Whey or creatine?

[PCS244]

Couple of questions, friends and mentors...

1) If I am currently taking whey, is it necessary to take creatine? Would I see substantial gains if I took both?
2) Which is more effective?
3) Which is the safer of the two?
4) Are those scary side effects of creatine true? (you'll piss a gallstone through your penis if you overdose)
5) What do you take?

Thank you.

[Steel_UK]

Creatine is not necessary, and neither is whey strictly speaking. Both help though!

In basic principles, creatine allows the body to store energy in the muscles. Greater quantities of creatine mean greater quantities of energy stored. It also means you have to drink a lot more fluids as the amount of fluid the body holds in muscles increases slightly too.

It's probably good practice to go on Creatine with cycles so that the body doesn't become dependant on the creatine intake, i.e. to keep up its natural production of creatine alongside the supplement.

[tooncesthecat]

Originally Posted by PCS244

Couple of questions, friends and mentors...

1) If I am currently taking whey, is it necessary to take creatine? Would I see substantial gains if I took both?
2) Which is more effective?
3) Which is the safer of the two?
4) Are those scary side effects of creatine true? (you'll piss a gallstone through your penis if you overdose)
5) What do you take?

Thank you.

Good advice given by Steel UK. Here's my take...
1. Gains? Yes. Substantial gains? No. That's the domain of AAS. Taking both is not necessary, but both are good. They are completely different things.
2. Protein is the most effective nutrient. Notice I said nutrient and not supplement. As I am typing this, I am sitting here eating chicken breast. That's protein. I do take protein powder supplements, but most of your nutrients should come from GOOD FOOD.
3. Both are safe when taken as directed on the label.
4. Never heard of the gallstone thing. Urban legend.
5. I take creatine mono (not now because I'm leaning out for a show), whey and casein protein, glutamine, BCAAs, EFAs, multivitamins, DHEA and DIM (precontest stuff) and lots of H2O!

[FitnessStrengthTraining]

I bought creatine years ago, but after reading about some of the side effects, I stopped using it. I do use whey and soy protein, but you need to make sure you eat some other things to work along with the protein in your body or you could be dealing with kidney stones. I have a friend who is not a weight trainer or lifter - really no exercise at all, but as a matter of lifestyle eats ONLY meat. He has had issues over the years with kidney stones and has been told by his physician that it is due to his diet of only meat. I have never heard of a gallstone issue at all.

[ImageDynamix]

I currently take Controlled Lab's Green MAGnitude, which is a "creatine matrix volumizer" as the container says.

I'm stacking it with their White Flood, which is a NO/energy supplement (taking pre-workout).

I definitely notice a size increase, but this is definitely due to the creatine soaking up the water in the muscles. I lose this "size" after not taking the creatine for a little while (I piss away that water).

Some people tell you to that it's not worth it, some will tell you that you need to load it, and some will tell you to take breaks from it after a while.

I just drink water and keep taking the stuff. Be aware, though, that if you DO take creatine, DRINK WATER.

I mean like one gallon a day. Try it out and see what you think. I really don't think it's going to kill you...