Creatine Monohydrate

[Greg Battaglia]

I've personally never experimented with CM until about a week ago. I started off taking 20g/day for 5 days and now am only taking 10g/day as a maintenance phase. Things I've noticed:

Dramatic increase in met-con and O-lifting performance
About a 5 lb weight gain (although it appears as though I have lost some definition, probably due to water retention)
More energy overall
Faster recovery

This is probably the only supplement, other than fish oil and probiotics, that I have seen measurable benefit from. Does anyone else take creatine? Due you use cycles, or just consistently take a daily dose? I think the studies shwoing other health benefits obtained from creatine supplementation are pretty supportive as well (ie improvements in heart disease, muscle disease, brain disease, inflammation, etc)

[Garrett Smith]

I want to get back on some...I just do 4g/day, no loading dose.

I got cramps from it a long time ago, for some reason I want to believe that my magnesium supplementation stopped that from happening anymore.

I don't cycle it.

[Max Murphy]

4-5 grams a day no need for loading phase. I think there's a study showing at 5 grams a day you hit your saturation point in <20 days. 3-5 grams a day is all you need, especially if you get the bulk of your protein from red meat.

[Steve Liberati]

Great for increasing performance, especially for high-intensity activities (such as CrossFit) which is shown to reduce ATP degradation by about 30%. Works best when taken pwo with carbs and lots of water. Only negative is you tend to retain water more easily, at least I do.

[Ari Kestler]

Which product do you guys recommend?

Any point in using it if I am primarily focused on low rep strength routines right now? Do you just cycle it in when you switch to more metcon workouts or more hypertrophy? Or is it valuable to have across the board?

[Greg Battaglia]

Thanks guys. I guess i basically wasted a good bit of it in the loading phase. Oh well, good thing it's pretty cheap anyway. Steve, I definitely noticed some water retention as well. Not a big deal though considering all the benefits.

[John Alston]

Which product do you guys recommend?

Any point in using it if I am primarily focused on low rep strength routines right now? Do you just cycle it in when you switch to more metcon workouts or more hypertrophy? Or is it valuable to have across the board?

It's cheap, just get a basic Monohydrate from a reputable manufacturer and don't worry about the fancy stuff with added crap.

I cycle it, but that's almost out of laziness. It sounds like from this thread people are getting benefits in a variety of ways.