Is Creatine a good supplement for cyclists

Walrus said:

I read that Creatine is a supplement taken to increase anaerobic performance (often used by elite athletes such as weightlifters).

Does anyone know much about it, and whether it's 'muscle building' capabilities can benefit cyclists?

I saw 'Creatine Bars' at the supermarket whilst looking for supplements and got to thinking?

I never used it while racing. More benefit to strength athletes.

read this:

http://t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459457

it's a waste of time if you take part in endurance cycle racing (i.e. any race > ~ 90-secs), it may not be beneficial for track sprint either

ric

may be of use for speeding recovery after training but not for cycling performance as such.
Save your money

Most of the supplements I take at present are as follows:
(1) Pure bee honey.
(2) Cider vinegar.
(3) Raw garlic.
(4) White willow bark
(5) Glucosamine
(6) Red wine and honey
All of these are supposed to be good for the joints and immune system.

the brother said:

may be of use for speeding recovery after training but not for cycling performance as such.
Save your money

Carrera said:

Most of the supplements I take at present are as follows:
(1) Pure bee honey.
(2) Cider vinegar.
(3) Raw garlic.
(4) White willow bark
(5) Glucosamine
(6) Red wine and honey
All of these are supposed to be good for the joints and immune system.

Glucosamine = waste of money

Carrera said:

Most of the supplements I take at present are as follows:
(1) Pure bee honey.
(2) Cider vinegar.
(3) Raw garlic.
(4) White willow bark
(5) Glucosamine
(6) Red wine and honey
All of these are supposed to be good for the joints and immune system.

Good, I can now consider my red wine a supplement, does beer count too 🙂

Carrera said:

Most of the supplements I take at present are as follows:
(1) Pure bee honey.
(2) Cider vinegar.
(3) Raw garlic.
(4) White willow bark
(5) Glucosamine
(6) Red wine and honey
All of these are supposed to be good for the joints and immune system.

Exactly how much cider vinegar do you take and what do you think it is good for?
Bees honey?
I also eat honey and have been known to drink wine(and beer for that matter) but have never considered them supplements, just part of my diet.

Cider vinegar is a mild diuretic (don't know if I spelt that right) so it may help in keeping the weight down. However, cider vinegar is supposed to help relieve joint pain or, in my case, acididity around the joints. Apparently if you pour neat cider vinegar in a glass and leave an egg in a couple of days, the entire shell will be disolved, leaving just the egg. The same system is supposed to work around the joints since the vinegar is naturally drawn towards any harmful deposits around the tendons e.t.c. , breaking up chrystals. How much do I take? Basicaly I just pour a small measure in a glass and mix it with apple juice.
As for glucosamine, I really don't know whether it works or not. I hope it does but the issue is still being debated.
Honey is a natural way to take sugar so I adopt the old Roman system of mixing honey in wine. It's reputed to be good for the joints and also boosts the immune system. Scientists also believe that red wine is one of the best health aids known to us. It's seriously believed red wine can increase your life span, is good for the heart and may be connected with the far lower levels of cancer in countries such as France, Italy and Spain where red wine is consumed.
Beer isn't comparable.
I just hope the scientists got it right.

the brother said:

Exactly how much cider vinegar do you take and what do you think it is good for?
Bees honey?
I also eat honey and have been known to drink wine(and beer for that matter) but have never considered them supplements, just part of my diet.

Carrera said:

Cider vinegar is a mild diuretic (don't know if I spelt that right) so it may help in keeping the weight down.

i've no idea if cider vinegar is or isn't a diuretic, however, assuming that it is, the idea would then be plain stupid. dehydration/fluid loss, causes fatigue and a decrease in performance, so there'd be no point whatsoever to it, unless you want to go slowly on purpose and cause health problems.

Bee honey doesn't do anything other than provide extra CHO

Raw garlic: makes your breath smell - very large amounts maybe anti bacterial or anti viral, but i'm sure the amount required is exceedinly large

(4) White willow bark

if memory serves me correctly this is aspirin, and wouldn't be of any benefit other than if you had some problem. it's contraindicated in some instances, and should never be used when dehydrated or prior to exercise as it is potentially fatal

(5) Glucosamine
no idea

(6) Red wine and honey

wine appears to have some benefits

ric

ricstern said:

i've no idea if cider vinegar is or isn't a diuretic, however, assuming that it is, the idea would then be plain stupid. dehydration/fluid loss, causes fatigue and a decrease in performance, so there'd be no point whatsoever to it, unless you want to go slowly on purpose and cause health problems.

Bee honey doesn't do anything other than provide extra CHO

Raw garlic: makes your breath smell - very large amounts maybe anti bacterial or anti viral, but i'm sure the amount required is exceedinly large

(4) White willow bark

if memory serves me correctly this is aspirin, and wouldn't be of any benefit other than if you had some problem. it's contraindicated in some instances, and should never be used when dehydrated or prior to exercise as it is potentially fatal

(5) Glucosamine
no idea

(6) Red wine and honey

wine appears to have some benefits

ric

don't forget that garlic keeps vampires away...........if you ride at night, this could be a lifesaver.

tmctguer said:

don't forget that garlic keeps vampires away...........if you ride at night, this could be a lifesaver.

haha! yes, good point forgot that!

tmctguer said:

don't forget that garlic keeps vampires away...........if you ride at night, this could be a lifesaver.

lol.....😄

It's difficult to keep track of all the latest scientific opinions concerning certain foods and their uses. Not to long ago they were claiming caffeine-free-coffee was far better for you than the normal stuff, while now it's claimed the former coffee is bad.
It's commonly believed that garlic helps prevent colds and viruses and boosts the immune system which is why I'm trying it. I confess it's an incredibly antisocial supplement and could genuinely get a guy into hot water at work or with girlfriends e.t.c. One alternative is to simply buy the odourless tablet variant but myself I eat it raw (and at night).
Cider vinegar was taken by bodybulders to help lose fat and tone up before a competition. But the reason I take it is I have joint pain, having just turned 40 e.t.c.
True, white willow bark is the original aspirin but I read it's far safer than aspirin, which is hard on the gut. Red wine is the one that's being raved about by scientists since they seriously believe it can extend the lifespan and maintain youth. They're tring to make an anti-age pill based on the properties of red wine. But anyway, it's good for the heart and a part of the mediterranean diet. You wounldn't catch me drinking beer or vodka anymore but I do take a couple of glasses of red wine in the evening.
These days I take nutrition very seriously. I've already lost a striking amount of weight and it's all a far cry from the days I stuffed myself with doughnuts and anything else I fancied.
One point, though, did you hear that some athletes who had taken supplements tested positive for steroids? There are supplememts that can supposedly increase testosterone that you can buy legally. Or is it all a con?

Carrera said:

One point, though, did you hear that some athletes who had taken supplements tested positive for steroids? There are supplememts that can supposedly increase testosterone that you can buy legally. Or is it all a con?

The stuff that you can buy in a health food store, such as Androstine, is mostly a con. Mark McGuire was caught taking it when he was hitting his famous record breaking home runs. The thing with Androstine is it does elevate your body's own testosterone levels for a couple hours after ingesting. According to the directions, you're supposed to take it prior to a workout. However, you would have to take the [censored] around the clock to have a truly elevated test level so that it would do much good.

You'd be better off going to Mexico and getting the good stuff. They sell it over the counter! If HGH weren't so damned expensive I'd give that a go. It is not considered a controlled substance here in the States and a doctor can prescribe it as part of an anti-aging therapy.

Walrus said:

I read that Creatine is a supplement taken to increase anaerobic performance (often used by elite athletes such as weightlifters).

Does anyone know much about it, and whether it's 'muscle building' capabilities can benefit cyclists?

I saw 'Creatine Bars' at the supermarket whilst looking for supplements and got to thinking?

Creatine may help build muscle - or at least fill out the muscle tissues with water - in people who do not eat much red meat. If you are eating 1/2 pound of red meat a day, then it is unlikely that Creatine will do much if anything for you. Of course, they won't tell you that in the advertising. 😉

Beware!! During a Creatine loading phase you will want to stay close to home. Or at least close to a toilet!! :o

Steroids are very easy to buy in Russia. Latvia is also very good for supplements such as Yohimbe Bark which is now illegal over here as it was claimed the supplement increased aggression.
The only steroid I would ever have considered using is Anavar as I'm led to believe it's a relatively safe steroid to use with very minimal side effects (if any). However, it's very expensive.
Needless to say, I've never yet used steroids and see the main drawback with them is the fact they enable an athlete to run his body at abnormal levels (like running a 70 mph car at 100 mph). There's a price to pay for this, of course. For example, I wouldn't like to imagine how my joints would be now had I loaded my joints more than I have been able to do naturally in the past.
Incidentally, I wonder if you heard about Mike and Ray Mentzer? It's suspected their deaths through kindney problems may have been linked to excessive use of oral steroids. Seems like a comparable situation to Marco Pantani although I gather it was the stigma of having been caught with drugs that led to Marco's sad ending.
Mentzer's site is: http://www.mikementzer.com

Doctor Morbius said:

The stuff that you can buy in a health food store, such as Androstine, is mostly a con. Mark McGuire was caught taking it when he was hitting his famous record breaking home runs. The thing with Androstine is it does elevate your body's own testosterone levels for a couple hours after ingesting. According to the directions, you're supposed to take it prior to a workout. However, you would have to take the [censored] around the clock to have a truly elevated test level so that it would do much good.

You'd be better off going to Mexico and getting the good stuff. They sell it over the counter! If HGH weren't so damned expensive I'd give that a go. It is not considered a controlled substance here in the States and a doctor can prescribe it as part of an anti-aging therapy.

Vitamins and supplements

creatine monohydrate helps speed up the healing process pplus stored levels of phosphocreatine are small and limited and only last for some 15 seconds works for me to top them up!

whey branch chain ammino acids helps with the reapir process of muscles plusit contains HGH precursants

L glutamide decreases the rate at which muscle
cells breakdown decreases levels of lactic acid created

glucosamine sulphate Aids absorbtion of collagen for joints
pherous sulphate Aids in oxygen transfer
Vitamin B6 Gives me a somewhat pherocious appetite
Vitamin B complex Helps absorb Iron
Vitamin C ephervesant helps absorb B vitamins
Zinc for an healthy immune system

yes you know if you picked me up and shook me in the morning i'd probably rattle. Ohh and about 3-4000 calories perday.