Combining creatine, carbohydrate depletion, and carbohydrate loading within the 10 days prior to your show date could make a better presentation of your muscles on stage.

Manipulating Carbohydrates

The application of manipulating carbohydrates while preparing for a contest is done with intent on the muscle glycogen and water content. The thought is for you to have as much glycogen in your muscles as you can on the show day of the competition. From every gram of glycogen in your body, you have another three grams of water added into your muscle cells also. That means that a weight gain of two to four pounds could be predicted if you do it correctly.

Using Creatine before a contest

Loading yourself with creatine is done in an attempt to saturate and control a larger amount of creatine in your muscle cells. The creatine you take in helps you out with the creatine phosphate section of the kreb cycle to create energy for your working cells.

Side note: Kreb cycle – The kreb cycle is what is found in all plants and animals, a variety of enzymatic reactions in the mitochondria of cells, used to create a lot of energy phosphate compounds that are a main source of cellular energy.

Protocols for Creatine:

– First off, 20-25 grams per day for the period of 5-7 days

– Afterwards, 2-5 grams per day for 21-37 days

It has also been shown that creatine raises your total body water and glycogen while not using fluid distribution. A two week study was done to show the results that combining both the carbohydrate loading after you use creatine supplementation has lead to prove that it gives a super concentration of glycogen and water in your muscle cells.

Competitive Bodybuilders: Usage Suggestion

10 Days out: Only have an intake of a high carbohydrate based diet.

7 Days out: Put five grams of creatine into your body daily.

5 Days out: Start the period of carbohydrate depletion for the process of three days which is followed with a cessation of creatine.

2 Days of carbohydrate loading and gradual water intake decreases.

Another suggestion is for you to takea potassium supplement which could help out with any cramping you may be having.

While more research is needed on this topic to come to a conclusion, we all know that for certain people, certain choices will be made. While professional bodybuilders use a certain type of training and preperation to make sure their muscles are as good as possible for performing at the show they are featured in, other less competitive bodybuilders may not worry as much about this issue.

Either way, it is best for you to stick around and find out any conclusion that is discovered.

The technology has been used since the beginning of the year by Atlantic Multipower Germany, Europe’s leading supplier in the sports food sector. With “Crea Max”, the company is introducing a ready-to-drink creatine product in Germany, UK and Austria. Cranberry-flavoured Crea Max contains 4.6 g creatine citrate, a natural dietary supplement, which enhances the performance of those engaging in sports involving intensive muscle workout and which increases the effectiveness of weight training.
Thanks to the wedge, the creatine is freshly mixed with the drink when the can is opened. The advantage for the consumer is the added convenience because creatine was previously only available to sportspeople in tablet or powder form and not as a drink. Crea Max in the 429 ml can is sold through sports studios and, in Europe, is available exclusively from Atlantic Multipower Germany.

“The effect of creatine in muscle workout is well known. In the sports food sector, it is a unique innovation to offer the active substance in conjunction with a drink. With this product, we can offer sportspeople with true added value,” explains Stephanie Wullenweber, Junior Brand Manager Multipower Professional. “Being the leading supplier of dietary supplements in this sector, Crea Max is extremely important to us strategically.”

“Scientific studies have shown that creatine is not stable in normal beverage products. The longer it is in contact with the liquid, the greater the loss in effectiveness”, explains Dr. Ralf Jäger, Vice President Marketing & Sales at Degussa Fresh Tech Beverages. “The potency of such sensitive substances starts to decline as soon as they are dissolved in a liquid”. Degussa is one of the leading producers of creatine which is sold under the brand name “Creapure”.

“The FreshCan technology has changed our general concepts as to what we can market as a drink in future”, says Rob Miles, Vice President Sales&Marketing at Ball Packaging Europe. “It is feasible that numerous innovations will be supplied as ready-to-drink solutions thanks to FreshCan, in particular in the continually growing segment of sports and wellness products.”

I got a news alert from Google news earlier today so i thought i’d write and see what people think! I would go on and on about what creatine is, but the whole site is full of creatine information and articles so i’ll get straight to the point!

“The evidence from the studies “shows that short- and medium-term creatine treatment improves muscle strength in people with muscular dystrophies and is well-tolerated,” said lead reviwer Dr. Rudolf Kley of Ruhr University Cochum in Germany.

The review appears in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.

Although creatine has been widely studied as a performance enhancer, it’s still not clear if the supplement makes a difference, according to Roger Fielding, Ph.D., of Tufts University, who has also recently written a review of creatine treatments for neuromuscular diseases.”

Musclular disyrophies is genetic group of more than 30 genetic and hereditary muscle diseases. It’s characterized by skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and death of muscle cells and tissue. Althought i know creatine does help build muscle tissues, i don’t know too much about muscular dystrophies, so i cannot really say my true thoughts.

If you have any comments, please feel free to post.

I actually wondered this myself, but after reading a thread on the bodybuilding.com forum (here) it made it abit clearer what actually happens once you stop taking Creatine!

As you may already know by now, Creatine not only helps you gain mass, but it increases water levels in muscles.. So once you stop taking creatine supplements you will loose water and often abit of weight, but nothing major!

I was reading up on a news item from the BBC which claims Creatine boosts brain power. An outline of the story was;

Experts believe Creatine does not only boost fitness levels, but it has a role in maintaining energy levels to the brain, and have the theory that taking Creatine supplements WILL improve mental performance.

Researchers from the University of Sydney and Macquarie University, had given creatine supplements to 45 willing young adults. The volunteers were split up, and given either creatine pills or “dummy pills” for a period of six weeks.

The volunteers ability to repeat long sequences of numbers were tested and a series of general IQ tests were given.

The researchers, led by Dr Caroline Rae found that creatine supplements seemed to have a positive effect.

She said: “Both of these tests require fast brain power and the IQ test was conducted under time pressure.

“The results were clear with both our experimental groups and in both test scenarios.

“Creatine supplementation gave a significant measurable boost to brain power.”

The researchers found that the ability to remember long number improved.

Dr Rae believes that the creatine increases the amount of energy available to the brain for computational tasks, improving general mental ability.