I SCREAM , YOU SCREAM WE ALL SCREAM FOR …
CREATINE
BY JED WIGHTMAN
I scream , you scream , we all scream for … Creatine
Safe to say , y ’ all are a little thrown off by the title . Creatine ?, Jed , Don ’ t you mean ice cream ? Ahhhhh ice cream . But no , NO ICE CREAM FOR YOU ! ( A little Seinfeld reference for those of us old enough ). Just replace ice cream with soup , and a little eastern European accent . We all love ice cream , at least the dopamine hit when eating it , even those lactose intolerant , aside from what happens to them next . Seriously though , why would we all scream for creatine ? Many of you may have used it , may be using it , and some of you may never have . Today in your reading you ’ ll find out why there ’ s much more here than just a “ muscle supplement ”; why we should all scream for creatine !
My experience and relationship with creatine dates back to the inception of my regimented training at 17 . It has been ongoing for 25 years . When I was young and started working out , I wanted to look like Arnold . That started young , I was 8 . It had been with me since I saw Conan for the first time . I suppose Conan was the thing that really got me started . I remember doing concentration curls with my mothers sand-filled dumbbell plates . I would watch that movie over and over and do concentration curls with each arm until they gave out . So when I was 17 and I started seriously working out , Creatine was in all the magazines . Yup way back in the mid-90s , huge jacked guys advertising this new wonder supplement . So naturally , when I started creatine , I ’ d imagine myself going to bed that night , and waking up looking like Arnold .
Well , of course , that didn ’ t happen . I actually went to bed and woke up and didn ’ t look any different at all . However , and this is a big “ however ”... I noticed immediately that I recovered faster , I was barely sore the next day . My endurance was greater , much greater . Like , double that of my training experienced pre-creatine , I was stronger , I didn ’ t drag my ass to morning runs , or any workouts . At the time I thought it was only in my head , but I also felt much more focused and engaged during my workouts . Simply put , it worked . After three or four weeks I started to notice substantial growth . Yes , my weight was up , but I was leaner and noticeably bigger . Our basic understanding at the time , and with my novice level of experience , I was taking 5g a day with organic apple juice after my workouts . Yes that ’ s right , apple juice . It was the doctrine back then , And very much still a dogma of today . Creatine had to be taken with sugar for it to work .
Well it ’ s 25 years later , and I ’ m still using creatine . I cycle on and off of it , and I most definitely notice it ’ s effects when I reintroduce it after a few weeks off . It has not had a diminishing affect in these 25 years . Creatine has been with me the whole time for good reason . But until recently , I didn ’ t understand all of them . More new studies have come about unveiling even more positive
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