3g (1 tsp) of creatine per day too little?
- Thread starter mazstar
- Start date
Yes it does sound too little, but then I've read a lot of conflicting stuff lately.
I've always thought that 5g per day was the recommended amount. However recently a friend of mine who has been bodybuilding for years said that's not enough. He ups his creatine intake until he begins to get cramps, then lowers it a bit. I think he takes around 15g per day.
And in fact, I've just found a suggestion presented by Dr. Eric Serrano which states that:
Which for me (at 80kgs) works out at 28 Grams Per Day loading, and 12 Grams Per Day maintenance.
But this is talking about pure Creatine Monohydrate, if you start taking different brands containing other things then I'd be careful straying from the recommended amounts.
I've always thought that 5g per day was the recommended amount. However recently a friend of mine who has been bodybuilding for years said that's not enough. He ups his creatine intake until he begins to get cramps, then lowers it a bit. I think he takes around 15g per day.
And in fact, I've just found a suggestion presented by Dr. Eric Serrano which states that:
Which for me (at 80kgs) works out at 28 Grams Per Day loading, and 12 Grams Per Day maintenance.
But this is talking about pure Creatine Monohydrate, if you start taking different brands containing other things then I'd be careful straying from the recommended amounts.
Says in this article that the average body stores over 100g of creatine:
Bodybuilding.com - Curtis Koch - Creatine: Beyond The Confusion!
You should read it, looks pretty good
Bodybuilding.com - Curtis Koch - Creatine: Beyond The Confusion!
You should read it, looks pretty good
It does and it also says that you should take 5 grams a day.
Your body does not "store 100 grams a day", it maintains about 100 grams. I said that most doctors will say that you can't retain more than 5 grams per day. Your body might store 100 grams but that doesn't mean that you can replenish 100 grams every day. You can probabally only replenish about 5 grams.
Dont forget that the body naturally produces creatine, and you're are just inputting more into your body for the benefits. Is it 1 tsp or tbsp? 1 tbsp is about 5g.
The loading of creatine has been debunked for a long time.
The loading of creatine has been debunked for a long time.
He says "I believe that using body weight and cycling creatine is more beneficial than the standard 20g-load/5g maintenance protocol. Obviously, a 250-pound muscle-head requires more creatine than a 105-pound bikini model."
Read the full paragraph:
I don't see why this 5g / day is so set in stone, when everyone's body types are different and some people weigh more than others.
EDIT: Another thing I've just thought is maybe thats 0.15KG of LEAN body weight, which for me would still be about 10g / day.
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or three servings (like three 8oz servings of Cell-Tech or something?)
creatine's "results" come in the form of not getting as tired during your workout.
You have to understand the biology of muscle contraction to understand what creatine does, and thus how to 'tell if its working'.
basically your body uses calcium to start a muscle contraction by forming a bond between two parts of teh muscle tissue that sorta look like a ladder. the rungs on the ladder are where this bond forms.
creatine breaks that bond so that the muscle can contract up to the next rung, where creatine again breaks the bond, allowing calcium to form another bond on the next rung.
If you don't have enough creatine to break the bond, you won't be able to contract the muscle through the full range of motion.
In other words, you'll 'know' the creatine is having an effect because before you start using it, you'll hit failure on rep 8, but after saturating with creatine, you'll be able to push 10 or more reps on that last set.
that then translates into a better workout. if your diet and recovery are good, then it can further translate into better gains in size, strength, etc.
if you take creatine and don't do anything, it doesn't do anything either except lighten your wallet.
creatine's "results" come in the form of not getting as tired during your workout.
You have to understand the biology of muscle contraction to understand what creatine does, and thus how to 'tell if its working'.
basically your body uses calcium to start a muscle contraction by forming a bond between two parts of teh muscle tissue that sorta look like a ladder. the rungs on the ladder are where this bond forms.
creatine breaks that bond so that the muscle can contract up to the next rung, where creatine again breaks the bond, allowing calcium to form another bond on the next rung.
If you don't have enough creatine to break the bond, you won't be able to contract the muscle through the full range of motion.
In other words, you'll 'know' the creatine is having an effect because before you start using it, you'll hit failure on rep 8, but after saturating with creatine, you'll be able to push 10 or more reps on that last set.
that then translates into a better workout. if your diet and recovery are good, then it can further translate into better gains in size, strength, etc.
if you take creatine and don't do anything, it doesn't do anything either except lighten your wallet.