I picked up some capsules today form the local drug store. Its straight creatine. How many should I take? I've heard that it can lead to water weight retention. I'm 5-11 almost 6-0 and 175 pounds. I don't necessarily want to get huge, or ripped just notice more benefit from working out and be able to push more.


Thanks

It definitely does something. I took a few tablespoons a day in college, and got huge (180 lbs, 5'7").

BE CAREFUL. Read the directions, drink a lot of water. Do research on the internet, I think I might have heard bad things about it.

I'm not sure about the capsules, as I generally buy the plain unflavored powder. With the powder it's about a teaspoon per day. With the caps, I suppose just follow the directions.

ETA: Creatine will make your muscles retain more water, which is good. They need fluid to work properly. Make sure you stay well hydrated.

With most supplements, it is hit or miss. Some people's bodies will improve from them, and other people won't see any improvement from them. You gotta find the product that works for u.

 

I was gonna buy a protein power and multi vitamin. However, the protein powder looked like it got what I needed to do. However, it contained too much sat fat and calcium/iron, which I don't want because I don't want kidney stones. I guess I will see what creatine does for a month, based upon number of pushups and go from there.

It will not make you huge.  You get creatine naturally in beef and other meets so it is safe.  Supplementing it will allow for your muscles to recover and build quicker from working them out and so you gain increases faster.  It is not like roids and it will not make you gain 20 lbs in a month.  The excess creatine that your body doesn;t use is pissed out and some folks think it could be a little hard on the kidneys over time so you may do month or bimonthly cycle with it.  You may retain some water using it and that is where the extra weight comes from.  If you use creatine supplements drink lots of water and stay hydrated during your workouts or you may experience cramping.  Some do some don't have any and I never had a problem with it and felt it helped my recovery a lot.  If you have high blood pressure you may not want to mess with it either.

Depends on the type of Creo...with Creatine Monohydrate you definitely need to drink lots of water or you will cramp up...

I was taking the Creatine Hydrochloride.

In a nut shell the Monohydrate coats the muscle fibers...the Hydrochloride (there may be other types but this is what I take) actually penetrate the muscle and is supposed to be more effective.

Either way you will see better gains with some good hard lifting.

Also, to maximize it throw in a couple protein shakes and eat healthy.

creatine ethel ester is supposed to really cut down on the bloat. I take the regular cheapo powder and it works just fine. Tip for you the two books that DRASTICALLY helped me out with working out and nutrition ( going from ~200lbs to an 8pack 161lbs) are The Abs Diet, and The Body Sculpting Bible for Men. LOTS of great helpful info and BSBFM has 2 chapters on suppliments.

What brand is it?

I would go by what the label says but generally 5 grams a day is a good start.

This is what I take, I think its a teaspoon of what I have. If you want to do a loading phase its 25 grams a day for 5 days and then down to 5 grams a day. Some say that it makes no difference if you load or not.

LOL, you're not going to get "huge" dude.

creatine supplements only work if your body has a creatine deficit.  I used it for a while and saw little change.

QFT  

Getting truly big takes years of VERY hard work.

If you got the straight, unflavored variety, drink some grape juice or some other high glycemic carb drink to get an insulin surge. It helps drive the creatine into the cells more effectively. This is essentially what all of the flavored varieties do, but cheaper.

I have been lifting weights for 35 years and have better workouts (heavier weights and more reps) when I use creatine before a workout.  I have found that many brands cause a bit of stomach upset.  I presently use  EAS Phosphagen Elite with good results and no stomach upset.  This particular product was recommended to me by my doctor, who is the team doctor for the US soccer team.

This...

Creatine may or may not increase your strength.  It's different for everyone.  I use Cellmass by BSN because it really helps my recovery time.  I notice that DOMS is not nearly as bad when I'm using it regularly.  I don't really notice any strength gains from it though.  

I'll use it for a a couple months and then stop for a couple months.  After a grueling leg workout, w/o cellmass, I can barely walk for a couple days after.  With cellmass, I'm sore but I can still get around and don't feel like a cripple.

ETA-I tried using straight creatine mono and glutamine from optimum nutrition thinking that it would be similar to the cellmass with regards to recovery.  It didn't work as well as CellMass for some reason.