Why you shouldn't take Creatine.

[David Barr]

Perhaps my sentence was prematurely terminated. Allow me to complete it (without the context of the rest of the post): As someone already mentioned, the size changes just aren't that dramatic as to concern ourselves with tendon damage.

i'd have to argue with that. creatine is probably the most effective mass gainer in a bodybuilders aresenal short of anabolic steroids and HGH. creatine will help you find enormous gains in size and strength if taken properly. the real downside is that if you are on a creatine rich supplement program and then decide to get off of it, your muscles will drop the water retention and lose size/strength

 

[Deleted member 87037]

This. This is my absolute favorite 'You're a Fucking Idiot' phenomenon

And that's just what I tell people when they say things like that. My buddy was at the gym with me a few weeks ago and he's trying to bulk. He was working out totally wrong, so I pointed to a guy with a solid build who was doing heavy squats. I told him how to properly work out for strength/mass, then he just had this dumbass look on his face and said "But I don't just wanna look like him all the sudden - that's too big". Wow! I didn't know it was physically possible to double your weight overnight!

 

[Brand Nizzel]

Besides FOOD. That is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard on here. Maybe we should go on low protein diets so our muscles don't get too big so we don't get tendonitis.

All you guys are missing the point. There is nothing wrong with growing muscle mass, even a lot of muscle mass, pounds and pounds of it. It's great. It's irrelevant to this thread discussion however, because we are talking about growing muscle mass disproportionate to tendon development via the supplementation of creatine.. Gaining 3-6 pounds of muscle in a matter of a couple of weeks puts extra loads of stress on your tendons, because they are unaffected by the creatine surge in your body and therefore don't grow at the same proportion. I guess like you guys stated, that is a big problem with steroids.

I guess the problem exists with creatine as well, just not to that extent.


The bottom line is, If you are trying to increase your maxes and get bigger, creatine is the way to go. However, in a sport like MMA or wrestling where holds and submissions are designed to specifically put pressure and do damage to your joints, ligaments, and tendons, creatine will increase your chance of injury substantially.

 

[joshetc]

All you guys are missing the point. There is nothing wrong with growing muscle mass, even a lot of muscle mass, pounds and pounds of it. It's great. It's irrelevant to this thread discussion however, because we are talking about growing muscle mass disproportionate to tendon development. Gaining 3-6 pounds of muscle in a matter of a couple of weeks puts extra loads of stress on your tendons, because they are unaffected by the creatine surge in your body and therefore don't grow at the same proportion. I guess like you guys stated, that is a big problem with steroids.

I guess the problem exists with creatine as well, just not to that extent.


The bottom line is, If you are trying to increase your maxes and get bigger, creatine is the way to go. However, in a sport like MMA or wrestling where holds and submissions are designed to specifically put pressure and do damage to your joints, ligaments, and tendons, creatine will increase your chance of injury substantially.

The point is that working out makes you grow muscle mass disproportionate to tendon strength. Your muscles grow so much quicker than your tendons that the effects of creatine are a drop in the bucket in comparison to the effects of your massively overworked muscles. I read somewhere that people think tendons could be as far as 6 months behind muscles in strength. De-loading will do more to save your tendons than not taking creatine.

After a point your tendons will catch up. I experienced it greatly last winter. When your tendons are sore, you have to lighten the load. People would do well to learn the difference between muscle soreness and tendon soreness.

 

[anaconda]

All you guys are missing the point. There is nothing wrong with growing muscle mass, even a lot of muscle mass, pounds and pounds of it. It's great. It's irrelevant to this thread discussion however, because we are talking about growing muscle mass disproportionate to tendon development. Gaining 3-6 pounds of muscle in a matter of a couple of weeks puts extra loads of stress on your tendons, because they are unaffected by the creatine surge in your body and therefore don't grow at the same proportion. I guess like you guys stated, that is a big problem with steroids.

I guess the problem exists with creatine as well, just not to that extent.


The bottom line is, If you are trying to increase your maxes and get bigger, creatine is the way to go. However, in a sport like MMA or wrestling where holds and submissions are designed to specifically put pressure and do damage to your joints, ligaments, and tendons, creatine will increase your chance of injury substantially.

No. You missed the point bro.

Creatine simply does NOT have the power to make you gain that much muscle fast enough to cause any sort of tendon/ligament damage. Its impossible.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

The bottom line is, If you are trying to increase your maxes and get bigger, creatine is the way to go. However, in a sport like MMA or wrestling where holds and submissions are designed to specifically put pressure and do damage to your joints, ligaments, and tendons, creatine will increase your chance of injury substantially.

i bet you'll find a lot of guys willing to trade this supposed downside of creatine for all of the benefits of it.

one of the paradoxes of your argument is that growing muscle mass while taking creatine puts a ton of strain on your tendons. most mma/bjj guys who are worth their salt aren't trying to gain a ton of muscle mass and aren't pursuing a type of mass building program. they, like me I'd assume, take creatine for the increased recovery and other benefits. i'm not putting on massive muscle by wrestling and doing technique and therefor i'm not putting a ton of strain on my tendons.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

No. You missed the point bro.

Creatine simply does NOT have the power to make you gain that much muscle fast enough to cause any sort of tendon/ligament damage. Its impossible.

i would argue, with quite some tenacity, that muscle growth is dependent much more on diet and caloric excess than creatine (if somebody supplements with it). so should the thread be titled "Why you shouldn't eat too much when pursuing grappling" ????

 

[Deleted member 148994]

Creatine is a naturally occuring in the body, it doesn't hurt if taken as prescribed..

 

[David Barr]

All you guys are missing the point.

in a sport like MMA or wrestling... creatine will increase your chance of injury substantially.

I should be clear that my statement about creatine safety was not made lightly, nor was it subjective opinion.

Again, the literature supports the hypothesis that muscle volumization just isn't substantial enough to significantly affect tendons. Although it's always important to question research/evidence, it should be done so on equal ground.

The big question I have would be related to the specificity of the sports you mention, but this turns into a full article about data analysis and reason.