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creatine and endurance

does anyone know if creatine improves endurance? has anyone tried it?

Comments

  • fatmattfatmatt Posts: 145
    i have tried it a number of times with varying degrees of success, i used it when i was boxing seriously and it improved my strength and explosive power, in terms of endurance it only worked up to a point, i could run faster or train harder for up to a max of 25-30 minutes but i don't think it helped me with anything longer than that, you have also got the issue of weight gain as you tend to store water which will affect you in longer sessions. it can also have an adverse affect on your stomach. one type gave me stomach cramps and made me feel awful.
  • TTX PROTTX PRO Posts: 225
    you dont need that stuff to make yourself better.all you need is shear hard training.works for me
  • hound doghound dog Posts: 293
    Well said TTX PRO Ive also read that you become to rely on that sort of c#ap after a while. Healthy diet and hard work, thats what triathlons all about.
  • BoycieBoycie Posts: 189
    We do all need creatine (about 2g a day), but most of us get it from our diets (1g a day from meat and fish) and our body produces the rest in the liver.



    There is evidence to suggest that creatine supplements can both improve and hinder endurance performance. It is well accepted that taking creatine supplementation improves performance in high intensity exercise with limited recovery time, i.e. multiple sprints and weight training, which explains why it is so popular in sports like rugby. This may benefit endurance training purely because you can work harder during high intensity training sessions and during strength training. During racing it may help with repeated high intensity bursts which are a lot more common in drafting races.



    On the other hand it is unlikey to benefit low intensity sessions which make up the majority of our training sessions. Also on the down side creatine supplementation causes water retention and weight gain which is detrimental to endurance performance. I've seen this first hand with guys I used to work with that were fairly serious body builders. When they were using creatine they were big, but when they came off it they were much more ripped.



    As for personal experience, I used it during my rugby playing days and it definately improved my ability to train hard with weights. However I was also required to do a lot of endurance training and this suffered as a result of creatine. It gave me serious shin splints and I stopped using it after about two cycles. There doesn't seem to be any harm trying it out but I would only advise it at certain periods of training and make sure you know what you're doing with it, but I don't use it and never will again.



    David.

  • hound doghound dog Posts: 293
    Im no expert but it almost sounds like snother performance enhancing something or tthe other. Surely a Healthy diet and hard work should be enough to show anyones true capabilities. Thats the way I look at it anyway.
  • SamutriSamutri Posts: 143
    There are 2 types of creatine available - the powder which you need to use all the time and the 'serum' which you can take 10mins before your training. I have used the serum on and off for a couple of years and it is superb.

    As a chemist, I was keen to understand how the serum works - it appears to inhibit the build up of lactic acid and means that you can train for longer.

    Is it cheating? - not officially...
  • BoycieBoycie Posts: 189
    Hound Dog,



    I agree to a large degree, but it's no different to drinking a sports drink, using energy gels or energy bars. I bet there are very few endurance athletes not using them.
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