Creatine?

[G-fused]

Originally Posted by McBain II

It doesn't matter. Once you've sufficiently loaded up your body's stores of creatine, your body can maintain pretty high levels of creatine even without supplementation for around 30 days. Between 5-10 grams a day is enough to maintain saturation. Your body is going to pull from those stores during exercise, not any that you have just taken and is in your digestion system.

Normally I will just measure out a day's worth of creatine (and beta-alanine) into a very small Rubbermaid type container and just spoon that into my drinks throughout the day.

OP, McBain has the correct info. Listen to him - it does not matter, there is no optimal window. Just take it regularly (every day, not just on exercise or rest days).

Only other thing to add is that creatine takes some time to saturate into your body.

If you do some looking, you will find that many talk about about/advise front loading (taking a lot of creatine for a few days). If you do that, make sure to increase your water intake.

Front loading serves to hasten the effects of creatine but if you don't front load, it works the same but will take longer (around a month or so). When I went back on creatine I did not front load, personal decision. You do what is right for you.

[Nlambert]

Originally Posted by Returning2USA

Worth noting (from Jeremy Brainum) that a protein shake with the usual 5.5 BCAAs taken with/at the same time as Creatine - the BCAAs cause an insulin spike that allows the body to absorb the creatine into the muscle.

This can happen anytime but if your post-meal WO is liquid (shake and Creatine) the absorbtion is good (according to Brainun).

I usually take Creatine with a protein shake on lifting as a PO WO meal (eating a full meal 90 minutes later from this) and take the shake + creating together on non-lifting days also.

Yep.

I tried substituting a protein shake and creatine as my pre-workout but since I also run and do some heavy cardio I found that the protein shake made me sick to my stomach. So... I either drink it early in the day or after my workout. But... if there will be no lifting that day I mix it into my shake.