Creatine or Protein Drinks?

[Snakey]

Hi guys, ive been doing weights for over a month or so now. Have been using just a protein shake kind of thing but i was just wondering whether it would be better if i used creatine? Would it make me gain muscle quicker?

[Dizaster]

You can find a lot of information about creatine, but purely from my experience level with it - here goes :

Keep taking your protein.. That is what your muscles need to repair and get bigger.. Creatine doesn't help muscles rebuild.. So stay with the protein.. If an exerciser/athlete had to choose one single supplement to assist muscles, protein would be it... Even someone on steroids could not do without protein... So don't swap that out for anything...

He is my experience of creatine..... It gives your muscles that bit more workable energy so you can push yourself harder..

Say your doing curls of a certain weight, and usually you get to 12 reps and that's your limit... When taking creatine, you'll get to 12, but will be just starting to feel a heavy burn, but your muscles seem to have more energy, and you'll get to 16 or 17 reps and then that's your new limit..

Where your muscles usually reach that point where they tire and there is nothing left to life the weight for one more rep,,, the creatine seems to give you those 3 or 4 more reps... So in that respect, you can work your muscles harder and will help you grow... Also if you drink a lot of water, it saturates your muscles with water, which creates a better environment for muscle growth.. dehydrated muscles/body isn't optimal for growth...

So it has a couple of benifits,,,, but the real one I noticed was just that your tire point increased by about 15-20%... Where you might normally be able to do 40 pushups,,, you'll find when you get to that 40, your muscles say "no don't stop, we can do more",,, and you'll get to 50 or 55...
It's a good feeling and you'll find once you start taking creatine as well, you'll have to adjust your routine/weights/reps to allow for the extra strength...

You'll still need the protein after your workouts though so that all the muscle you broke down while working out hard can be rebuilt.

Hope that helps buddy! I just moved house and realised I had a tonne of supplements in a cupboard at my old house that I had to move, so it's inspired me to start taking them again, including the creatine...

The only other one I have is L-glutamine... That, creatine, and protein are the only powders you should need.. but in order

1. protein
2. creatine
3. L-glutamine

[p4pking]

If you haven't been training for at least six months, probably more like a year... There's no reason you should even know what creatine is. Whatever you do don't stop taking protein though. Just look into postworkout nutrition on google, lot's of solid info. Make sure you are taking simple carbs after a workout and not just protein, as it needs to be delivered to your cells via insulin, which requires simple sugars. Get some dextrose and maltodextrin and drink that right after your done weight training. Then 20 minutes later have a protein shake.

[Dizaster]

Snakey I know your in Oz so if you do start taking creatine,,,, their are these tablets you can get from the chemist or a lot of supermarkets have them too. They are called Glucodin... You can buy it in a big bag which is what drug dealers cut there drugs with... uhhhh, so i'm told.... But they also come in a little box of like 40 tablets for around $4.... You can take them about 20 minutes before your workout or when taking creatine (you'll have to research that), but this gives you the insuline spike that helps the creatine go to work in your muscles. As P4P was saying

[ono]

Hi guys, ive been doing weights for over a month or so now. Have been using just a protein shake kind of thing but i was just wondering whether it would be better if i used creatine? Would it make me gain muscle quicker?

You need to eat a lot of protein. 1g of protein per 1lb of bodyweight.
3-4g of complex carbs per 1lb of bodyweight and you also need your good fats. Natty peanut butter, flaxseed oil, Oily Fish (mackerel etc...)

Protein shakes are not magic. They aren't even essential. However they are quite useful, especially after training and first thing on a morning.

Creatine is very useful. Take both.

However your overall diet is more important than just a few shakes here and there.

Follow the above guidelines. Never go more than 3 hours without eating. Eat 5/6 small meals per day consisting of roughly 30g protein/60g carbs.

These are the basics. Stick to them and you'll be fine.