Has anyone used Creatine NItrate and had a good experience?

[edmon]

Has anyone used Creatine Nitrate? Considering trying it instead of Creatine Monohydrate.

 

[Hyde]

I have only ever used it in smaller amounts, the amount Cellucor has in their preWO products. Strength and pump are generally at least as good when using those, but I have never had it in isolation or been able to raise the dose.

I will say that if you tolerate regular creatine mono well, you should use that - nothing is more affordable or well-studied.

If you are like me and it makes you bloat or go to the bathroom (these days, used to be able to take it fine), try Creatine HCL. It works just as well without the gut distress. Serious Nutrition Solutions makes flavored powders as well as capsules.

If you want it more for pump, anything with a Nitrate should aid pumps I’ve found. But lots of good ingredients for pumps besides nitrates obviously, so I assume you are looking more for creatine’s power gains.

 

[Halfnattyman44]

Cellucor used to have a standalone creatine nitrate I believe. With that I played with a slightly higher dose and really liked it for pumps but didn’t notice any extra strength benefits. Creatine mono is probably your best bet overall.

 

[Chaimiasy]

I never tried it and never will. No reason too imo. The best Creatine to take in my opinion are Creatine HCL and Mag Creatine Chelate. The best strength gains I have ever made were off both them creatines. Creatine HCL I see gains in about 7-10 days with MCC took about 3 weeks but my strength gains were better than HCL and I’m in a caloric defecit. I wound up picking up 3 more tubs of MCC by SNS but by no means am I saying anything bad against HCL Creatine it’s the best between MCC and HCL. I’d never take any other Creatine

 

[botk1161]

Has anyone used Creatine Nitrate? Considering trying it instead of Creatine Monohydrate.

Ya the nitrate one (like all other nitrates out there) is for pump / not the same as creatine mono / hcl. Different products all together. Go for SNS Creatine HCL. Its the best creatine I have used, but simple mono will be nearly as good. For nitrates, potassium nitrate is/ was the most popular pump nitrate. Iforce still makes it and its the absolute best value out there for a nitrate pump product (ie. @ best price nuitrition).

 

[LeanEngineer]

Ya the nitrate one (like all other nitrates out there) is for pump / not the same as creatine mono / hcl. Different products all together. Go for SNS Creatine HCL. Its the best creatine I have used, but simple mono will be nearly as good. For nitrates, potassium nitrate is/ was the most popular pump nitrate. Iforce still makes it and its the absolute best value out there for a nitrate pump product (ie. @ best price nuitrition).

Agreed with this! SNS Creatine HCL watermelon breeze is my go to. Taste is awesome!
https://www.strongsupplementshop.com/creatine-hcl-by-sns

 

[Hyde]

I never tried it and never will. No reason too imo. The best Creatine to take in my opinion are Creatine HCL and Mag Creatine Chelate. The best strength gains I have ever made were off both them creatines. Creatine HCL I saw gains in about 7-10 days with MCC took about 3 weeks but my strength gains were the better than HCL and I’m in a caloric defecit. I wound up picking up 3 more tubs of MCC by SNS

This is what I do now, SNS Creatine HCL caps daily for my base supplementation/brain health, then whenever I train I add SNS MCC powder preWO to help ensure my muscles are hydrated & to account for the extra ATP expenditure.

 

[Chaimiasy]

This is what I do now, SNS Creatine HCL caps daily for my base supplementation/brain health, then whenever I train I add SNS MCC powder preWO to help ensure my muscles are hydrated & to account for the extra ATP expenditure.

That is interesting Too be honest I have never considered literally stacking two different types of creatine but it has crossed my mind if it makes sense to do so. But I can see making sense from your perspective. This may be something I’ll try to do down the road. Makes sense bro I see what ya saying

now here is my thing. I cycle Creatine. I take 2-3 months at a time then take 6-8 weeks off. I have been doing this for as long as I been training close to 20 years. I am aware you can take Creatine year round for other health reasons but I take it for strictly strength. It’s like anything in life the more you take something or if you consistently take something the more the body becomes accustomed to it and a basic dose doesn’t do what it should do so the body requires more.

I use creatine to help break plateau’s after a run through 2-3 month supply I work to maintain strength and train to let’s say get stronger. Then a few months down the road I’ll add it back in. If I take it constantly eventually it will certainly stop doing what I need it to do. It just won’t keep making u stronger and stronger

 

[sns8778]

That is interesting Too be honest I have never considered literally stacking two different types of creatine but it has crossed my mind if it makes sense to do so. But I can see making sense from your perspective. This may be something I’ll try to do down the road. Makes sense bro I see what ya saying

now here is my thing. I cycle Creatine. I take 2-3 months at a time then take 6-8 weeks off. I have been doing this for as long as I been training close to 20 years. I am aware you can take Creatine year round for other health reasons but I take it for strictly strength. It’s like anything in life the more you take something or if you consistently take something the more the body becomes accustomed to it and a basic dose doesn’t do what it should do so the body requires more.

I use creatine to help break plateau’s after a run through 2-3 month supply I work to maintain strength and train to let’s say get stronger. Then a few months down the road I’ll add it back in. If I take it constantly eventually it will certainly stop doing what I need it to do. It just won’t keep making u stronger and stronger

There's really no right or wrong way to do it, its just whatever works best for the individual and what they prefer, and also what they're using it for.

There are a lot of people that do stack Creatine HCI and Magnesium Creatine Chelate.

One very common and popular way to do it is to use Magnesium Creatine Chelate prior to working out, especially for people that train for strength and explosive power output, and then use Creatine HCI post workout and then use a dose of both on non-training days.

Then some people use Creatine HCI daily and use Magnesium Creatine Chelate only on workout days.

Hyde is very well versed in strength training as he and his wife are both competitive powerlifters.

What he was referring to about taking Creatine HCI daily for the base of his brain health supplementation regimen is that most of the newer research on creatine isn't related to workout benefits, its on brain health. So more and more people that use nootropic (cognitive/brain health) stacks use creatine year round for that purpose.

It used to be that if I went through a time when I wasn't training, I used to wouldn't take creatine during that time myself, but ever since the brain health studies have come out, Creatine HCI has been part of my general health supplement regimen along with some other things I take for memory, BDNF, and other cognitive health aspects.

So its really been an evolution in what creatine is used for in general. It used to be that it was viewed as just for workout benefits, but the newer and most exciting research on it is for cognitive/brain health, so its getting to where you're just as likely to see a 60+ year old lady using it as someone that works out.

 

[Hyde]

There's really no right or wrong way to do it, its just whatever works best for the individual and what they prefer, and also what they're using it for.

There are a lot of people that do stack Creatine HCI and Magnesium Creatine Chelate.

One very common and popular way to do it is to use Magnesium Creatine Chelate prior to working out, especially for people that train for strength and explosive power output, and then use Creatine HCI post workout and then use a dose of both on non-training days.

Then some people use Creatine HCI daily and use Magnesium Creatine Chelate only on workout days.

Hyde is very well versed in strength training as he and his wife are both competitive powerlifters.

What he was referring to about taking Creatine HCI daily for the base of his brain health supplementation regimen is that most of the newer research on creatine isn't related to workout benefits, its on brain health. So more and more people that use nootropic (cognitive/brain health) stacks use creatine year round for that purpose.

It used to be that if I went through a time when I wasn't training, I used to wouldn't take creatine during that time myself, but ever since the brain health studies have come out, Creatine HCI has been part of my general health supplement regimen along with some other things I take for memory, BDNF, and other cognitive health aspects.

So its really been an evolution in what creatine is used for in general. It used to be that it was viewed as just for workout benefits, but the newer and most exciting research on it is for cognitive/brain health, so its getting to where you're just as likely to see a 60+ year old lady using it as someone that works out.

Yeah, and I should mention too with me using MCC preWO, I already supplement with some magnesium glycinate pre-bed, so the way I use it is more like extra magnesium/creatine when substrate demands are higher. The way some people eat more calories on certain training days through their week.

If I was not using other magnesium, I would definitely use MCC daily.

 

[Chaimiasy]

There's really no right or wrong way to do it, its just whatever works best for the individual and what they prefer, and also what they're using it for.

There are a lot of people that do stack Creatine HCI and Magnesium Creatine Chelate.

One very common and popular way to do it is to use Magnesium Creatine Chelate prior to working out, especially for people that train for strength and explosive power output, and then use Creatine HCI post workout and then use a dose of both on non-training days.

Then some people use Creatine HCI daily and use Magnesium Creatine Chelate only on workout days.

Hyde is very well versed in strength training as he and his wife are both competitive powerlifters.

What he was referring to about taking Creatine HCI daily for the base of his brain health supplementation regimen is that most of the newer research on creatine isn't related to workout benefits, its on brain health. So more and more people that use nootropic (cognitive/brain health) stacks use creatine year round for that purpose.

It used to be that if I went through a time when I wasn't training, I used to wouldn't take creatine during that time myself, but ever since the brain health studies have come out, Creatine HCI has been part of my general health supplement regimen along with some other things I take for memory, BDNF, and other cognitive health aspects.

So its really been an evolution in what creatine is used for in general. It used to be that it was viewed as just for workout benefits, but the newer and most exciting research on it is for cognitive/brain health, so its getting to where you're just as likely to see a 60+ year old lady using it as someone that works out.

Another thing I don’t do is Creatine pre workout. I have tried it many times and for me it makes no difference , I am no stronger whether u use it pre workout or not I always take it post workout , I never understood the concept of taking it pre workout. From my understanding is as the muscles get saturated and through good training and diet it helps with strength and getting stronger , keeping good steady strength , I dnt see Creatine as being somehting that works on demand like a Beta Alanine which makes sense to take pre workout cause the effect it has pre workout. Does my point make sense ?

Just to be clear , I am not being argumentative, I just have my own perspectives experiences and I like good conversation, but i also Like to express my opinion on things. End of the day everybody has things work differently for them. I have become accustomed to my way of supplementing and eating etc. Ofcourse I clearly am always open to advice as you know cause I speak with you often with questions I have in regards to supplements

 

[Hyde]

Another thing I don’t do is Creatine pre workout. I have tried it many times and for me it makes no difference , I am no stronger whether u use it pre workout or not I always take it post workout , I never understood the concept of taking it pre workout. From my understanding is as the muscles get saturated and through good training and diet it helps with strength and getting stronger , keeping good steady strength , I dnt see Creatine as being somehting that works on demand like a Beta Alanine which makes sense to take pre workout cause the effect it has pre workout. Does my point make sense ?

Just to be clear , I am not being argumentative, I just have my own perspectives experiences and I like good conversation, but i also Like to express my opinion on things. End of the day everybody has things work differently for them. I have become accustomed to my way of supplementing and eating etc. Ofcourse I clearly am always open to advice as you know cause I speak with you often with questions I have in regards to supplements

Creatine timing does not matter. Consuming it intra or post is a terrific time to help promote good uptake, and therefore preWO as well, but like you said what you ingest preWO isn’t going to make a difference that day.

That being said - as muscles dehydrate, and as they work & strain hard, they do need magnesium to help relax. And magnesium promotes good nerve function. So I take the MCC preWO to help ensure I have magnesium present in abundance around the end of my training, to keep my nerve function high and help prevent cramping at the end or postWO.

It’s also a very convenient time to toss the powder into my preWO drink - it’s practical for me to remember it this way. That’s the biggest thing, just taking it routinely. I take the HCL caps daily with my fasted morning supps like Selenium, Iodine, etc.

 

[sns8778]

Another thing I don’t do is Creatine pre workout. I have tried it many times and for me it makes no difference , I am no stronger whether u use it pre workout or not I always take it post workout , I never understood the concept of taking it pre workout. From my understanding is as the muscles get saturated and through good training and diet it helps with strength and getting stronger , keeping good steady strength , I dnt see Creatine as being somehting that works on demand like a Beta Alanine which makes sense to take pre workout cause the effect it has pre workout. Does my point make sense ?

Just to be clear , I am not being argumentative, I just have my own perspectives experiences and I like good conversation, but i also Like to express my opinion on things. End of the day everybody has things work differently for them. I have become accustomed to my way of supplementing and eating etc. Ofcourse I clearly am always open to advice as you know cause I speak with you often with questions I have in regards to supplements

In general, creatine doesn't need to be taken pre-workout. The main thing is to use it daily for best results.

It's just commonly used pre and post because that's a convenient way for most people to remember to do it.

In the case of Magnesium Creatine Chelate specifically, @Hyde explained it well in his answer - that part of the benefit of timing MCC pre-workout would be from the Magnesium portion of it. The studies on MCC showed really good gains in strength and explosive power - a lot of people assume that's just bc of the creatine, but it's related the magnesium and creatine combination prior to working out.

Beta Alanine needs to be used daily for best results. It's in many pre-workouts bc psychologically many people think its working bc of the tingles, but the studies on Beta Alanine were done on daily use. I fall on the other end - I hate the tingles that it gives me and won't use pre-workouts with it in them myself bc of it. That's actually something I struggled with in designing the upcoming SNS pre-workout is whether or not to put Beta Alanine in it.

 

[sns8778]

Creatine timing does not matter. Consuming it intra or post is a terrific time to help promote good uptake, and therefore preWO as well, but like you said what you ingest preWO isn’t going to make a difference that day.

That being said - as muscles dehydrate, and as they work & strain hard, they do need magnesium to help relax. And magnesium promotes good nerve function. So I take the MCC preWO to help ensure I have magnesium present in abundance around the end of my training, to keep my nerve function high and help prevent cramping at the end or postWO.

It’s also a very convenient time to toss the powder into my preWO drink - it’s practical for me to remember it this way. That’s the biggest thing, just taking it routinely. I take the HCL caps daily with my fasted morning supps like Selenium, Iodine, etc.

I'm the same way. When I'm using the capsules, I usually throw them in with my vitamins and dose with those.

I use MCC powder pre-training myself and a lot of times Creatine HCI powder post workout bc I like the taste. I'm hot natured, and I've recently been making Creatine HCI Blue Pink Grapefruit flavor in 8 ounces and putting it in the freezer and its like a slushy treat to cool off after training.

 

[SkRaw85]

Creatine timing does not matter. Consuming it intra or post is a terrific time to help promote good uptake, and therefore preWO as well, but like you said what you ingest preWO isn’t going to make a difference that day.

That being said - as muscles dehydrate, and as they work & strain hard, they do need magnesium to help relax. And magnesium promotes good nerve function. So I take the MCC preWO to help ensure I have magnesium present in abundance around the end of my training, to keep my nerve function high and help prevent cramping at the end or postWO.

It’s also a very convenient time to toss the powder into my preWO drink - it’s practical for me to remember it this way. That’s the biggest thing, just taking it routinely. I take the HCL caps daily with my fasted morning supps like Selenium, Iodine, etc.

HCL on an empty stomach gives me the worst heartburn every time. I’m guessing you don’t have this problem?

 

[Hyde]

HCL on an empty stomach gives me the worst heartburn every time. I’m guessing you don’t have this problem?

Nope, not for a hot minute - but if my gut is off, from having acid reflux from oral use for example, many pills & powders on an empty stomach have caused that for me.

In that case, I take things with or half an hour post eating. Creatine certainly doesn’t need to be on an empty stomach, and most things don’t have to be - optimal isn’t optimal if you can’t do it, after all.

 

[Chaimiasy]

SNS & Hyde

currently at the moment I am off using Creatine but I do take magnesium. I think I’ll start taking my magnesium with my pre workout and see if I get any results from that.

 

[Hyde]

SNS & Hyde

currently at the moment I am off using Creatine but I do take magnesium. I think I’ll start taking my magnesium with my pre workout and see if I get any results from that.

As long as it’s not sending you to the toilet during, it can’t hurt! I mean different forms of mag are more beneficial for certain tertiary things, but just the general blood pressure regulation aspect of magnesium alone can probably help contribute to more positive training.

 

[sns8778]

Was getting ready to post what Hyde just did - just being careful about the form you take if taking pre-workout. Some forms have more of a relaxation effect, some at higher doses may bother people's stomachs; as long as its a form that doesn't do that, you should be fine on doing that if you want.

 

[edmon]

There's really no right or wrong way to do it, its just whatever works best for the individual and what they prefer, and also what they're using it for.

There are a lot of people that do stack Creatine HCI and Magnesium Creatine Chelate.

One very common and popular way to do it is to use Magnesium Creatine Chelate prior to working out, especially for people that train for strength and explosive power output, and then use Creatine HCI post workout and then use a dose of both on non-training days.

Then some people use Creatine HCI daily and use Magnesium Creatine Chelate only on workout days.

Hyde is very well versed in strength training as he and his wife are both competitive powerlifters.

What he was referring to about taking Creatine HCI daily for the base of his brain health supplementation regimen is that most of the newer research on creatine isn't related to workout benefits, its on brain health. So more and more people that use nootropic (cognitive/brain health) stacks use creatine year round for that purpose.

It used to be that if I went through a time when I wasn't training, I used to wouldn't take creatine during that time myself, but ever since the brain health studies have come out, Creatine HCI has been part of my general health supplement regimen along with some other things I take for memory, BDNF, and other cognitive health aspects.

So its really been an evolution in what creatine is used for in general. It used to be that it was viewed as just for workout benefits, but the newer and most exciting research on it is for cognitive/brain health, so its getting to where you're just as likely to see a 60+ year old lady using it as someone that works out.

so HCL is better than Monohydrate? I am new to creatine.

 

[sns8778]

so HCL is better than Monohydrate? I am new to creatine.

Creatine Monohydrate bothers some peoples stomachs and some people get very bloated from monohydrate.

I hold so much fluid weight off monohydrate that it makes me miserable. I won't even use anything that has even a small amount of monohydrate in it. I remember the last time I had tried to use monohydrate, my daughter told me it looked like I swallowed a Volkswagen haha.

The benefits of Creatine HCI over monohydrate are that it doesn't cause the stomach upset or fluid retention that monohydrate does to some people, you don't need to load with Creatine HCI, and it requires a much lower dosage bc of much better absorption.

All of the flavors are good, but my favorite is the Pink Grapefruit bc its so refreshing. It's something I look forward to drinking. I'm not a fan of watermelon flavor in anything, but if you like watermelon, the watermelon flavor is awesome too.

https://seriousnutritionsolutions.com/product/creatine-hcl/

 

[edmon]

Creatine Monohydrate bothers some peoples stomachs and some people get very bloated from monohydrate.

I hold so much fluid weight off monohydrate that it makes me miserable. I won't even use anything that has even a small amount of monohydrate in it. I remember the last time I had tried to use monohydrate, my daughter told me it looked like I swallowed a Volkswagen haha.

The benefits of Creatine HCI over monohydrate are that it doesn't cause the stomach upset or fluid retention that monohydrate does to some people, you don't need to load with Creatine HCI, and it requires a much lower dosage bc of much better absorption.

All of the flavors are good, but my favorite is the Pink Grapefruit bc its so refreshing. It's something I look forward to drinking. I'm not a fan of watermelon flavor in anything, but if you like watermelon, the watermelon flavor is awesome too.

https://seriousnutritionsolutions.com/product/creatine-hcl/

Thanks for all the info!

 

[Chaimiasy]

so HCL is better than Monohydrate? I am new to creatine.

Yes by miles. Super small doses and combined with HCL makes for better absorption . Great for strength. No loading phase. No bloating No huge tablespoons. From my experience the best creatines are MCC and HCL