Creatine: Take 3-4 times/day Effective/Harmful??!

[DoItRight]

Hey Bros - Had a guy tell me that I should be taking creatine 3-4 times/day (2-3 times per day if under 200 lbs.). He said that like carbs, you need to keep introducing it into your system through the day.

EFFECTIVE? - He's a big bro and knows his supplements but is he right...is it more effective consuming 3-4 times/day?

HARMFUL? - Is there any HARM from taking it 3-4 times/day?

He said to cycle on/off the creatine once every 6 weeks.

[SteelSouth]

He may be referring to the loading phase which should consist of taking 3-4 5 gram servings for the first 3 or 4 days then going to a maintenance dose of around 5-10 grams per day. You could split this dose in to 2 servings, maybe 5 grams before you train and 5 after. I get the same affect when just taking around 10 grams after my workout.

Would it be harmful? No, your body would merely excrete the unused creatine and it would be a waste of money and creatine.

Should you cycle it? Yes, I have had good luck with staying on around 6-8 weeks then coming off for 4 weeks and then going back on.

[DoItRight]

He said there was no need to load. To just consume creatine 3-4 times per day for 6-8 weeks then cycle off. He said "consuming creatine once a day is equivalent to consuming carbs only once a day: it doesn't work. You have to consume AND creatine throughout the day to keep an optimal amount in your system." Is there truth to this???

[DoItRight]

ooopps...typo in my above post. CORRECTION: "He said "consuming creatine once a day is equivalent to consuming carbs only once a day: it doesn't work. You have to consume CARBS AND creatine throughout the day to keep an optimal amount in your system." Is there truth to this???

[DADAWG]

Originally posted by DoItRight
ooopps...typo in my above post. CORRECTION: "He said "consuming creatine once a day is equivalent to consuming carbs only once a day: it doesn't work. You have to consume CARBS AND creatine throughout the day to keep an optimal amount in your system." Is there truth to this???

i cant swear to you that hes wrong but im pretty sure hes misunderstood the loading phase somehow and hes basically loading for 8 weeks .
i would try it myself unless i just divided up 5-10 grams a day into several portions . theres no need for more than 5-10 grams a day imo .