How long should you stay on creatine

[fina4all]

is there any amount of off time that there needs to be while on creatine. thanks

[Nathan]

They say to cycle it like 8 wks on 2wks off.

[Bast]

They say nothing!
There isnt anything saying you would get better results from cycling the shit. Keep on it!
And a 8week on 2week of thing wount do anything cause you will most likely only be off with the creatine for less then 1 week before you start again.

[Frosty]

Originally posted by Nathan
They say to cycle it like 8 wks on 2wks off.

What is the reasoning with creatine cycling?

[Nathan]

I read a book by Edward A. Byrd, the guy who supposedly introduced creatine, co founder of EAS, and president of MRI. In this book he gives direction to cycle creatine 6-8wks on and actually 3-4wks off. I dont care if you feel like this is correct or not but you wanted to know who they are so there he is. Now I know alot of people dont agree with EAS and their marketing tactics but seems kind of stupid to tell someone to cycle off of their product for a few weeks if it was better to stay on all of the time. The book is called NO2 the 21 day transformation. I tried NO2 and thought it sucked but that doesnt mean that its bullshit either.... different strokes for different folks.

[Frosty]

But WHY should you cycle it?

[Nathan]

Just guessing but maybe the same reason you switch up routines. Keep the body changing instead of allowing it to totally adapt.

[Frosty]

Creatine is just an energy system supplement. How would changing things up benefit its use? Do you do the same for carbs?

[Nathan]

Explain energy system. Do you mean comparible to say caffeine. Are you saying that creatine does not support the growth of muscle other than supplying the energy

[Frosty]

It just supplies creatine phospate to the muscles which is used for ATP production. Not all that different than glycogen except that creatine is used for faster ATP production (i.e. hard short efforts under 30 seconds).

[Insane_Man]

You do not need to cycle creatine.

But, in those who do experience more water retention in the muscle, the effect wears off over time. By cycling off then back on, you are able to reproduce the water retention effect, which has nothing to do with the performance benefits that creatine offers.

Of course, people feel like creatine is working it's magic when their muscles are fuller.

[Nathan]

The reason you have to cycle off creatine monohydrate is because in about 6 weeks yout creatine transporters "down regulate" or stop working. So you have to give the transporters time to recover. Creatine monohydrate is not lipophilic. Cannot penatrate fat by itself. Without the transporters the creatine turns to creatinine and you piss it out, waste of money.

[Frosty]

Originally posted by Nathan
The reason you have to cycle off creatine monohydrate is because in about 6 weeks yout creatine transporters "down regulate" or stop working. So you have to give the transporters time to recover. Creatine monohydrate is not lipophilic. Cannot penatrate fat by itself. Without the transporters the creatine turns to creatinine and you piss it out, waste of money.

Why would it have to penetrate fat?

Do you have a source for this info?

[Nathan]

Straight and to the point and exactly right

[Nathan]

There are lipid barriers the creatine must bypass in order to get from the gut to the blood stream and from the blood stream to the muscle. This is where the water retention comes from.

[Insane_Man]

The creatine transporters do down regullate once you are saturated with creatine (can't absorb anymore), the reason one 'loads' creatine is to reach saturation as soon as possible. Does this book recommend loading too?

[Nathan]

While the creatine is waiting to be transported into the muscle water begins to pool around the muscle cell causing edema. Creatine is salt and where it goes water goes.

[Nathan]

The book does not state anything about loading but the directions on the side of the creatine I used once did.

[Insane_Man]

All I'm saying is, saturated creatine transporters is the goal. It means that you have the most creatine available to your muscles possible.

You want to reach saturation, and then maintain it by taking a reasonable daily dose. Say, 5g.

Downregulation is not a bad thing.

[Nathan]

Basically what it comes down to fin4all is if you want to stay on creatine without cycling go ahead worst case you will just waste money. Or you could cycle it and the only thing you would lose is not being on creatine for a few weeks and have a little extra money in you pocket to go buy more creatine in a few weeks.

[Nathan]

Insane Man how do you know it is possible to maintain 5mg aday if your transporters down regulate. If they cant maintain then its money down the toilet.

[Insane_Man]

Yeah no harm in cycling, but you will miss out on probably iimmesurably small gains

[Insane_Man]

Yeah, 5g a day is probably overkill if you are saturated, it's just a recommended dosage to ensure you stay there.

The way I see it, creatine is cheap anyways so who cares?

[Nathan]

Agreed.


I dont think frosty believed me.

[Nathan]

I just started M1T by underground labratories and that is cheap and hoping its as effective as everyone says.