Women and creatine?

[Mony]

I'm not trying to exclude the guys, this thread is really just about asking for feedback and experiences from anyone taking creatine, male or female. I'm a woman (5'10", 160lb) and would value another woman's perspective, but I understand maybe there aren't too many women out there who have taken creatine, so guys, please feel free to chime in.

I'm looking for some feedback from anyone who's taken creatine, about whether it's helped get you the results you're looking for, helped with performance? muscle building? Any side effects? I've heard bloating and stomach issues can be a problem? How much were you taking and when? Would you say it's worth it or a waste of time and money?

Thanks!

[TheSavageBean]

I've heard enough rumour about creatine to be put off.

Things like heart complications, tumor development. The way it works is similar to a kind of steroid, increasing ATP usage (I mean, I don't really know, just second hand advice). Apparently it only gives your muscles extra water retention giving them a swollen look and not actually actively improving hypertrophy or strength.

Also a friend of mine has an empty creatine tub in the office. His body hasn't noticeably changed ever since I've known him.

[jedi304]

Just the same as any other workout method, I believe taking creatine is a hit or miss. I have people who swear by it and some who think otherwise. Personally, I took it for some time but I don't feel it's done anything for me though.

[Photobrandon]

Like a lot of things, you have to work with it to get any effect. The science (in better detail here) is that your body uses something called ATP as the primary energy source for anaerobic activity, which depletes quickly, becoming ADP but is also quickly replenished by using creatine to reconvert ADP to ATP. Simply put, this means that having more creatine in your system increases your work capacity for things like weight lifting, plyometrics, sprints, HIIT, etc.

So taking creatine alone won't really do anything, but using it to get more out of your workouts will. As far as safety, I personally think its relatively safe, but plan to give myself at least a month off a year to rest my kidneys, and I keep my dosage low (4grams/day works great for me). Creatine does increase water retention, so something to be aware of cosmetically...I probably gain about 3-5lbs of water weight when on creatine, which I lose within about 2 weeks of going off. For reference I weight ~200lbs.