ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ ||| The 2023/2024 Gym Rats Thread ||| ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

arc@css said:
Anyone here use a plastic free (BPA/BPF/BPS, etc.) water bottle they can recommend?
Click to expand...

I've been using a Klean Kanteen stainless steel bottle for as long as I can remember -- about 10+ years, or maybe longer.

If I was to buy a new one today, I'd probably go for this one here. I'd select the "Brushed Stainless" finish option.

Then, I'd get this lid here for a more rugged finish.

There are, of course, many other options available online.

Hope that helps a little.
 
Should I be taking Creatine? I’m not actively strength training, more trying to improve cycling and rehabilitating my back with swimming. Having a protein shake after swimming or a long cycle seems to help recovery. Haven’t ever had it before and wondering whether it would be helpful.

Thanks!
 
Even for people not training it's been shown to be good for the brain in recent studies so yes everyone should be taking it in my opinion. 5-10g of standard creatine monohydrate a day will do the job.

www.bodybuildingwarehouse.co.uk

1 Year Supply of Creatine

Pure Creatine Monohydrate – 1 Year Supply Bundle Take your training further for a full year with our best-selling Pure Creatine Monohydrate – now in a convenient bundle! Get 2 x 1kg bags of premium, 100% pure creatine monohydrate – the ultimate staple for strength, power, and performance. Each...
www.bodybuildingwarehouse.co.uk www.bodybuildingwarehouse.co.uk

Cheapest you'll find
 
tom_nieto said:
Should I be taking Creatine? I’m not actively strength training, more trying to improve cycling and rehabilitating my back with swimming. Having a protein shake after swimming or a long cycle seems to help recovery. Haven’t ever had it before and wondering whether it would be helpful.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Yes
 
Thanks all, might make this part of my morning routine. Don’t really have any “high carbohydrate” drink to mix with. Just stick it in my tea yeah :cry:

Hair loss wouldn’t be great, but to minimise my chances of that I’d probably need to give up work and kids!
 
Last edited:
tom_nieto said:
Should I be taking Creatine? I’m not actively strength training, more trying to improve cycling and rehabilitating my back with swimming. Having a protein shake after swimming or a long cycle seems to help recovery. Haven’t ever had it before and wondering whether it would be helpful.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Jokes about RIP natty status, pls.

Also, don't want to get big, so pls go easy on that there white powder.
 
mrthingyx said:
Jokes about RIP natty status, pls.

Also, don't want to get big, so pls go easy on that there white powder.
Click to expand...

I’ll go easy on it. Don’t want massive glutes bursting out of my cycling Lycra if I put on too much muscle mass by taking performance enhancing powders.
 
tom_nieto said:
I’ll go easy on it. Don’t want massive glutes bursting out of my cycling Lycra if I put on too much muscle mass by taking performance enhancing powders.
Click to expand...

On a slightly more serious note, it will make you gain a bit of weight (3-5% ish based on personal experience), and you'll find sprinting/high-intensity efforts a little less taxing.

For me, the benefit was "noticeable" in that I wasn't taxing my cardiovascular system as much, but mileage will vary here.

A couple of supplements for cyclists would also be beta alanine (with a sprinkling of taurine) at 6g/day (not all at once for goodness' sake!) and citrulline malate (can't remember)... both help buffer accumulation of hydrogen ions.
 
Last edited:
On the Creatine front, I took Creatine Monohydrate for many years.

I noted:
  • Strength increases (slight rep-count increases, slight increase in comfort with heavier weights, a slightly greater feeling of greater of integration and stability on reps).
  • Very slight increase in muscular development.
  • Increase in so-called "bloat" / water weight, including around my face, which was not ideal.
I didn't notice:
  • Any cognitive/brain-related benefits, which seem to be being talked about quite a lot on YouTube these days in relation to Creatine. In fact, the more supplements I took at that time, the "foggier" my brain became.
  • Any hair thinning at the time.
I then stopped taking Creatine for many years, as I went though a leaning-out phase of my supplements.

I'm about to experiment with about 6 months (at least) of low-dose daily Creatine HCL, which anecdotally/purportedly, provides the typically reported benefits of Creatine, but does not come with the "bloating" effect.

As an aside, these days, I run only a very lean array of supplements, as follows:
  • High quality fish oil.
  • Decent quality multi-vitamin.
  • Decent quality B-vitamin.
  • Intermittent ZMA (i.e., a Zinc and Magnesium supplement) -- perhaps soon to be regular ZMA.
In doing so, I have binned many old options (a laughably large array of supplements at one stage), and have dialled-up my "real food" (especially protein) intake.

I'll try to report back later with any observations about the Creatine HCL.

Enjoy your training, troops.
 
Last edited:
Interesting, been a long time since I took creatine and the recommended dose always made me bloated so I took less but then is that worth it?

Would be interested to hear about the bloat factor.

Small study (n=40) on Monohydrate or Hydrochloride general effects- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11629957/#sec18

Conclusions

In general, the results showed that supplementation with Cr-HCl and CrM increases GH, IGF-1 levels, the ratio of follistatin/myostatin, testosterone/cortisol, muscle strength (bench press, leg press), arm and thigh MCSA, SMM and significantly decreases cortisol, ACTH levels and PBF. Hormonal adaptations, strength and body composition in the RT+Cr-HCl group were not significant compared to the RT+CrM-LP and RT+CrM-WLP groups and only changes in the supplementary groups were significant compared to the control group.
The results showed the effects of Cr-HCl and CrM on hormonal compatibility, strength and hypertrophy, but Cr-HCl does not seem to have more effects than CrM. Despite claims of increased solubility, bioavailability, and superior absorption mechanisms, there is currently no evidence to support the use of Cr-HCl instead of CrM. Although Cr-HCl affects performance and hormonal indicators, due to its very high price compared to CrM, its use is not economical and it cannot replace CrM. Considering the very few studies in this regard, for more accurate conclusions, more studies are needed in different age groups and athletes of different fields, at different levels of sports and with longer supplementation periods.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
I'm not doing much strength training at the moment, slowly getting back into it after covid screwed up my gym access.
Any suggestions on whether it's still worth taking creatine it if I'm only on 2/3 sessions a week + some rowing for cardio?
 
Rob_B said:
I'm not doing much strength training at the moment, slowly getting back into it after covid screwed up my gym access.
Any suggestions on whether it's still worth taking creatine it if I'm only on 2/3 sessions a week + some rowing for cardio?
Click to expand...

Just take it :)


I'm by no means strong yet, but my PT also coaches powerlifters...I'm joining the team. I'm really excited. I always get excited when my program changes, so I'm excited to see what that looks like. But I'm also really excited to do something that seemed so unrealistic or even inadvisable in my past. I have had three slipped disks, but since the start of this year I've completely turned it around. So I can't wait to get on the platform and lift and prove that my injuries haven't held me back, and that I'm in fact stronger than ever.

I had a mental goal for my back to be "as strong as an oak" :cry:. I'm probably not there yet, but I've come a hell of a long way.

Funny thing is that I don't squat atm, so we'll see how that goes. I'm nervous about getting my form right, but I guess my coach is going to hold my hand on that.

Can you tell that I'm excited :D
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom