Creatine before a contest?

[FullyBuilt]

Many people have told me to ditch the creatine about 1.5-2weeks before my contest(Aug9th) becasue there is too much room for error with it. Yet, I have heard from others to take creatine(even higher than normal doses) with Larginine and Ala instead of dextrose for delivery, because it will only keep water in my muscles opposed to my skin. What are your takes on this?

[Iron Warrior]

I was under the impression that creatine monohydrate caused water retention which is the reason why I'd cut 2-3 weeks out.

[jminis]

It depends what time of creatine your talking about. As Iron warrior stated above mono will make most a little bloated but if it's something V-12 the water isn't so much an issue. If it's mono I would cut it out about 2 weeks before the show. later J

[FullyBuilt]

Wouldnt it mainly have to do with how its transported. For example V12 and Trac both use monohydrate creatine, they just don't use sugar. I was under the impression its the combo of creatine/sugar that causes bloat?

[Iron Warrior]

I believe V-12 uses Tricreatine malate and other sources of creatine, you'd be better off with it. Maybe Jweave can give you an opinion about V-12 because he's used it and I haven't used it yet

[jminis]

FullyBuilt, Iron Warrior is right they don't use mono without sugar, it's different types of creatine. In V-12 it's creatine malate and in Swole its creatine asparate. If you have the funds and don't wan't to get off of creatine before the show then use both the mono with a switch to v-12 or swole, I'd go with v-12 for taste reasons later J

[tatortodd]

Originally posted by FullyBuilt
Many people have told me to ditch the creatine about 1.5-2weeks before my contest(Aug9th) becasue there is too much room for error with it. Yet, I have heard from others to take creatine(even higher than normal doses) with Larginine and Ala instead of dextrose for delivery, because it will only keep water in my muscles opposed to my skin. What are your takes on this?

Here is an excerpt from Big Cat's creatine article:
creatine may in fact help to shed water, act as a diuretic. For those of you trying to get lean to go cruising for chicks this summer can use creatine all the way through, but for those of you thinking of entering a competition, here's a little trick a lot of pros have picked up over the year: Stop all creatine use 8 weeks out and commence a new loading phase 5 days prior to the contest. The creatine loading effect will shed more excess water than the best diuretic, and some of that water will be absorbed into the muscle anew, creating a fuller, thicker look while on stage. It's worth a shot, and I'm convinced you'll be pleased with the results.

Here is an excerpt from Big Cat's article about training the 2002 European Champion:
Along with dropping his carbs, I told him to keep drinking, preferably liters and liters of Diet Coke. This is an old competition trick, but less known than I assumed. This works because Diet Coke is still rich in caffeine, which is an excellent diuretic, especially if you aren't used to having a lot of coffee and cola, but contains no sugar. The calorie count is lower, and the sweetener is based on amino acids, hence no chance of adding fat (especially at this point in the diet). That Thursday I instructed him to start carbing up with 50 g of dextrose and 5 g of creatine, twice a day. Again, a very standard protocol, but I was amazed at the number of athletes who are unaware of such simple things.

~Todd

[xhexx]

Alot of new information to me! Thanks for the posts.