Serious Question about Creatine

[Toxitalk]

I have finally come back to archery after a longish break.

Working in an office all day, means a longer road back to shooting good rounds (coming down on a bad draw seems like too much effort)

With this in mind I have started to look into basic fitness and have started on things like press ups etc..

And sure enough things are improving.

But this got me thinking of not just getting archery fit, but more towards getting a lot fitter, including building some muscule.

I have read a little about Creatine, which may help with this process, but there some confusion about whether for the sport of Archery, whether this would be considered as drug taking and hence illegal.

Does anyone have any information about the said substance and whether it is allowed or not?

Cheers.

[Flying Whale]

Originally Posted by Toxitalk

I have finally come back to archery after a longish break.

Working in an office all day, means a longer road back to shooting good rounds (coming down on a bad draw seems like too much effort)

With this in mind I have started to look into basic fitness and have started on things like press ups etc..

And sure enough things are improving.

But this got me thinking of not just getting archery fit, but more towards getting a lot fitter, including building some muscule.

I have read a little about Creatine, which may help with this process, but there some confusion about whether for the sport of Archery, whether this would be considered as drug taking and hence illegal.

Does anyone have any information about the said substance and whether it is allowed or not?

Cheers.

This is a pretty good place to look. It is the UK sport list of prohibited substances and methods. You could also check the WADA web site.

http://www.uksport.gov.uk/assets/Fil.../2006_LIST.pdf

There have also been a couple of other threads on drug-use in general, that have some other links. You might like to do a search. I know there is a site where you can type in a particular substance and it will return whether it is banned or not...with some disclaimers.

[Toxitalk]

I had a look at the information provided and could not see anything that says Creatine is a no no.

I understand you can can get it by eating red meat and some kinds of fish. Im guessing because of this its probably ok.

The only question would be if there was some sort of dose limit?

Any information would be good, before I actually try it.

[T101]

i have been lifting for years and honestly think you would be much better off with a whey casein blend high protein powder.

creatine, although it does the trick for some people, can give others problems, i believe Ewan Thomas (400m euro champ) suffered hurrendous muscle cramps stopping his training in its tracks.

u can't beat a good quality protein supplement for building dense lean muscle mass that doesn't disappear as soon as u stop training for a while. ask any pro athlete that requires this.

the rest of your training and diet must be correct also.

i use nutrisport 90 plus which has been going for years and very popular coz it works! but there is plenty of choice. tasty milkshake too.

[Schme1440]

A bloke at work takes it and he explains to me that it is just a bulk builder and nothing more. I cant see any reason to take creatin to build muscle mass. This in fact would hinder an archer. I am trying to loose weight at the moment with plenty of running and sensible diet. i am now starting gym/weights work but just want to build strength and stamina. You get to bulky and you loose your flexibility which is important in archery.

not archery related but topic related.

Nick Faldo the pro golfer spent a winter in the gym. He got stronger and bulked up. he went to his first tournament and found he played crap because he could not swing the club proeprly. A slim well defined and strong body is better then a bulky body wuilders body.

[Flying Whale]

Plenty of disclaimers before using the search engine, but this is a useful site

DID Global



Sounds like others may have come up some good alernatives.

[andrew.paterson]

Originally Posted by Toxitalk

But this got me thinking of not just getting archery fit, but more towards getting a lot fitter, including building some muscule.

Stick to protein suppliments, if anything, to assist you during a training program.

I knew one of the guys that was on the original test program for creatine in the UK, and it really is only for bulking up. For archery I would limit your exposure to this to a maximum of a month, as beyond that you would be building too much muscle mass, and the wrong sort of muscle strength required. When using creatine there is something called the 'loading phase', and you really do not want to go beyond that.

Archery is an endurance sport, marathon runners would very rarely take creatine unless it was to overcome a lay-off period and needed to add some muscle mass short-term. You need to condition archery muscles for long periods of medium intensity effort, you can only do this by putting the hours of training in - there really isn't a short cut.

[addo]

But this got me thinking of not just getting archery fit, but more towards getting a lot fitter, including building some muscule.

As far as i can see,Creatine isn't banned.If you decide to use it,see method below:

1)For muscle growth and strength,do your workout 3 times a week allowing a full day for rest in between each workout.Take small doses of Creatine after breakfast on day of workout and train in the evening.Eat a balanced diet.
2)After a month,start taking Creatine daily but still only train 3 times a week.
3)Because it sounds like you want strength and growth quickly you must do your workouts with purpose.Instead of say,30 quick push ups,do 15 but do them slowly and properly.(All the way down) RESIST the urge to train daily for the first 2-3 months

After 4-6 weeks you will be stonger and you may notice small increase in muscle mass.After 3 months you will certainly see increase in muscle mass.

If you use above method you shouldn't injure yourself and you shouldn't suffer from cramps caused by dehydration due to either the fact that Creatine can sometime make you workout like an animal,or on occasion give you the s***s.

Some people don't get on with Creatine.If you don't,replace the Creatine with alfalfa + kelp and try above method.Combinations of these two have an effect similiar to anabolic steroids,but is 100% safe,natural and legal.Basically Iodine in kelp will stimulate your metabolism and push nitrogen from the alfalfa into your muscles quicker.This promotes strength and mnuscle growth

There's a small paperback called"Ultimate Nutrition" by Bernard Beverley & Arthur Fairhurst(can't find ISBN no.).It will certainly aid you in your quest and i think there's a tiny bit about Creatine in there

[Ued3]

One thing you really do have to bear in mind is the fact that although the supplement you take may not include any banned substances, the factory where it is produced may manufacture other products that do.

I was on a fitness regime over the winter period and taking maxi-muscle "progain" to build myself up a bit for this season and ultimatley Beijing. I checked it out on the WADA website and it was fine, but the squad nutritionist told me to stop taking it as there was the possibility of cross contamination with other products that "may" contain banned substances.

I stopped straight away and don't you know it we were drug tested just few weeks later at the Paralympic selection shoot!

Supplements and anti-doping issues really is a minefield, the only way to be 100% sure is to not take any unfortunately.

Hope this helps
Mick

[Toxitalk]

Good luck at the Olympics.

But after all the feedback, which was interesting, I have decided to forget the whole pill popping thing and just keep plugging at it.

My plan is now to keep up the press ups (They work all the archery muscles) and then for general fitness look at some 'getting out of breath' exercise.

Im thinking its going to take longer, but the results probably will be better. (Creatine appears to be a temporary fix)

Thanks again to everyone.