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Chasing creatine rainbows.

BRETTO Posts: 201 Joined: 2002/05/25	2002/08/22, 03:26 PM We know that, after lifting weights, muscles regenerate back stronger in an attempt to adapt to the new stress. We also know that muscle soreness, lactate build up, and fatigue are a direct result of depleted ATP store, and that creatine replenishes ATP stores, thus prolonging time to fatigue. My question then, is one of logic. If creatine ultimately "removes" the elements of soreness and fatique, isn’t a muscle not then under less stress, thereby removing the need for it to regenerate back stronger?
mikencharleston Posts: 1,585 Joined: 2002/01/09	2002/08/22, 03:32 PM Hey bretto - check out this site - it might answer a lot of your questions and it's not affiliated (or wasn't the last time I looked) with a vendor so hopefully a little less biased. http://www.absolute-creatine.com/9.htm
BRETTO Posts: 201 Joined: 2002/05/25	2002/08/22, 04:30 PM Mike, Thanx for the great site tip. I just read through most of it and learned a lot, especially about the logic behind when to take it. However, I still seem to be lacking an answer to my fundamental question of relativity in muscle stress/regeneration. If muscles are to grow larger, they must be stressed. If you remove the stress, you remove the need for growth. By this logic, it seems the goal would be to make it as hard as possible for a muscle to do work - not to make it easier with "supplemental" help. In this sense, creatine seems less like a coach shouting inspirational slogans to boost willpower, and more like an ever-present spotter that helps you get that last rep.
rev8ball Posts: 3,081 Joined: 2001/12/27	2002/08/22, 06:07 PM Correct end, bretto, but wrong pathway: You are correct to say "...fatigue (is) a direct result of depleted ATP store, and that creatine replenishes ATP stores, thus prolonging time to fatigue." But that is not the only reason. ATP depletion is only part of the chemical and physical destruction that occurs to muscle tissue. But having more ATP, as is the case with Creatine supplementation, will not act in that way to reduce stress on the muscle. Let's use the example of a race car. To go the furthest distance, you need a full tank of gas. Also, to increase the effectiveness of the power output, you can raise the octane level of the fuel, or go nitro or alcohol. All that being said, none of it will reduce the stress on the engine. To handle that, a number of things need to be taken into account, such as oil delivery, water pressure, etc. If you red-line it, you're going to blow it. Period. ATP is the chemical used by the body to fuel the muscle for explosive power, among other things. Like the car, it allows the "engine" (muscle) to go longer and harder. In that sense, it removes the fuel supply stress. But it will not remove the workload stress. Hope that helps........ -------------- Michael "Trample the weak; hurdle the dead!"
BRETTO Posts: 201 Joined: 2002/05/25	2002/08/22, 06:22 PM Thanx Rev. That actually makes perfect sense. I figured creatine didn't really relieve the muscle of stress in such a total way. I always appreciate your detailed and extremely informed answers. You are quite the fountain of technical info! And I am always thirsty for more!
7707mutt Posts: 7,686 Joined: 2002/06/18	2002/08/22, 06:26 PM WOW this got real deep! My head hurts LOL! -------------- Life comes by only once....Live it to the fullest!
mikencharleston Posts: 1,585 Joined: 2002/01/09	2002/08/23, 08:30 AM Quoting Bretto "And I am always thirsty for more!'. This isn't meant in a sarcastic way bretto - You've asked a ton of questions which in turn have generated an awful lot of useful tidbits for a ton of folks. Keep you curiousity going.