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Maybe I missed something early on, but why does creatine have to be cycled for a number of weeks followed by an off period of a number of weeks? I would like to hear the rationale for this.
Why Cycle?
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Rémy!
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Johnny Auto Parts said:
There are a couple factors - some with more truth than others.
Most of the extraneously introduced substances used in bodybuilding - ie: ephedra, anabolics, insulin - each have a negative feedback loop somewhere, essentially the body compensates for the extra substance by producing less of it naturally in you body in the future.
Some hypothisize that creatine after prolonged use shortens your natural production or responsiveness for creatine. This could explain why people just stop seing gains after long-term use.
IMO the receptors just downgrade. Some argue kidney damage - which is not a issue unless you have some kind of pre-existing sensitivity or injury. I know a couple people who, more or less stay on all the time, they have perfect kidneys and no problems.
Personally I think most people should cycle. I'm not a big fan of creatine myself unless it is used with oxandrolone, insulin or a couple grams of ALA.
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Johnny Auto Parts
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excellent response....
but if the argument that your body stops producing creatine holds, wouldnt that mean you should cycle every vitamin & mineral that your body produces naturally in order to notify the production sector that it is still needed? I know if you take vitamins for a while, which most of us do, your body stops producing them on its own. But it seems like everyone is ALWAYS taking their multi, C, E, zinc, etc.
but if the argument that your body stops producing creatine holds, wouldnt that mean you should cycle every vitamin & mineral that your body produces naturally in order to notify the production sector that it is still needed? I know if you take vitamins for a while, which most of us do, your body stops producing them on its own. But it seems like everyone is ALWAYS taking their multi, C, E, zinc, etc.
Rémy!
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Johnny Auto Parts said:
Remember that most of the arguements I fielded were not my own. Just food for thought.
IMO with prolonged external creatine ingestion the receptors downgrade and essentially over time less will be absorbed. You should cycle on creatine for as long as it works (and your getting gains) and then take a 4 week off break (for receptors to upgrade) before starting to load again. If you are still gaining after lets say ten weeks, there is no reason to stop. After some time on creatine your receptors blunt which totally negates the absorbancy effect of creatine, rendering it pretty much useless for the most part.
The body never stops producing its own creatine - The receptors for outside absorption are just blunted and less it absorbed in a long term use scenario.
The question you asked is actually quite specific to the compound you want to talk about. Vitamins, minerals and some amino acids work on different pathways. First of all some are essential and some non-essential. The non-essential ones get manufactured by the body and will not get absorbed in excess, the essential dietary reliant ones will get absorbed more often even in excess such as the branched chain amino acids. The water soluble vitamins in overdose also don't get as absorbed and instead dangerous levels are excreted most of the time such as the B vitamins, while with some of the fat soluble you can overdose such as vitamin A.
You can't cycle essential vitamins and minerals - as your body will need them anyway to continue proper function. The body never stops producing the non-essential nutrients - it just doesn't absorb them from outside sources if they are not needed. The multi-vit is just a great cost effective way to take care of any micronutrients deficiencies - if they truly exist.
Johnny Auto Parts
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Rémy! said:
Well put....just out of curiousity, what vitamins do you recommend taking besides a multi.....
I think this explanation was posted above but I'll just reiterate it. The body does not necessarily shut down creatine production but it downregulates the receptors so that the creatine you take will more than likely be excreted, rather than being used to generate ATP rapidly. There is a supplement that helps to keep these receptors upregulated and it was listed by Dan Duchaine as a good buy. I know it's in one of my other past creatine posts. I'll check for it.
