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 By: Alton Hare Creatine has been the one supplement I have recommended hands down, and it's because of my personal experience with it. I haven't had a lot of experience with any other supplements, except for protein powder, and recently I have been testing a few new ones that will be in my training journal, the first two weeks of which will be up in a few days. Anyway, virtually everyone knows basically what creatine does, that you should load it, that you should cycle it, and that you should drink more water with it.
If you don't know about creatine, I'd like to refer you to Joe Hagy's article on the subject. He has some very good, basic information on there.
Now, the way that has worked best for me is not the most recommended way. Almost everyone says you gotta take creatine with high glycemic carbs to spike insulin for greater uptake.
That's good, and true - but when I'm loading creatine, I just don't have space in my routine to have four pure sugar meals with creatine, and it can't be healthy, even natural sugars like grape juice. My gut instinct just tells me that 128 oz of grape juice per day for five days straight is a little much. Even still, I tried the grape juice thing, and it made me sick to my stomach and did nothing beyond what normal creatine did. I also did some research on taking creatine with dextrose or other high glycemic carbs, and there was a study done that found that chronically taking in large doses of dextrose/sugar lead to a blunting of the insulin spike on subsequent doses of sugar.
I don't think one study is totally convincing, but logic dictates that there might be some truth to this. So, after the grape juice loading thing that I was totally unhappy with, I tried a way that worked with my schedule, and produced the best effects.
Now, when I'm loading, I take five grams as soon as I wake up with water, then go take a shower and get ready, and about 20-30 minutes later I eat breakfast. That way I get my creatine on an empty stomach which is the best way to get it. Then, I take five grams with milk and a serving of protein about 30 minutes before a workout.
My third dose is with a serving of N-Large II, which is the "insulin spike" meal. It makes sense to get it post-workout, since this is the best time for your muscles to soak up everything they can. N-Large has over 80 grams of dextrose and 52 grams of whey protein, 9 grams of which is glutamine. This, with five grams of creatine, has to be one of the best things you can put in your body after a super-intense, killer workout. My last dose is with milk and a serving of protein before bed. That's 20 grams, and I don't get sick from sugar all day. After loading, I take 10 grams on hard training days and 5 grams on less-intense days (or off days). Let me know if this helps, guys! Later,
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