creatine/glutamine

hey guys
 
im going to start taking creatine and glutamine and am wondering if i should only take it on the days i work out or if i should take it as well on my off days. also when is the best time to take these supplements. i work out three days a week.
 
 
Thanks

Creatine should be taken 1 hour before training and any time on your off days. For Creatine supplementation to be effective you must increase the natural store of creatine. You do this but loading the product for the first 5 days. On the non training days you should take the creatine to keep the levels up.
 
Glutamine is different. Research shows after intense training the bodies stores of glutamine is depleted yet it is one of the most important amino acids for recovery and muscle building. I would be only taking glutamine after training.
 
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I dont agree on loading creatine personally.
 
take creatine 30-60 mins prior to training. What are you taking? creatine monohydrate? I  might suggest trying creatine ethyl ester product, no bloating or cramps like mono. does.
I like DS Xceed, which also has other ingredients to aid in energy & endurance pre-workout, increase strength, no loading or cycling the creatine, etc.
 
glutamine is a bit over-rated, imo.  If your diet is well planned, I dont see the need.

atherjen@designersupps.com

2006 figure competitions:
completed 5 competitons- Qualified for Nationals! :)

Creatine is systemic..that means it does not matter when you take it...as long as you are taking it consistently.
 
As jen noted, you do get enough glutamine in the diet if you are bulking, however, sufficiency is NOT the issue with it.
 
If you are cutting you might be deficient...
 
The issue with glutamine is that during stress/trauma such as after serious lifining, the body draws on the muscle store of glutamine to cope...you can possibly spare muscle by supplementing.
 
Glutamine is thus more of an insurance policy.  There is research showing it helped to spare muscle in hard training athletes and also that using it lessoned the occurance of overtraining. (That would be overtraining induced cortisol release to initiate muscle catabolism, to obtain glutamine and other proteins)
 
This glutamine research was done on post trauma/post-workout supplementation.
 
I would side with Jen...going a bit further and saying there is simply a great deal of misinformation about these supplements...including the lies and hype from the companies and then the word of mouth causing them to be over-rated.
 
Get your diet in line first or you are wasting your money.

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