Creatine, Glucomine?

[cnl83]

I was talking with a friend, and he told me he started taking Creatine. I in turn told him that I had taken it, and as soon as I quit all the bulk went away, so I just did it naturally. He said I needed to take glucomine with it. Im not sure if thats the right word. Id like to know everyone comments on this.
My goal is not to get big and bulky, but I want maximum power, and speed for my size and structure. ( Minding that I will grow regardless ).

I have been off of creatine for about 6-7 Months, and im thinking about starting back up with this Glucomine stuff...

Thanks in Advance

[threenorns]

creatine doesn't give permanent results in the short-term - the big pump is from increased intracellular water pressure. that's why you have to drink so much water when taking it. it can help with short-duration, high-intensity performance (weight-lifting) but doesn't do bupkuss for long-duration exercise like running or jogging.

the results you get from it depend largely on your own natural creatine levels. if you already have high intramuscular creatine levels, you won't get much from creatine supplementation. taking it with dextrose and/or maltodextrin can increase your uptake.

you're lucky: 20 - 30% of ppl are non-responders, meaning they get nothing from it at all.

i think the stuff your friend was talking about was glutamine, an amino acid that makes up about 60% of your muscle tissue - oral supplementation of glutamine is very ineffective. the best way to increase plasma glutamine levels is to increase your natural glutathione production - glutathione metabolizes into glutamine. you can do that by taking mega-doses of vitamin C - start with 500mg morning and night.

of course, he *could* be talking "glucosamine", but i dont' think that's what you're after, since glucosamine is used to build up and repair connective tissue and cartilege in joints.

[Chain]

Once you stop taking creatine a good deal of the bulk tends to go away. But if you take creatine and stop you will likely make more progress than if you hadn't taken creatine. The increased hydration of the cell seems to be a factor in increasing muscle mass because it's a more anabolic environment. Also, the increased work capacity will mean increased muscle size and strength. But you're not going to get steroid like results. But I happen to disagree with threenorns about the endurance. From what I've seen creatine supplementation can help some athletes with endurance performance. As far as the other supplement you're friend was talking about, I'm not sure if he meant glucosamine or glutamine. Glutamine may help. The jury is still out on it from what I've seen. If you could take it intraveinously it would probably help. But taking it orally there is a lot of wastage. But it's fairly cheap so give it a try if you want. If you're friend was talking about glucosamine then understand that it isn't going to help you build muscle but it is a good supplement for helping strengthen connective tissue.

[abear]

i typed in "glucomine" into google and got back hits for glucosamine.

there is no evidence that glucosamine or glutamine for that matter aid in creatine function.