Hello all and greetings from Big D in the Lone Star State.
As my season gets underway, I am looking into my nutritional supplements to improve my performance. The reason for this was because last year during my long rides I was experiencing a lot of cramping, specially on my calves and quads. I believe I have a high sweat rate and also a high loss of salt (evident on my clothes after I finish my workouts). I have tried the gels and I am staying hydrated as there have been times where during/after the workouts I have to run to use the bathroom (the urine clear as in good hydration). I have heard of creatine use for years now but I’ve never tried it. I would like to pick y-all’s brains with regards to the use of creatine by endurance athletes. I am doing my first Half-Ironman distance race in September and I want to be ready for it.
PS - Please feel free to make any other recommendations for nutritional aids such as salt tablets, energy drinks, etc.
Try a drink with more sodium, potassium or magnesium. I used gatorade endurance last year and think it made a difference. You may also want to add some protein to your long ride menu. I dont think creatine is the answer, I believe that is used by body builders to add mass. I tried it before and gained weight. For protein I take L Glutamine and Endurox to aid in recovery.
It volumizes the muscle cells by forcing water into them. This increases intramuscular tension and gives a boost in apparent strength. This is a temporary effect that goes away when you stop taking the creatine. But this also tends to make people cramp up.
It helps with the ATP regeneration cycle, making short burst activites “faster”, and helps for recovery between all-out efforts.
Neither of these effects is a help in endurance athletics. And in fact the first is more of a hinderance. My advice is to stay away from it, especially since you already have a problem with cramping.
Creatine is great for what it does, which is aid in short, high-intensity muscular contractions. There is anecodotal (and only anecdoctal to my knowlege) reports of increased cramping.
It will do nothing for your endurance, and will require you to take in more water than before. Given that you feel you’re not properly hydrated now, it seems like a bad call.
Endurolytes have really helped me control cramping. Be sure to try them out before racing with them. They can also cause some “intestinal distress” which could keep you running past the finish line.
Aside from all the other issues mentioned, don’t forget the weight gain that comes with creatine ingestion. Not increased muscle mass, but increased intracellular water, that doesn’t help keep you hydrated, but you have to carry up hills, and on the run.
I just finished being a guinea pig in a creatine study at Florida Atlantic University.We did a vo2 max test, they gave us a month’s worth of either placebo, creatine,l-arginine, or creatine AND l-arginine. I should know the results of the study within the next week or two. I don’t know if what I got was “good stuff” or kool-aid.
However, I noticed:
1.Higher heart rates while training-significantly
2.need for more water
3.weight increase (just acouple of pounds)
4.vo2 max went from 52.6 with max sustained wattage of 330 to 55.2 with a max sustained wattage of 360.
That is a 5% increase in vo2 and 10% in wattage.
When I have more complete results, I will let you know.
Thank you all for all your input. My original thoughts were Creatine was a big “NO-NO” for those same reason and I wanted to get your opinion. I have only been training and doing triathlons for a couple of years now, so I needed to hear what some of you with more experience in the field had to say. Thanks a bunch.
Im on the fence on this one, sometimes I think it doesnt work and other times it does, I have NO scientific data to go by other than my own experiences, so here goes.
When Im working out at the gym I get noticably increased strength, size, endurance and muscle pumps, I can workout faster and harder than normally with very little rest in between sets for about and hour and a half.
When Im cycling, I notice some discomfort in my legs initially, I think mostly from them pumping up and then after im warmed up I do notice extra endurance and speed. I have NEVER cramped up while cycling and taking creatine. But the extra endurance and speed could all be in my head or due to other factors, I just havent figured it out yet, but I do know that it does NOT hinder my performance.
Be careful about which creatine you take, there is a lot of crap out there. What you want is Pure Creatine Monohydrate, stay away from everything else. I use the one by GNC called Creastack which has 5g of pure creatine and 2G of glutamine and 200mg of sodium and ZERO sugar. The way to take Creatine is with a sugary drink such as gatorade an hour before your workout. Do not take creatine with a protein shake or you could be in the bathroom for the next hour, ha.
Everyones body is different so it may work for some and not for others so be your own judge
do you eat a lot of leafy green vegetables? If you don’t, forget all the supplements and starting eating more things like spinach, broccoli, green salads etc. That will help cut down on cramping.
Brider is exactly right. Creatine is marginally effective for “quick burst” athletes (sprinters, powerlifters, etc) compared to the other stuff they are usuing. It’s even less (if any) effective for endurance athletes.
I suggest spending your money on the supplement that seems to work as well as any other OTC supp … Placebol. It works magic.
Throw some sugar in some cran-grape juice and call it creatine.
PrairieMan is the one!! I am really excited about doing my first half this year! Can’t wait till September. I am relatively new to the sport and a middle to middle back in the pack, but I know I will enjoy it!! Thanks for all the help!