I just bought some Creatine Monohydrate and was curious what the best way to take it was. I was leanng towards something that looked like for the 1st week I would have 18g per day. 2nd, 3rd and 4th weeks I would have 6g per day and for the 5th and final week I would go with 18g per day.

Does that cycle look like a "normal/average" cycle others would use?

Also to what degree should your diet change, right now im using the 40/40/20 ratio. I've heard that you may want to increase your carb intake slightly to accomodate creatine, is this true?

Any help would be appricated.

I just bought some Creatine Monohydrate and was curious what the best way to take it was. I was leanng towards something that looked like for the 1st week I would have 18g per day. 2nd, 3rd and 4th weeks I would have 6g per day and for the 5th and final week I would go with 18g per day.

Does that cycle look like a "normal/average" cycle others would use?

Also to what degree should your diet change, right now im using the 40/40/20 ratio. I've heard that you may want to increase your carb intake slightly to accomodate creatine, is this true?

Any help would be appricated.

No one can tell you the best way. People will debate whether loading is effective. Some swear its a marketing technique to get you to buy more, while I only saw substantial results when I did heavy loading. There really is no normal or average. People tend to repeat what others have done but the science really hasn't been done to show what the optimal dose by weight or other parameters is. The problem with fixed doses like 3g/day is that they assume the dose is the same if you are 150 or 250 pounds or if you train intensely versus training less intensely, which I doubt is the case.

Here's an article I wrote about creatine:

All About Creatine (http://www.goldensummitinc.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=2)

Jeremy

Hi Terps, I want to apologize in advance, I'm not trying to Hi-jack your thread, but I wanted to address Jeremy where he posted the link.

Jeremy, All I can say is WOW, that is an awesome article! I've been confused on the workings of creatine, and this made it all Very clear.
Thanks so much for putting it out there.
Once I'm done w/ school for the summer, and can give my workouts the attention they deserve, I'm going to try the routine you reccomended.
One question though, I was taking creatine mono with grape juice before, but it upset my stomach so much I was forced to give it up. I was literally getting sick shortly after taking the "reccomended dose" on the container. Any ideas on this? Cutting the dose in half made the sick feeling manageable, but far from pleasant.

Jeremy, All I can say is WOW, that is an awesome article!

Thanks!

I was taking creatine mono with grape juice before, but it upset my stomach so much I was forced to give it up. I was literally getting sick shortly after taking the "reccomended dose" on the container. Any ideas on this? Cutting the dose in half made the sick feeling manageable, but far from pleasant.

I'm not sure about this. What type of creatine? I don't fall for the overmarketed ones with bells and whistles and effervescent this or that. To be honest, I'm not up to date so that's not to say there isn't anything to it, but what I've read the most research on is plain, pharmaceutical grade creatine monohydrate. I've always just mixed it in whatever post workout shake I'm taking and have never had an issue with stomach upset. You think it may be the grape juice, not the creatine? Or if there's a lot in it or you're not getting pharmaceutical grade, it may just have extras and additives that are making you ill.

Jeremy

It was just plain old creatine monohydrate from AtLarge. I think it may have been my timing, as I was just taking it in the morning after or with my first meal. I was drinking grape juice somewhat regularly at the time, and never had a problem with the juice by itself. I'll give it another go, using your schedule, when I start that program and see what happens. Thanks again.

Jeremy, great article, it was very informative.

I also have another question that I was curious about. I've heard of people taking creatine while "cutting" or trying to lose some fat. What is the benefits of creatine while trying to lose weight?

Jeremy, great article, it was very informative.

I also have another question that I was curious about. I've heard of people taking creatine while "cutting" or trying to lose some fat. What is the benefits of creatine while trying to lose weight?

It's the same as whenever you use creatine. It will not aid in fat loss.

Hi Terps, I want to apologize in advance, I'm not trying to Hi-jack your thread, but I wanted to address Jeremy where he posted the link.

Jeremy, All I can say is WOW, that is an awesome article! I've been confused on the workings of creatine, and this made it all Very clear.
Thanks so much for putting it out there.
Once I'm done w/ school for the summer, and can give my workouts the attention they deserve, I'm going to try the routine you reccomended.
One question though, I was taking creatine mono with grape juice before, but it upset my stomach so much I was forced to give it up. I was literally getting sick shortly after taking the "reccomended dose" on the container. Any ideas on this? Cutting the dose in half made the sick feeling manageable, but far from pleasant.

I had that problem when I used creatine from GNC. I stopped using it. Then when I started using creatine from AST, that didn't happen. But then differences were that the creatine from GNC was just creatine mono, while the creatine from AST was micronized creatine. Another difference was that I did the traditional loading with the creatine from GNC, while I did not load with the one with AST.

I'm starting up a creatine cycle too. Last time I loaded for two days, 5gms of creatine 4 times a day. Then I went for a month and felt pretty good about it.

Now I'm not loading, but going with 5gms in 8oz apple juice once a day. I plan on doing this for about 8 weeks, since I imagine the first two weeks will act as a slow loading period.

I read Jeremy's creatine protocols a while back. Very informative.

Also I have some documentation and experiences in my journal. Do an advanced search for Leftyx and you can find them.