Hello! I'm currently doing a bulking round and am not happy with my current size. I want to use creatine as a supplement - not so much to give me an extra boost while lifting - but to make my muscles retain water and thereby look bigger. My question is two fold: 1.) how pronounced will the swelling be and 2.) will I swell elsewhere, like my face? Thanks, -K.
I used creatine for a while and yes it does make water retention. If you work out during the time you use it you will get a little bigger. But from everywere.
I have used creatine mono and kre alkalyn as well. I noticed what seemed a bit less swelling/bloat with the Kre. Although both will make you have water retention, it definetly helped me a bit and muscle fullness is pronounced within 2 weeks usually. I do not use the old school "loading" method as I read it is a waste and after trial it worked better for me not to "load" up. Ive stopped taking it for around 3-4 months and might start again Monday. Kre is usually better for on the go peoples, although I have supplemented mixing with both and had great results. Creatine mono with the 1-2gal. a day mixed with BCAA's, or juice and then the kre pills throughout the day. Some people are unreponsive to creatine mono so you might want to take that into consideration as well. Some people do seem to have more of that water puffyness throught as one of my friends does, but others such as myself dont seem to swell in the face area. I seem to be more prone to swelling with alot of carbs..
Ahhh my specialty... Yes with Creatine Monohydrate you may hold a few pounds of water retention you will possibly hold a few pounds of water but it also depends on your diet, how sensitive to carbs you are and how many you consume throughout the day.If you are a Carb Cycle Diet yes, you will hold more pounds of water obviously as carbs will make you hold water regardless. I would only hold an extra pound or two when I took Mono but nothing noticeable. If you want look into Creatine Ethyl Ester which supposedly makes you hold no water. I suggest if you want to just hold a few pounds of water to prevent injury have higher sodium and save your money even though creatine monohydrate is dirt cheap. No pun intended, but the method of using creatine to have the muscles look fuller is not the greatest idea as your logic should be you want to get big you have to eat big and if you want your muscles to bet bigger get your lifts up.For example, you want a bigger looking chest? Eat, train hard and add 25 lbs to your bench and believe me they will look bigger.Now when I say train hard, I don't mean to bench 3 times a week and not train anything else. I have a TON of diet and training e-books I can give you if you are interested as I used to be into powerlifting and strongman training and used to train at one of the best gyms in all of America and have trained with some of the best in Mass.
