What happens once you stop taking Creatine?
I actually wondered this myself, but after reading a thread on the bodybuilding.com forum (here) it made it abit clearer what actually happens once you stop taking Creatine!
As you may already know by now, Creatine not only helps you gain mass, but it increases water levels in muscles.. So once you stop taking creatine supplements you will loose water and often abit of weight, but nothing major!
20070327 7:09 pm
ive been working out for 3 years without taking any kind of supplements and i started from a month ago to take creatine with whey protien. i wanna ask if i stop using creatine but still worknig out does my muscles shrink or get smaller. and does creatine or whey protien makes acne in the biceps or the chest.
20070413 12:48 am
creatine will help you increase mass and strength. but alot of the size gains you make will be water retention. so yes you will lose some size and strength but you will still be bigger and stronger than when you started. also it is usually recommended that you have a break of a few weeks from creatine every now and then.
20070607 4:44 pm
you’ll lose size but not strength (provided you keep training after you’ve stopped taking creatine).
20070718 6:25 pm
i stopped takign creatine and i work out everyday i was benching 225 now im down to 205 after a month without creatine
20070719 5:55 pm
that is because you are over training !!!!! you need rest… trust me im right.
its not the creatine
20070816 3:58 pm
if creatine is taken everyday does this mean that you will need to work out everyday or if you take creatine without working out what happens? does creatine need to be taken daily?
20070816 8:07 pm
creatine does not have to be talen daily and there is minimal research to back this theory up. But maintaining higher levels of creatine over a period of time will lead to lean muscle gais. Creatine stays in your system for up to a month even after only a week of supplementing!
20070925 1:29 am
If I do not work out much, but take creatine, What happens? Do I gain fat, or muscle mass?
20070928 9:57 pm
gaining fat is a result of your diet and exercise regimen. unless you are taking an advanced creatine formula such as cell-tech, which has large amounts of simple sugar (75g dextrose) to aid in muscle absorption, creatine alone should have no effect on fat gains. if you take creatine and there are no major changes in your diet then it should only affect muscles.
20070928 10:00 pm
assuming theres no BLOAT
20071012 2:19 am
i wanted to start taking creatine for football and i was wondering if i was benching lets say 150 now how much will it boost my max up if i weight lift 3 times a week
20071022 9:08 pm
i heard when you stop taking creatine every muscle in your body gets weaker. your heart is a muscle and therefore will get weaker and can cause health serious problems
20071023 11:06 pm
That is a very good question, god i need the answer to that one.!
20071025 12:43 pm
the heart is a muscle yes but as for resistance trainning the heart performs almost the equivallent amount of work it does during normal day activities.
20071030 2:13 am
Can I lose wight well on creatine?
20071108 3:58 am
creatine will not weaken muscles if not taking it it only helps you to get a little extra energy and pump in your muscles to give you that extra one or two reps in a set it will not effect you in any way if you stop taking it it there are many myths involving this supplement dont beleive everything you read
20071109 12:43 am
You will definitely see a decrease in size once you stop taking creatine as well as the strength that comes from it. It may take up from 2-3 months but u will defiantly loose it my friend. I took creatine for about a year with 3 week breaks here and there and I was an animal. I went from weighing 225 up to 260. My strength was amazing I felt like I was juicing. But know that I’ve been of the stuff for 5 months straight I gone down to 235 and my strength has hit the floor as well. My point is that you will loose your gains once stopped slowly but surely.
20071113 3:44 pm
guys, im 34, been training since 18….i took creatine for the first time about 4 months ago…did the first course and loaded up. since i stopped i dropped from 12.5st to just over 12. ive been stressed at work which i contribute a bit to my lack of effort down the gym but can the termination of creatin do this?
russ
20071116 12:31 am
question everyone - just turned 18, weigh 175, max bench at 250 or 255 right now. ive been taking creatine pills for about 2, 2 1/2 weeks now and wanted to drop about 5 lbs of fat, tone up, and get bigger. i need some help.
im getting stronger but i want to tone up my chest, abs, and arms.
any suggestions?
thanks guys, appreciate it
20071119 10:55 pm
Mike - In the same boat, although, I only take protein shakes… Honestly, I would suggest pilates for toning in the abs, chest and quads, seriously, its worked for me.
As for arms, to get stronger I’ve used the max out system. You take your max curl, do as many as possible, and then go down 5 pounds, do as many as possible, go down 5 pounds and so on.. it works for most exercises, and i’ve seen a difference, also brings you’re endurance up which is always a big thing.
If you’re 175 and doing 255 you’re in good shape, although bench isn’t always everything.
If you want to lose weight, thighs were my issue, running has helped, as has pilates
20071126 11:29 am
I just started taking Creatine, although i didn’t need it. I was doing fine….but I figured that if I took Creatine then I could cut down gym time and get leaner and bigger faster. Welll i just found out that it doesn’t work that way, I heard it only boost your Stamina so you can have a little more energy to get in more reps. Would I be better off going back to taking nothing and or will I be missing something really great if I stop taking Creatine?
Just so you guys know; The reason why I’m working out is mostly for looking great without a shirt on. I don’t want to be freakishly enormus, I just want a lean and cut body with descent size.
20071207 7:47 pm
i weigh 198 and bench 225 and i stop taking creatine will i get weaker and how much?
20071208 9:54 pm
my parents dont want me mixing drinks around the house…so pills is the easiest. are there any other forms that work better than pills but arent drink mixes?
20080116 11:25 pm
weigh 130.
max bench is 215.
a lot of people say i’m overdoing myself.
love to hear your guys’ inputs.
20080117 3:04 am
hi
i weigh 75.
can bench 290.
what would you advise me to do?
20080117 4:58 am
helo.
is cell-tech the best creatine. I tried it, i gained too much mass, mostly water. but does another creatine product makes you gain like cell-tech??
20080117 4:58 pm
I am thinking about takeing creatine to gain muscle for football, but im worried about what will happen to me, if annything. What could happen to me?
20080302 10:24 pm
thought about taking creatine also worried about negatiove side effects
20080302 10:42 pm
Of all the creatine brands I’ve only tried Mass-Tech, in fact I’ve been taking it for the past year or so, with a couple of two-week breaks. Last summer when I had already taken about 5 boxes I looked really pumped up and cool at the beach. I stopped it during the X-mas period and trained a whole month without it, and oops, all was gone. I dropped in size but not strength, though. Pretty scary..so there I go on it once more
20080302 10:48 pm
Rc: Not that I know for sure but the only side effect creatine has or may have is water retention, if monohydrate otherwise creatine formula is all right. ‘ve got friends who take creatine regularly and do not have any probs. They require longer breaks though, like one month on, one off and so on. Lot of liguids drinking too.
20080309 4:25 am
i had a friend who was as healthy as a hoarse, he started taking creatine to bulk up (as all of us want), a year in a half later, this friend of mine was history….he was pronounced dead due to over flowing his body with water….so to all those out there thinking about takin that bs creatine…think again,
20080309 7:59 pm
im 14 and i am starting to take creatine.I was wondering when u work out then take the creatine does it only help arm muscles or legs and arms?
20080314 8:48 am
Bubba: Creatine facilitates full-body muscle growth
MIke: Your an idiot- your friend drank too much water; creatine dehydrates the body.
Anthony: Take 1 month off every 2-3 months. After about8-10 weeks you’ll reach a plateau effect. Quit taking it for 1 month. It is a mediacl fact that it takes the human body roughly a month to start producing its own creatine stores once you cycle-off the pill/poweder form. If you haven’t tried Cell-Tech by Muscletech, it works well. Many people will argue that, they’re fuckin idiots as well. It works, you’ll get stronger and bigger(water retention). Plan on dropping 10 lbs in weight and strength when you quit. I gained 120lbs on my bench press in about 16 bench workouts, concentrating on low-reps 3-6 range.
RC: There are negative side effects in everything we do; don’t be a pussy
Dan-0: You could potentially be an All-Conference Linebacker. Do It.
Charlie: Were you taking creatine to lose mass? Why would you take creatine if you don’t want to get massive? Another good one is Phosphagen HP.
Muhammad: Your 75lbs and benching 290? Yoiur a genetic masterpiece and ought to be in a magazine. You Iraqi?
Jun: Are you Asian, or just a shitty speller? I f you see yourself getting weaker, then you are overdoing it.
Austin: Grow a pair and tell your parents to go fuck themselves; its fuckin powder dude, not grape juice or wine and shit. If all else fails, take steroids in the pill form, then ask your mom if she’d rather have you mixing powder. Maybe she’d rather have you on roids.
Rolando: Call yourself Roly. You’ll probably lose about 10lbs of bodyeight, and some strength.
Andrew: Your gifted. You will gain massive amount of fat if you don’t diet, creatine isn’t a diuretic.
Dan: Take creatine every day. Preferably post workout on lifting days, and right away in the morning on non-lifting days. Good question.
Please note I am replying with smart-ass answers to dumb-ass questions…
Remember, when you cycle-off creatine you will have to reduce the total volume of your workout to compensate for the creatine reduction. Try and keep poundages high still, but just remember that your going to have to reduce the number of sets performed. If your not doing squats, you should, as they produce testosterone in the body, which enhances muscle growth. Keep protein levels high, 2 gm per pound of bodyweight, and take a multivitamin. Not sure if creatine causes acne, I have noticed it a little in the early stages, but it just could be that time of the month. There are times of month when we get a little more acne, kind of like how chicks get hetchup added to their taco during for one week out of the month. Personally, I don’t care for ketchup on my taco, but a few zits on my back for added muscle I can live with. You all have a good one, and don’t get bent if you got a smart ass remark; it is for your own good; do some research before you ask questions, it will help you later in life.
20080314 8:51 am
Disregard the shitty speller comment, as I feel it is the keyboard acting up again.
20080316 5:34 pm
i just started taking creatine monohydrate. im 14 and i was wondering if i stop taking it after a period of a month that my muscel i have gained will disappear? and also how much grams do i have to take daily for a 14 year old that weighs about 145?
20080318 8:50 pm
Johnny: I can see I am going to babble a page on this reply. My personal opinion is that after a month you really won’t experience the full effects of creatine. Depending on what creatine you take will significantly affect what gains you will have. For instance, cell-tech and phosphagen will bulk you up while your taking it, mostly water weight, but you will get stronger as well. Once you quit taking it, you’ll shed the water, appear smaller obviously, and may lose a little strength; it is a mind game. I load, people say you don’t need to; I have tried it both ways, and I am currently loading for my next 8 week cycle of cell-tech. I lose a little size when I cycle off, but I still achieve huge strength gains. A pill form that works good is Kre-Alkalyn 1500 by Sci-Fit. It assists in the strength gains but I don’t get the bulkiness from the additional water weight. Normally, I usually take the pills in the summer and the cell-tech in the winter, just because I don’t like to carry a lot of water weight in the summer time (shirt off). In the winter, who gives a fuck, I live in Iowa, its cold, and I wear a coat. a little water weight in the winter doesn’t bother me when my strength steadily increases. I used to take Phosphagen HP and it worked a few years back, but recently I have stuck to Cell-Tech. A lot of people don’t like it, most hate the company. Some say it is bullshit. Hey, I have been cycling it since I have been here in Iraq and have put on 55 pounds of bodyweight, decreased my bodyfat, and to pick a strength increase everyone uses..the bench press, well I have added over 140 pounds to my bench press since I have been over here. I am planning on adding another 50 lbs to it before I leave. It can be done. Of course, it isn’t contributed solely to the creatine. You need Aminos, a protein powder, good calories, maybe a multi-vitamin, and a workout that gives YOU the results you are after: strength, endurance, size, whatever your goal is. I am a strength guy. If you get strong as hell, size is a side effect of that. I monitor my leanness by running. I’ll run more or less depending on what I want to look like. I cannot say how many grams to take, because they all seem to work a little differently. I would just follow the directions. Make sure you hydrate the shit out of your body. Drink about a liter bottle of water with every meal, a bottle or so with your workout. And I use a liter per serving as well. We have a saying in the Army “Piss frequently piss clear”. Your piss should be clear and frequent, except in the morning when you rid the toxins from sleep. When taking cell-tech I mix it with a liter of water instead of what they recommend. Dillutes the taste a little and adds to hydration. I would take your creatine after your workout along with some protein within 30 minutes. When loading, keep the doses 12 hrs or so apart, depending on your workout schedule. For example, I workout at night so when I load I take a serving when I wake up after I eat. Take another serving after my workout; might be 8 hrs later, oh well. When loading on non-lifting days I take a serving in the morning, and another about 12 hours later, give or take an hour. After my 5 day load cycle, I take one serving a day after my workout, and on no-lift days I take it in the morning or when I wake up. In Iraq we have fucked up schedules. Same with cardio, if you do cardio do it right when you wake up, it sets your metabolism for the rest of the day. I always try to lift later after I am loosened up from missions and have some food in my system. I know I gave you a little more than you wanted, and I am sure some may tell you I’m full of shit. Well I am not. I’m not a creatine guru, I just know what product produces results for ME. Lifting is really finding what gives you results, and tweaking it here and there to avoid hitting a plateau. Take what I gave you and roll with it. Try the cell tech for 2 months and see what it does. I will almost guarantee you’ll like it. Eat a lot of protein; if you can eat 2 grams per pound of bodyweight. It is a little harder for me, I weigh 255 pounds, so I drink and ass load of protein powder to maintain gains. Bodyweight x2= grams of protein to eat. Add some good veggies and V-8 and you have a decent menu for muscle growth. Let me know if I helped you out. Good luck Haas.
20080320 9:11 pm
Jeff, I gotta tell you man, you are spreading gospel here pal. I am a Soldier as well, and I spend a lot of my time in the gym. PT every morning and Gym in the afternoon everyday since OEF 4. I work out in the gym like a retard humping a doorknob. I have never had a plan or goal. I might see a picture and say “thats what I want to look like.” But thats about it. I know I can standing curl 135lbs. I don’t really care what I can bench as I have always felt that is just machismo and technique. I am about 175lbs with about 12% BF. Thats how I’ll gauge it. I try my best to keep my diet restricted (my wife is a hell of a cook so its tough) I think my biggest problem is I have the discipline to go to the gym every day, but I can never remember to take all of those damn pills. I have had some creatine sitting in a cupboard for a while, so I thought I would try it. I have all sorts of fat burners, amino supps, creatine, mega mass junk. I was just hoping to push around weight in the gym and get buff. My t-shirt is definitly tighter, but my belly is seriously hurting still. I can see the muscles in there if I am trying, but just relaxed there is nothing but a belly. Any advice for a fellow troop?
20080323 12:57 pm
Im 15 and weigh 135, im really trying to pack on some pounds but in muscle, im taking weight gainer right now, along with working out and i was thinking about taking whey protein isolate and L glutamine in the summer. Should i take creatine? i heard that you shouldnt really take it till your around 18 because it can hurt your kidneys
20080323 9:19 pm
i am 19, in Army ROTC. I am going to air assault school this summer and want to bulk up before i get there. I have about 4 months. i am 6′, 155 pounds and can bench ~180, but whenever i work out i dont get bigger just stronger. I am thinking about taking creatine because i want to get up to 170-180 pounds.
I will be running a lot too while I am lifting weights, so I am not sure what my gains will be like when i start taking it.
also, i will have to stop taking it before i go to air assault school, and i do not know how that will affect my performance or size. (there is a 12 mile ruck march w/ full combat gear tha tmust be completed in under 3 hours, will I be tired or weak from dropping the creatine?)
20080324 7:58 pm
hey guys i hear read what everyones reading. i posted back in mid november
im 18 yrs old, 160 (down from 175) and my benchpress is at 265 (just to give everyone an idea of my progress)
i hear that everyone is worried about creatine and everything, but i have plenty of friends who take it. if u take it, youre probably going to get a little rounder, your cuts will be less defined, but you should see improvements (as we all know). dont expect anything overnight becuase this would be unreasonable, after about 2 months you should notice changes in appearance, besides increases in strength.
when you are done cycling on it and youre going to take a 1 month break, i have found a product that works amazingly.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/mhp/xpel.html
its called MHP Expel. it is a diuretic and will help you lost 5-10 lbs in water weight. it comes with 80 pills, (2 servings a day, 4 pills per serving). in 10 days you will see ridiculous results, more defined, less water weight, same muscle. id strongly recommend it. (do not use this more than about once every two months).
hope that helps guys
20080404 1:43 am
we all know once you stop taking creatine you shrink because the mass that you gain is just water weight, would the same happen if i were to take a protein supplement and then stop?
20080407 4:42 am
i belive creatine is the best workout you can have without having to push your body to an extreme level.Although you must considere the side effects if you dont stop.creatine has the abilty to turn you into a tennage mutant ninga turtle.yes i know this must be alarming to you but it is completely ture.it happened to me during a workout.i just all of a sudden turned into a freakin turtle with swords and shit around my shell.dont be alarmed though its pretty damn cool. Has this happened to anyone else?
20080409 7:15 am
Hello. I have been working out for 22 months. I started at 210lbs with 38 inch waist and I am 5′10″. I got down to 164lbs after 4 months of working out. I did cardio and a little bit of weights. I didn’t eat the way you should to gain muscle but i did gain a lot of muscle. i gained muscle eating 1500 calories with hardly any protein. My arms went from 11″ to 14 with in a few months before the 12 months of working out. I plateaued for about 6 months. So about 17 months after working out I decided to join a gym. I gained so much strength much did not get any bigger. So about a month after I joined the gym, I started eating a lot to bulk up. I read articles on how to bulk up. Well after about 2 months i went from 164 lbs to 182lbs and I went and 14% body fat to 18%. I said the hell with bulking up because I was just getting fat and not stronger. I was doing fine eating normal. Well I tried creatine and have been on i for 2 months. I started at a tablespoon on the days I work out now I only take half a teaspoon since I am running out. Well in the past few weeks I noticed my arms getting bigger. I went from 14′ to 15.5 since new years. I honestly don’t know if it was the creatine or the protein supplements. But all of a sudden My arms are bigger and my waist got smaller, I am loosing all the fat that I gained but I still weight 180lbs.
So just to verify, it will be ok to go off creatine for a while and not loose strength and size. Because I cut down a lot on creatine and thats when I started seeing results. Its just that I cant afford more right now for another 2 weeks. I dont want to shrink because I love the way girls rub at dance clubs. Some times even with creatine, I cant lift as much or do as much reps. Sometimes when I plateau on some exercises, i change the exercises and start making more progress. For example, for my biceps, I plateaud on the 80lbs using the curl bar and the bench
20080409 7:23 am
Hello. I have been working out for 22 months. I started at 210lbs with 38 inch waist and I am 5′10″. I got down to 164lbs after 4 months of working out. I did cardio and a little bit of weights. I didn’t eat the way you should to gain muscle but i did gain a lot of muscle. i gained muscle eating 1500 calories with hardly any protein. My arms went from 11″ to 14 with in a few months before the 12 months of working out. I plateaued for about 6 months. So about 17 months after working out I decided to join a gym. I gained so much strength much did not get any bigger. So about a month after I joined the gym, I started eating a lot to bulk up. I read articles on how to bulk up. Well after about 2 months i went from 164 lbs to 182lbs and I went and 14% body fat to 18%. I said the hell with bulking up because I was just getting fat and not stronger. I was doing fine eating normal. Well I tried creatine and have been on i for 2 months. I started at a tablespoon on the days I work out now I only take half a teaspoon since I am running out. Well in the past few weeks I noticed my arms getting bigger. I went from 14′ to 15.5 since new years. I honestly don’t know if it was the creatine or the protein supplements. But all of a sudden My arms are bigger and my waist got smaller, I am loosing all the fat that I gained but I still weight 180lbs.
So just to verify, it will be ok to go off creatine for a while and not loose strength and size. Because I cut down a lot on creatine and thats when I started seeing results. Its just that I cant afford more right now for another 2 weeks. I dont want to shrink because I love the way girls rub at dance clubs. Some times even with creatine, I cant lift as much or do as much reps. Sometimes when I plateau on some exercises, i change the exercises and start making more progress. For example, for my biceps, I plateaud on the 80lbs using the curl bar and the bench, I started using dumb bells and 30lbs was hard to do, Now after about two weeks I can now do 40lbs easier than when I started the 30lbs. i work My biceps twice a week. I actually started getting bigger and cutter when I changed exercises.
Well any ways, am I ok if I stop taking creatine for about 2 weeks? will I shrink. Actually about 2 weeks ago I took a 2 week break for finals. Its been 3 weeks since the break and thats when I started getting bigger. I lost a lot of strength, but gained it back really fast plus more.
20080413 7:00 pm
hi there, how much water is recommended when taking creatine monhydrate?
20080415 6:43 am
im a personal trainer, i usually prescribe creatine fo rmen who want to gain lean muscle etc, i was recently told that i should take it to lean up and increase my energy, i do weights 2-3 times a week and do alot of cardio with clients, do you think ill put on weight taking this? cause thatd be every girls worst nightmare…
20080426 6:37 pm
Hey guys, im 16 and started cell-tech, can u plz tell how many servings im supposed to have during the loading phase, i think im 2 young to have that much dextrose and creatine during 5 days. IVE BOUGHT A 4.5 pound one, plz help me on this cuz i wanna look gd for the summer.
20080502 3:29 am
im 14 im about to take professional strength whey protein is it bad for me?
20080504 11:30 am
My son is 16 wanting to take creatine to help increase weight. Currently 80kg but I’ve heard it can make males aggresive. Is this correct?
20080505 8:46 pm
im 15 and bench 320…do u recommend creatine?
20080505 8:47 pm
im 15 and bench 320…do u recommend creatine? i also squat 480
20080508 4:05 am
omar, i dont know what kind of freak you are, but now way you can bench that much at that age.
20080508 4:07 am
im 10, i weigh 400 lbs, and max out at 50lbs. should i take creatine?
20080508 4:10 am
my wife, she is a rapist, she want to plow annose of horse. i want to stop here but i no no how. if i take creatine, will i have the muscles to stop wife from plow horse?
20080509 7:48 pm
A serious question - can you take creatine and gain strength only and not necessarily size?
20080515 4:25 am
it could be possible that omar is that strong because theres a kid in clearmonte florida thats a freshman in high school and is benching 500
but im 17 and i bench 355 and squat 520 but i think its only cuz im like fat
but my question is that is it possible for me to drop about 30 pounds and not get weaker
20080516 1:29 am
i have gone from 154 to 166 in three weeks on protein and creatine. my max bench went from 220 once to working out four reps at 220 on my last set. got about 6% body fat and have only been back in the gym for about 6 weeks. but i got twigs for legs what else can i do with squats to gain size in my legs? does size really come with strength?
20080516 3:41 am
i weigh 480 lbs. if i take creatine will it help me gain weight. i want to gain weight for sumo.
20080516 5:25 am
hey guys im 55 and im about 300 lbs, recently i have been trying to solve my male impedence problem while gaining muscle, my question is would it be safe to directly inject creatine into my penis or maybe somewhere close to my penis even my gooch would sufice.