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Creatine?

Does it work? Or do you pay lots of £ and get expensive urine as a result?  39

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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SideBurn | 13 years ago
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EPO...the diffrence between life and death from a blood clot?

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Eg3ftp1 | 13 years ago
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"what shall we get mat on next? answers below..."
EPO! I'd love to know the difference it would make to a club level rider.

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Mat Brett replied to Eg3ftp1 | 13 years ago
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benezeir wrote:

"what shall we get mat on next? answers below..."
EPO! I'd love to know the difference it would make to a club level rider.

I might not be up for that one.

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dave atkinson | 13 years ago
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he's like a human guinea pig! and all because you asked  1

what shall we get mat on next? answers below...

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Mat Brett | 13 years ago
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Creatine made a huge amount of difference to me when I was looking to gain lean body mass for rowing in a former life. There's no question about that, but I'm a vegetarian so get very little creatine in my diet. Meat eaters are getting creatine anyway so the benefits are generally going to be lower.

Most studies say that it is beneficial for developing explosive strength/power, but you'll also gain mass. The cons outweigh the pros in endurance sports.

That said, I've just started my own little experiment. I've not used creatine in 10 years but I'm now using it for four weeks just to see what (if anything) happens. I'm interested in resting heart rate, weight, power, recovery, and so on. As it's the off-season, I'm not particularly bothered if I gain a few pounds temporarily in the process.

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SideBurn | 13 years ago
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Cheers cat1commuter; some interesting stuff!

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cat1commuter | 13 years ago
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There is a nice Wikipedia page on creatine supplements. Bottom line seems to be that it may help repeated anaerobic sprint efforts (like a points race on the track), but is no help for sustained aerobic exercise (which is what most cyclists do).

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Tripod16 | 13 years ago
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In the States all the Major League Baseball players were using it (along with steroids). At the time, popular thinking suggested Creatine was good for building muscle mass and strength, HOWEVER when it came to endurance in a sport (running/cycling) it was found to cause cramping of muscles.

Good luck and let us know how it works out. I think I will stay with whey protein drinks though.

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Gkam84 | 13 years ago
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Not used it at all, have body builder mates who are always using it, but to be honest i don't know the benefits

I'd just my money and get some motivational music you'll enjoy while on the bike or something like that

But if you wanted to go down the supplements route, there are many other things that would help far more then creatine in my eyes

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Simon E | 13 years ago
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Perhaps road.cc forumites are either unaware of the claims or not interested.

I have seen it discussed elsewhere but I'm not into taking expensive supplements so haven't taken much notice. Spend your money on something that you know will work.

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Low Speed Wobble | 13 years ago
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Agree with SideBurn. Would love to hear more - anecdotal evidence or scientific.

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SideBurn | 13 years ago
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I am surprised by the lack of response to this question. Thought this would cause a right old fashioned bun fight! Until recently my opinion was the same as Dr_Death but after a glowing reference from someone I gave it another go. I aim to do 10 to 14hours a week and find I loose a bit of motivation sometimes, creatine seems to give me a bit of a boost of motivation. Is it my imagination?? The product seems to be targeted more at speed and strength (as Dr_Death suggests) but also says it is good for recovery and this is why I will probably keep taking it. Anyone else got an opinion or know of authoritative research?  39

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Dr_Death | 13 years ago
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The latter....

IMHO

(and I've yet to see any evidence to the contrary, certainly for endurance based sports)

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