Creatine is one of the most popular ergogenic aids on the market because of its putative muscle building properties.  And while there are those who don’t think it works, there is enough, legitimate scientific data to indicate that creatine supplementation is warranted for people who engage in weight training.

I’m not a big fan of any kind of supplement and aside from taking fish oil capsules – that’s a story for another time – I don’t use any kind of supplements.  One of the reasons I don’t use supplements is that there isn’t a whole heck of a lot of legit science out there to justify using the vast majority of these products.

However, creatine monohydrate is a supplement that has been the subject of many studies and the data indicates that creatine monohydrate can increase muscular strength and muscle growth.  Now there have also been studies that have shown it is not an effective supplement, but these studies have been outnumbered by the studies that show creatine works.  As a result of these studies there is a belief – for some unknown reason – that creatine just doesn’t work for some people.

One of the reasons that I have given creatine a “buy” recommendation is that for a time I used creatine and experienced firsthand the advertised benefits from taking this supplement.  As a result of following the prescribed loading and maintenance program I added muscle and got stronger.  I gained about 6-8 pounds during the initial loading phase.

During the time that I was following the creatine regimen I was even more diligent than usual with regard to my diet and weightlifting program, and I was also able to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.  Those in the anti-creatine camp point to this kind of attention to detail and say, “It’s not the creatine that was responsible for your gains, it’s the program.”  And I think that to some extent this school of thought is correct.

However, since I have always been very disciplined when it comes to following my program I feel that the gains that I experienced during the first 3 months of this regimen were due to the creatine.

Anecdotally speaking, I found creatine to be quite effective and can recommend its use under certain conditions.  If you are going to use creatine supplements, you must be careful to remember to take both the regular loading doses and the daily maintenance doses as well.  You have to follow your workout and nutritional routine to the letter and you must get sufficient rest.

You must make sure you are doing everything correctly in order to give the creatine the chance to do its stuff.  And you’ll know if creatine supplementation is working as some studies I have seen point to a 6-8 pound weight gain that comes during the loading phase as a sign that the creatine is working.

By now some of you might be wondering why I haven’t stayed on my regimen of creatine supplements.  I had a couple of reasons.  First of all, to get the most out of creatine you have to remember to take it every day.  For whatever reason, I’m very forgetful when it comes to taking anything regularly – medicines, supplements, vitamins – so I found myself going several days without taking my daily maintenance dose.

Secondly, I didn’t want to carry around the extra 10-12 pounds that I gained during my regimen – I didn’t like weighing 218 – even though with these pounds came some serious strength gains.  I was in my late 30s at the time and had been there, lifted that, so I guess I could say the results really didn’t matter to me.

Does creatine work?  It did for me.  How could I give people an opinion if I hadn’t tried it myself?

UPDATE: Since late 2008 I have been following a creatine regimen. By fine-tuning my training and loading/maintenance schedule I feel the benefits from supplementation without the weight gain I experienced in the past.  If anything, I’m leaner than ever at a body weight of 205-pounds.

Spare us the tears, Mark.  It’s 2010 and nobody is buying the pathetic nonsense that you didn’t take steroids to help you hit home runs.  Furthermore, if it weren’t for steroids – not androstenedione, creatine or any other supplement – Mark McGwire would have been out of baseball around the time he was setting home run records.

Steroids were responsible for allowing McGwire to embark on his magical 8-year run that began in Oakland in 1995.  That’s all we needed to hear.  Not getting that simple,unqualified admission made the McGwire/Costas interview kind of silly.

McGwire acted like a little kid who got caught doing something wrong and broke down in an attempt to minimize the punishment and engender some sympathy.

Although it is sad that McGwire is still lying to himself and is still in denial about his steroid use.  His claim that he didn’t take steroids to hit home runs defies logic, especially when you consider that Little Mac had the help of a public relations firm.

And let’s ignore Tony LaRussa’s defense of McGwire.  LaRussa was on the scene of two of the biggest steroid scandals in baseball’s history, the Jose Canseco/McGwire A’s and the McGwire St. Louis Cardinals, and now he wants to bring Mac back to the scene of one of the crimes.  I wrote about this years ago, and my case holds up to this day.  LaRussa has managed to skate through all these years without having any of this steroid stink stick to him.  Don’t buy this “Teflon Don’s” take on McGwire or anything to do with the steroids in baseball story.

The overlooked joke of this whole story is that Mark McGwire is coming back as the Cardinals’ hitting instructor.  McGwire is a guy who struck out once every 4 times at bat and was worthless at the plate when he didn’t hit a home run.  In his last year, after the steroids had ravaged his body, he had a .187 average, 56 hits with 29 home runs and 4 doubles.  He struck out 118 times in 299 at-bats, the 4^th highest total of his career in about 40% fewer total at-bats for the season.

The bottom line is that Mark McGwire got another chance to come clean and he blew it.

The final workout of our 20-repetition set of squats was the toughest one yet and since Jill did the best job.

The 20-repetition set of squats has been the one of the toughest workouts that I’ve included in my routine over the past 10 years.  The workout is as brutal as it is simple; one set of squats for 20-repetitions.  That’s it.

The key to this workout is to start at the proper weight for the first week and making the proper weight increases for the following four or five workouts.  Check out my post about the 20-repetition set of squat for more details on how to structure this workout.

Jill and I took our time warming up for our last attempt at this workout.  The key to preparing for the 20-rep set of squats is to warm up without expending too much energy; if the proper weight is used you will need every drop of energy possible to finish this massive set.  I take my time and work through my basic dynamic flexibility workout before moving on to my warm up sets of squats.

The mental and physical components of this workout are substantial and you can’t let the idea of handling a heavy weight for 20-reps psych you out, and you can’t get to psyched up for the set or else you’ll burn through a lot of energy during the early stages of the set.

Being as objective, Jill performed her set of 20 repetitions with 145-pounds the best.  Her form – as usual – was impeccable, as was her pace.  She probably could have handled another 10-pounds without a problem, but this is a minor point considering 145-pounds is over 20% more than her body weight.

I was happy that I completed my set of 315-pounds – 15-pounds off of my best from 10 years ago – but a bit disappointed that I had to re-rack the bar after completing 15 reps. The grids on the bar were digging into my back (maybe it was the fact that I was holding more than 100-pounds over my body weight for 2 minutes) which necessitated the re-rack that took no longer than 10 seconds.

The workout was performed on Tuesday March, 3, 2009 at approximately 12 noon.  I weighed in at 206-pounds and the girls handled a weight that was more than 20% higher than their body weight.  I followed my usual supplementation routine, taking a creatine/whey protein shake immediately prior and following the workout.

The fourth week (I didn’t post one week) of the 20 repetition set of squats workout was brutal.  Jill did a great job once again, Jill handling 135-pounds.

However, I think my effort is better.  Hey, it’s my site!  Anyway, for my 2-minutes of hell, as I did 20 reps with 300-pounds at a body weight of 206-pounds.  The workout was done on February 19, 2009 at approximately 11:30AM, which means I’m about 46 and a-half years old.

This week was the toughest yet.  For some reason the number “300” weighed heavily on my mind (pun intended) and my heart was racing even before I stepped into the rack to begin my set.  I took my time warming up and got a good sweat going.  My preparation consisted of jumping rope for about 5-minutes, a 10-minute dynamic and explosive flexibility session and about seven warm-up sets consisting of no more than 5 repetitions each before digging in and going for the 20 reps at 300-pounds.

With a workout of this magnitude nutrient and supplement timing is very important.  I use creatine on a regular basis, and on my 20-rep set days I take a dose about 2 hours before my workout and combine another dose with a serving of whey protein about 30-minutes prior.  Since I also swam after the squats, I took a shot of carbohydrate gel before I jumped in the pool. Then I sat in the hot tub, steam room and sauna and had another whey protein/creatine shake (with water, yuk!).

There is no doubt that timing my nutrient and supplement intake has had a huge effect on my performance and has mitigated post-workout soreness.

So that’s it for this week.  After doing this workout four times I’m feeling great.  The 20-rep set of squats workout is one of those things that I hate doing, but love that I did it.  There are only two more workouts to go. I can’t wait until it’s over!

Creatine is one of the popular supplements on the market today, as it’s potential muscle and strength-building benefits are attractive to elite athletes and weekend warriors alike.  But the question remains, does it work?

Open any fitness magazine today and along with articles that deal with strength training and offer fitness tips, advertisements for personal trainer certifications and workout videos you’ll find tons of advertisements for nutritional supplements.  You’d be hard pressed to find a more popular strength-training supplement than creatine.

Creatine’s – aka creatine monohydrate – biggest claim to fame is that it aids in the production of energy and possibly can stimulate muscle growth.  For anyone familiar with the desires of athletes, people who strength train or other denizens of the gym, any supplement that promises to provide more energy and bigger muscles is going to be very popular.

The most interesting element of the creatine story is that unlike the vast majority of ergogenic aids (performance enhancing) and other dietary supplements, there is quite a lot of evidence to that supports creatine supplementation.  However, as is the case across the entire spectrum of supplements, there are almost as many studies that present contrasting evidence.

As a matter of fact, in the last year or so studies have been published in the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that present conflicting results.  In a study done in 2006, “Creatine Supplementation and Multiple Sprint Running Performance,” the researchers concluded that when it comes to creatine supplementation “the expectations of many athletes are unlikely to be realized.”

Another study from 2006, “Effects of Creatine Monohydrate Supplementation on Body Composition and Strength Indices in Experienced Resistance Trained Women” – try saying that 3 times fast! – found that creatine supplementation combined with 10 weeks of strength training may not improve strength or lean body mass greater than training only.  But back in 2003 the review of existing creatine research titled, “Effects of Creatine Supplementation and Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Weightlifting Performance” found that subjects increased their 1 repetition maximum lift in the bench press exercise anywhere from 3 to 45%, and that as a result of this and other findings, the response to creatine is “highly variable.”  Gee, ya think?

So what’s a consumer to do?  How do you make up your mind about whether or not you use creatine?

That’s where I come in.  Your friendly neighborhood online personal fitness trainer and overall font of useful fitness tips and other related information!  A little professional perspective along with a dash of anecdotal evidence is useful in situations like this.

Here’s my position on creatine.  Actually before my position on creatine, here’ s my general position on supplementation of all kinds.  Regardless of what research indicates and/or what is claimed in advertisements, if you are not following a reasonably healthful lifestyle that includes proper, supportive eating habits, regular exercise and plenty of rest you will not get any real benefits from any supplements.

I don’t care if it’s Omega-3 oils, creatine, a multi-vitamin, whey protein, green tea or any other supplement you can shove down your gullet, if you aren’t making an effort in the areas of nutrition, exercise and recovery you won’t derive any benefits from a pill, powder or herb.

Now back to creatine.  I used creatine at least 3 different times over the past 10-12 years.  One time I followed the loading program to the “T,” and the other times I winged it without regard to schedule and took it if I remembered, and sometimes if I forgot.

Creatine worked for me on all of these occasions.  I definitely added size and strength in a relatively short period of time – say a couple of months – and did not suffer from any apparent side effects.  In some circles there was the thought that creatine supplementation contributed to dehydration and cramps.  Never experienced this and don’t know anyone who did.

When you saturate your muscles with creatine the muscles hold more water and become “volumized.”  That’s fancy talk for “bigger.”  Without getting into the boring details, there’s a lot of good stuff that muscles can do when they are volumized, most of which boils down to allowing the muscles to grow.

If you refer back to the review of creatine studies that I mentioned above, you’ll see where there is a mention that the creatine response is “highly variable.”  One of the ways that you’ll know if you’re one of these “highly variable” types is if you gain about 8-12 pounds without making any other real changes to your diet.  When I used the creatine, during the first month or so I added 8-10 pounds of what I felt was “good” weight, in that I was still able to wear a size 32 pair of pants.

Chances are if you’re not a highly variable type you won’t see this kind of weight gain, and the concomitant increase in strength.

And in case you’re wondering, there are 2 reasons why I haven’t continued to use creatine.  First of all, I have a terrible memory when it comes to remembering to take any kind of supplement, and I just got sick and tired of either forgetting to take my dose or forgetting to bring it with me or forgetting to buy more when I ran out and forgetting whether or not I already took the appropriate does.  But the main reason I stopped using creatine is that I didn’t like the way I felt weighing upwards of 217 pounds.  The last time I was serious about using creatine was at least 7 years ago, and I got flat out didn’t like the way I looked or felt as a 38 year-old guy.

For people who have already achieved a high-level of fitness without creatine, I don’t think creatine makes you any healthier.  And unless you are into some kind of competitive situation – where the jury is still kind of out with regards to creatine’s efficacy – I personally don’t see any reason to start using it.

The bottom line here is to do your homework so that you know what you are putting into your body, and educate yourself as to the proper way to administer any of these supplements.  Consult with your physician, an athletic trainer or the appropriate strength and conditioning professional before using any kind of ergogenic aid.

Check out creatine monohydrate here.

UPDATE: Since late 2008, I have been following a creatine regimen. By fine-tuning my training and loading/maintenance schedule, I feel the benefits from creatine without the weight gain I experienced in the past.  If anything, I’m leaner than ever at a body weight of 205-pounds.