For now, I just toss a little creatine (3-5gm) in my post w/o whey shake, when I'm in a creatine cycle.
Some say to take it prior to the workout so it is available in the bloodstream while you are working out. Note that many also recommend that you mix your creatine with some high-sugar liquid like grape juice.
I used to follow that advice and take creatine w/grape juice prior to working out and definately felt some increases in strength, energy, and endurance. But then I realized that the energy boost might be more a result of the sugar rush than the creatine. Eliminating the creatine and just drinking the grape juice before a workout gave me basically the same boost as with the creatine.
Curious as to whether creatine helped me at all, I stopped all pre-workout injestion of creatine and any sugar, and just added it to the post w/o whey shake. I usually just eat a meal with some slow-carbs about 1-2 hours before working out. I kept a careful log of my productivity during workouts and also my energy levels.
Then I cycled off the creatine for a month, and keep recording carefully.
While off creatine for more than 30 days, I noticed that my "expected" progress was reduced by
maybe a single rep or two on some exercises, which could also be explained by general variance, so I'm not convinced creatine helps me in regard to strength, because some days I was able to perform to better than extraopolated expectations. (I generally am able to add 1-2 reps per set, per exercise on average each week, and add around 10lbs or so when my rep count gets too high after a month or two).
While I am still not convinced as to strength gains due to creatine for me personally, it is clear to that creatine consistantly reduces my post workout aches and fatigue, so I continue to use it mainly for that reason (in cycles). I go 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off, and I only buy cheap Creatine Monohydrate, so I'm not blowing my cash on stuff like Xyience NOXCG3
In the Whey mix it goes.
Thats just my personal experience, YMMV.
