean I am committed to it and am interested in nutrition and supplements. However, isolated things like creatine I find a bit weird and wary of. I am more interested in more natural supplementation such as fish oils, greens and natural proteins.

I also have been doing about 6 - 8 hours of hot yoga a week for 6 months. I'm in the best physical shape of my life except cardio which is something I aim to work on and for me something that I can improve quite easily as I have a runners build. 

You sound an awful lot better than I! Roughly what grade do you climb? 
You sound as if you've hit the wall of diminishing returns and its probably either your technique holding you back, or not enough finger strength. 

Either way, try the food supplements. But dedicate some time to fingerboarding and using campus racks. 

Im around the 6b mark, working on a 6c+ at the moment and looking to crack it in the next few climbs. Certainly Ive seen grade progress slow down considerably, but dont feel ive hit a wall. Finger strength is good, tendon strength is the issue in the wrists for certain moves (2 finger pockets feel like just a bit too much strain on the wrists at the moment. No quick fix for that, just repetition.) My footwork is shit, I dont trust my legs and feet on smaller holds so have been doing some squats for that. 

I'm not good at training, I prefer to get better through doing so fingerboarding I probably wont do. I'll do a lot of climbs in a 3 hour session so I can avoid the tedium of training. 

Font grades, yeah? So 6b/6c(+)... Thats around V4/5, right? If you can tell me your footwork is shit without thinking about it I 100% guarantee you'll see more of an improvement in trusting your footwork than you will using sports supplements.
Shoe choice and size is a big part in confidence, and it was around your level I got a decent set. What shoes are you wearing, still your first set?  

If you can, make the trip to Bristol to go and see bananafingers. As soon as I got my first set of downturned bouldering shoes I leapt up the confidence ladder. Go to the biggest climbing shop you can find, and try on everything. I suit Scarpa, so whilst my first pair of shoes were some mega flat La Sportiva Mythos's, I have since owned Scarpa Vapor V's, Scarpa Mago's and my personal favorite are my Scarpa Instinct VS's. 

Of course if you have decent shoes already then just see if you can't get some coaching, they show you how to work correct footwork into your beta in the first place and how to practice it. As well as giving you the ability to ask someone who knows your climbing and ability better than we do, whether they would advise you to start creatine. They can see whether having any more muscle mass would actually work to the benefit of your technique. (And putting on 1/2 a stone in water weight will not help climbing at all!) 

Yeah with my footwork I have identified 2 issues. One is not trusting my feet on smaller holds. Downturned shoes would help with this. 

Second is body awareness, going for a move with my hands, losing consciousness of what my legs are doing and losing my foot grip. Thats a body consciousness thing that Im working on.

I have Boreal Jokers at the moment which are super comfy but beginners shoes. However, I climb for pleasure so dont want any pain whilst climbing so am wary of downturned shoes.

I favour strong climbs rather than technical and have noticed a few climbs where I simply cant do a move for lack of strength (particularly so if the move involves my left arm and a lock-off)

Thanks for the shoe recommendations. Im looking for new shoes now as I have worn through my current pair.

Hertz32

Foot pain is almost unavoidable in my experience unfortunately! With regular wear they stretch in the right places to fit your feet better, but your feet will also callous up to match. I had big knobbly callouses on the knuckles of my big toes when I moved to my Instinct VS's. Now they're almost like slippers. Downturn doesn't mean they have to be uncomfortable, but tight "performance fit" bouldering shoes generally are. 

If you are having to take them off between problems, they're probably just right. And should soften up after about a month of use. As I said though, get yourself to Bananafingers in Bristol (Based at the BLOC climbing wall, which is worth a visit by itself!) I spent 4 hours with my ex there, getting her to try on every pair in the shop and they really didn't mind! Top guys and I guarantee you'll enjoy the trip.