What type of creatine is best for SPRINTERS?

[IronG]

I am a former bodybulder getting back into sprinting and speedwork after a couple years away from the track. I am looking for the best type of creatine for increasing sprinting speed and helping with sprinting workouts. Please tell me which creatine type is best for sprinting, speed work, etc......also, i still have some Higher Power CEE left from my last bulking phase which was pretty long while ago. Is HP CEE pretty good for sprinters? Thanks for any replies.

[Skigazzi]

CEE would be my choice (Former 400m guy). Its has the least water weight which would be a hinderance in sprinting.

[Blap Blaow]

there's really no 'best' creatine, since creatine works differently for different people. If you want to stick with bulk powders I'd stick with the CEE and maybe look into citrulline malate.

[Tkenshin]

orotine or clout

[pu12en12g]

In that scenario

Green Bulge (consider adding 100 to 200mg caffeine)
Thunder (includes caffeine)
Clout
Vault

[IronG]

Thanks guys for your help......i guess for now ill just stick with the HP CEE b/c i still have plenty left over. Would you suggest i take this with water or with grape juice? I imagine taking it with grape juice would help with absorption. Considering i am sprinting now, should i take just one serving every day or should i take a serving once before and immediately after a speed workout? What do you suggest? Thanks again for the help.

[pu12en12g]

Thanks guys for your help......i guess for now ill just stick with the HP CEE b/c i still have plenty left over. Would you suggest i take this with water or with grape juice? I imagine taking it with grape juice would help with absorption. Considering i am sprinting now, should i take just one serving every day or should i take a serving once before and immediately after a speed workout? What do you suggest? Thanks again for the help.

I'd take it with water + palatinose + Purple WRAATH

[Skigazzi]

What kinda of sprint work are you doing?

[krustster]

NOS Ether is your best bet

[Skigazzi]

NOS Ether is your best bet

Kre alkalyn may be the way to go for its lactic acid buffer potential.

I wish I knew about supps when I ran, citrulline woulda dropped my 400m time by a second Im sure...ah..I almost miss track practice and puking during and after it..

[IronG]

Skigazzi: Right now im just getting back into the swing of things b/c ive been off for a long time. Im doing plyos, form drills and some sprint-resisted training like sprinting while pulling a light sled. I saw where you mentioned citrulline and how it would have helped you lower your times. Can you elaborate on this a little for me and if you know of any specific drills that can help me increase my speed please fill me in. Im also wondering how many times per week i should do high intensity speed training and how much recovery i need between these workouts. Should i do some light tempo training between my high intensity days as a form of recovery and to decrease lactate? Thanks for your help. Please fill me in.

[UberBerzerker]

http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/RUSSIAN.HTM

http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/spri...rintdrills.htm

[Skigazzi]

That sled draggin comment brought back horrible memories of being attached to a human rubber band, one guy would sprint until he couldnt stretch it anymore...and then they would let me go (attached to the other end) to force the muscles to increase leg speed (or fall, which happened a lot). Once we put 2 shot putters on it...well, it snapped about 40 yards out came back and smashed the other guys balls

Citrulline is great for endurance, if you are doing pure speed work, its not a must, but could still help in controlling lactic acid.

For explosiveness, i used to like running 40 yard sprints up hill, 10 x 100M workouts with only the walk back for rest. For speed work I liked to run 400s accelerating slowly over the first 200, and running at full speed for the last 200. I also like to do squats where Id drop down and explode all the way up to my tip toes.

Like my coaches always said - 'Its all about muscle memory, stride length, and stride frequency".

Athletes.com (bb.com sister site) may have articles on speed training.

[391rippy]

That sled draggin comment brought back horrible memories of being attached to a human rubber band, one guy would sprint until he couldnt stretch it anymore...and then they would let me go (attached to the other end) to force the muscles to increase leg speed (or fall, which happened a lot). Once we put 2 shot putters on it...well, it snapped about 40 yards out came back and smashed the other guys balls

lol, got a video of that?


oh, well, i guess i could actually be useful here. I would say to go with either bulk CEE, or maybe even something like clout

[UberBerzerker]

look into this stuff right here. It's my current pre-workout/during workout (when running) drink of choice. Has just about everything you could want in it.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/cs/fast.html

[deserusan]

If you are sprinter you probably have a high percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers. A monohydrate based product would probably be better suited for you and here is why:

Analysis

Over the past few years I have payed a lot of attention to supplement trends as my level of interest in competitave natural bodybuilding has grown. Competing naturally requires a lot of research into what supplements are legal and what is not by whatever federation you choose to compete in. One of the best supplements out there is creatine monohydrate and their are numerous studies supporting it's efficacy. However, one recent trend I have witnessed is companies and young aspiring bodybuilders touting the superiority of creatine ethyl ester over creatine monohydrate.

Creatine ethyl ester is merely creatine monohydrate with an added ester attached to make the creatine molecule more lipopholic. In theory, this would make the absorption more efficient and possibly would require less CEE to serve as an ergogenic aid.

Personally, I have used both CEE and monohydrate with great success. However, the recomended doses of CEE (2.5 grams) never seemed to have the same effect as the recommended dose of monohydrate (5.0 grams). To me this seemed a little odd considering the claims of most CEE products. When I started to experiment with higher doses of CEE (5 grams) I noticed similiar effects to that of monohydrate at the equivalent dose. Something wasn't adding up here.

Upon further reading on monohydrate, because no ethyl ester studies exist, I came across one that studied the physiological differences between monohydrate responders and non responders. This intrigued me because it actually shows that monohydrate isn't inefficient given a certain set of physiological values with regards to pre-existing creatine and phosphocreatine levels in muscles, muscle fiber cross-sectional areas (CSA), the prevalanace of type II muscle fibers, and the amount of fat free mass.

Type II muscle fibers are also called fast twitch muscle fibers. Olympic sprinters may have up to 80% fast twitch fibers while a marathon runner may have up to 80% type I fibers (slow twitch). Both fiber types produce the same force but type II can fire more rapidly, hence the name fast twitch. Based on the the study I was referring to it appears those with a high type II fiber % respond well to creatine monohyrate and much more efficiently to those with a type I fiber %.

Also, it appears that those with larger muscle fiber (CSA) and fat free mass percentages are also better monohydrate responders. This means that if you have a high bodyfat percentage you might not respond well to monohydrate or if you have low muscle mass. Also, if you have smaller muscles in general you might not respond well.

For someone like myself, I do have a high percentage of fat free mass and therefore I respond well to creatine monohydrate. Also, I require the same amount of CEE to have the same ergogenic effects as monohydrate. I feel some companies have been pushing CEE a little too hard and have been addressing some of it's shortfalls for those who might not respond well, like me, by telling the consumer to take another dose.

It is my recommendation that any consumer out there interested in creatine supplementation try using the more basic form of creatine first, which is monohydrate. It is the only form of creatine that has been studied extensively and proven. CEE is a good choice for those who don't fit the physiological criteria stated above, however for general purposes, it is not "better" than monohydrate as many companies would lead you to believe.

For those who have access to a university mainframe I highy suggest you read the journal article below. Out of respect for the authors I will not post excerpts or the pdf file that my "analysis" was based on.

Journal of Strength Conditioning Research. 2004 Aug;18(3):610-7.
Acute creatine monohydrate supplementation: a descriptive physiological profile of responders vs. nonresponders.
Syrotuik DG, Bell GJ.