Starting to work out: Creatine?

[Pompidou]

I'm asking this question to QCDN rather than to professionals because I think some of you might be, or might have been in a similar boat. Here we go. I'm tired of being scrawny. I'm around 5'10 and only 125lbs. For several months now, I've been driven on self improvement - career, social life, etc. I don't want to be who I was. Joining a gym is a logical course of action. I don't want to be a body builder. To be honest, my goal is "normal". Granted, there's no exact definition of normal, except that I'll know it when I see it. I just don't aim to be a steroid popping wall of rock and sinew. Just want to get as attractive as my genes will allow, and hopefully maintain.

So, with the background out of the way, here's the question. Creatine. I hear so much good about the stuff, and on the flipside, so much bad. I did my homework before making my thread here, and am familiar with what the top pertinent google results have to say. It's the side effects that worry me. Has anyone used the stuff? I want to speed up the progress of my workout in every safe and legal way. Both of those qualifiers are important. I won't use steroids, even though I was offered. Companies like GNC offer a lot of supplements that seem to come close, and I don't know where to begin. Creatine seems like the strongest and most effective supplement short of steroids, but the side effects seem daunting. I've read everything from kidney stones to nonstop diahreah to cramps and tissue damage in the legs.

If anyone here has tried workout supplements, you have my complete attention. I'll trust real people here more than professionals on specialty fitness sites. Good results? Bad results?

 

[Dejavu]

Well although i dont really care about the stuff because i dont actually take care of myself i can tell you that all of my friends use Whey protien about 30 minutes after they finish their workouts and only a few of them use creatine as well.

Whey is really the way to go cause it allows for you work out and then provide the muscles everything that they need to rebuild after the workout is over. Creatine on the other hand is taken before the workout and is more of an energy booster that will allow you to work out harder and longer. The problem with creatine from what i understand is that if you ever want to stop using it you will very quickly loose alot of the progress that you have made with it cause your body becomes more or less dependent on it.

So if you want long term results use whey and if your still not happy use creatine aswell.

 

[Arctyrael]

Join the QCDN Fitness usergroup. excellent advice to be found there and a few well informed active members!

 

[Acutie]

Dude the world needs skinny people to make the fat people feel bad about themselves...

 

[Sanoske]

5'10" 125? Not meaning offense, but daaaaamn. You are one skinny kid. lol

Now to be serious... I give creatine a big thumbs down. More for personal reasons, I just wouldn't want to use it myself. However, as for experience with it... this is what I have.

I only started hitting the gym hardcore at the beginning of last summer. (End of May 08) I would be going 4-5 times a week. I've always been in shape, I just wanted to get a bit bigger, but I started this out at 5'8" ~150lbs. One of the friends who started going at the same time as me was 5'10" ~165lbs. He started taking Creatine, I wasn't taking anything. (Which in itself was dumb)

By the end of August, I was ~155lbs. I hadn't gained much weight, but I definitely looked way better as far as size and definition were concerned. Plus I had made huge gains in my lifting. He was ~195lbs. He looked kind of bloated from the water retention, and it just wasn't a good look he had going. And I was still lifting more than him on most things.

For example, at that time I was doing 3x10 for sets/reps. On chest press, with dumbells, I was doing 70-75-80. Not a huge amount, but it's chest pressing a bit more than my body weight. (For reference I was benching about 175 at the same period on the barbell bench). He was pressing 60-65-70 with the dumbells and ~150 on barbell.


So.... in conclusion. Creatine will definitely help you put on weight. But more than anything, you will be better served by a good routine, protein intake and consuming a large amount of good calories. However, I ignore diet mostly which is one of my biggest downfalls, and the reason I'm still hovering between 155-160.

Personally, I drink a protein shake 30 min after my workout. I'm going to invest in a less expensive whey protein to take before my workout as well, that way I start getting the protein I need.

TL;DR Version!
-Creatine makes you put on weight, but you look bloated and it is not at all necessarily the best to make gains in size or strength.

-Get a good workout routine, eat more good calories(Probably 3000-3500 a day, but find someone else for diet advice), and find a protein shake to drink and you'll be fine.

 

[Airou]

Youve got to be careful with Creatine or Protein drinks. You gotta make sure not to overuse, if you dont work out hard enough with the supplements you use, your going to end up getting fat instead of more muscle.

Hard work and maybe a recovery drink/food is really all you need dude.

 

[Arctyrael]

i've considered trying it... mostly I'm just putting on weight slowly with a healthy diet and a protein shake after all workouts.

I'm starting to get definition and my 6' 0" skinny ass is ~165, up from ~160 in about 2 months of effort.

 

[Sanoske]

I use a lean muscle protein shake, 60g of protein/2g of fat/300 calories per shake.

Yes, your body can only use so much protein... but intake should be about 1g protein/lb. So if you weigh 150lbs, you should intake 150g of protein.

The hardest part of working out for me is the diet. Getting to the gym everyday is no problem, since I enjoy it. I just love food too much, and don't have the funds to buy my own groceries... so I have to rely on whats in the house. Ideally, I'd have a set meal plan for everyday, but the chances of that happening are... well it just won't.

What kind of workout routine are you looking at Pompidou? The big fitness buffs will swear by Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5s... but I never really got into them. And most of my friends who work out, as well as people I've met at the gym, are doing just fine without it.

 

[Tim Wakefield]

I tried Creatine and Whey Protein at different times, and didn't get alot of results from either. I'm a similar build at 5'9" 145 lbs, but I also think my metabolism is just freakish, because I eat like a horse and never gain a pound from it.

I'm just hoping to get lucky and see thin become the new muscular, so I'll have a head start on everyone when it comes to pickin' up the ladies.

 

[Sanoske]

People who say they eat a lot usually arent eating as much as they think. To see seriously weigh gains you'd probably need to eat around 4000 calories a day(protein shakes included) plus working out.

I don't eat that much, so I don't see big weight gains. A friend of mine has gone from 185-215 in the last month or so, and he eats about 5000 cal./day. Kinda crazy.

 

[Strid]

I'll first start with my story on usin' Creatine and seein' the effects of it from others. I've never seen it work as intended. I used it, because I felt the same as you, I wanted to stop bein' a small fella. Unfortunately, even with a great workout plan and trainer, it didn't work for me, I used it for a little over a year and got no results in my size. A friend of mine, doin' the same program, who was already a healthy size, about 5ft. 10in. 150 pounds give or take, turned into a complete fatty. I'm guessin' his metabolism slowed down while he was still on the stuff and it just all blew up on him, I'm not in a field to say that's a fact, it's just my opinion.

No amount of "enhancers"/ Creatine is the best way to go about your plan. You shouldn't plan to become bigger, though it's an unpopular train of thought, let nature run its intended course. The best thing you can do, while working out, is eat a healthy diet and drink the part as well. Don't concern yourself with size, concern yourself with your health. Often times concernin' yourself with your size will have a negative effect on your health. That bein' said, even if you do not increase in weight much, you will become stronger and tone out, which is really what should be the driving factor. Imo, the best way to go about things would be to keep your body in top condition so when your metabolism slows down you're where you should be. People can give you weight gainin' pointers based off of what they have experienced or seen but truly, no one knows how to do it properly for everyone, we all tick differently. The only thing that is sure fire is that eventually you're metabolism will slow down and you will gain weight. I figure the best plan of action is to simply wait it out, keep healthy, and take things from there.

That's all just my two cents. I'm 5ft 10in 130lbs (fluctuates durin' the seasons but never below 125). I've got a tone body, as best you can bein' scrawny anyways, and I'm stout (which is the important factor to me). I'm lookin' to maintain this until my metabolism, which like someones above, is freakish, bottoms out, then I'll work to keep whatever weight I do gain in good check. I've been told on several occasions I could model undies if I'd gain some weight, so I'm just lookin' to keep that and eventually get the weight.

So in my opinion, don't fret about your size. Anyone who cares about that is already someone you'd want to stay away from anyways, it's a good filter. Bein' big does nothing for your social life or status unless you enjoy bein' around the superficial. So long as you can stand your ground and not be a pussy, you'll be ace. Just work hard and give it some time. With that bein' said though, definitely don't wait around for the weight gain. Hit the weights and start that healthy diet a.s.a.p.

 

[Pompidou]

Thanks - these are all great suggestions. If it matters, my aim isn't self defense. My biggest muscle is my friendliness. I'm actually about as bad as a guy can get in terms of meeting women. Before I decided to work out, I decided I wanted to be more social. I can't do that if I'm a circus freak. I want to look good for confidence and for women. I'm 30 and not getting any younger. That's my motivation for all of this. I can't make women I like lower their standards. I'm gonna have to raise myself to theirs.

 

[Strid]

Edit: Erased and PMed.

 

[Jojojo]

I use creatine. I love love love love it...i went up 15-20 lbs on pretty much every exercise in two weeks, and i can definitely see the results. (www.myspace.com/tkoftan has my new ones)

You have to drink enough water though. It forces water into your muscles so if you don't drink enough water there won't be enough water for the rest of your body and you will become dehydrated. You may also retain water which looks like you're getting fat. That's no good.

Also you shouldn't take it for more than a month, not because it's dangerous to do it but because you'll become used to it. I can't afford to take supplements that don't do anything on my college student budget @_@""

 

[Keryan]

Confidence is more how you act rather than how you look. There is more to a person than how they look, so work on all aspects. You could simply be a person who build thin muscles. I have seen scrawny men able to lift heavy things. Rather than bulk up, your body may just strengthen what is there into strong iron. Just do things that make you happy. People like to be around other people who are happy. As you get older the thickening out thing will happen on it's own.

 

[Zhaoyun]

Just do some curls for the girls, don't worry about getting buff.

 

[Morcheeba]

Well although i dont really care about the stuff because i dont actually take care of myself i can tell you that all of my friends use Whey protien about 30 minutes after they finish their workouts and only a few of them use creatine as well.

Whey is really the way to go cause it allows for you work out and then provide the muscles everything that they need to rebuild after the workout is over. Creatine on the other hand is taken before the workout and is more of an energy booster that will allow you to work out harder and longer. The problem with creatine from what i understand is that if you ever want to stop using it you will very quickly loose alot of the progress that you have made with it cause your body becomes more or less dependent on it.

So if you want long term results use whey and if your still not happy use creatine as well.

I say stick to proteins. My last boyfriend (a life time ago) used Creatine and from what I understand it's like pumping air into your muscles to allow them to remain buffed after a workout. However, also from what I understand once you stop using creatine you LOSE a lot of your muscle mass.

My current boyfriend uses natural protiens and he has managed to put on 15 lbs. He was a healthy 180 when we met forever ago, but after working graveyard shift for 4 years he lost a tremendous amount of weight dropping to 130 (that's MY weight) from crappy eatting/sleeping habits.

Protiens give you the energy you need while supplying your body with the nutrients it needs to feed off of.

Personally I'd say stay away from creatine it's not the healthier way to go, and if you want to put on healthy weight and fill out you should listen to your body.

Also keep in mind, if you've always been slender your metabolism may never allow you to carry much more weight.

 

[Mirewen]

I just eat what I'm supposed to and work out 3 times a week. Then again, I'm doing it to stay thin and get a bit of lean muscle, from the sounds of it you want to get bulkier muscle.

My boyfriend is 6'4" and is lean but is pretty ripped, he doesn't have bulky muscle either. If you're a thin person natrually, go with it. Don't try to alter what you naturally look like because you may end up looking pretty funny.

 

[Morcheeba]

I just eat what I'm supposed to and work out 3 times a week. Then again, I'm doing it to stay thin and get a bit of lean muscle, from the sounds of it you want to get bulkier muscle.

My boyfriend is 6'4" and is lean but is pretty ripped, he doesn't have bulky muscle either. If you're a thin person natrually, go with it. Don't try to alter what you naturally look like because you may end up looking pretty funny.

LMMFAO .. k and I pictured

Granted it's roids... but scrawny goes bulky and I'm waiting for his muscles to explode.

 

[Mirewen]

... Carrot Top used roids? Fuck that picture looks hilarious.