Is creatine for me? Advice needed

Let me give a little background info. I'm 28, 6'1" 190lbs. An avid runner/cyclist for many many years who has just started to seriously lift weights. I've always had a little belly (I ate like crap and knew it) so right now my goals are to gain some mass and lose a little fat.

Other than eating clean, taking ample protien, and a dialy vitamin I've been doing it naturally with some decent results.

Would creatine offer me anything? Because I like doing endurance sports so much the fears of water bloating have me scared. I certainly don't mind adding some extra pounds of muscle (as it will certainly help my cycling) but I do NOT want bloated bulk. The body builder look just isnt for me.

So I guess I'm asking if creatine will keep me lean and ripped without that bulky look?

How lean you are is dependant on your diet.

Some, but not all, experience some bloat from creatine. It is often a result of dosing too high. And if you think the bodybuilder look you see in magazines is a result of creatine, you are sorely mistaken - no one gets that big by accident. :p

You shouldn't see that much bloat from creatine and it will definatley help you put on a little muscle that you want. Don't worry about getting that bodybuilding look just from creatine it takes a lot more than that.

Try a creatine Ethly ester, pyruvate, not a monohydrate. Monohydrate will store water weight and give you that bulky look. An ethly ester will only put on lean muscle mass. Check out Hard Nutrition.com we carry a ethly ester pyvurate blend of creatine. Also, as a first time buyer you will recieve 55% off all products. i can send you samples as well. Let me know. Keep up the good work on your diet and workout routine!

[QUOTE=Hard Nutrition;38344621]Try a creatine Ethly ester, pyruvate, not a monohydrate. [/QUOTE]

[url]http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpost.php?p=30908001&postcount=39[/url]

Yeah, CEE is not a good option instead of monohydrate.

You could try something with dicreatine malate or magnesium creatine chelate though. I personally use Green MAG.

Creatine has several other benefits than just making you bigger. It helps with strength and muscle endurance as well.

I've personally had little problem w/ bloating.

However, the real beauty with creatine lies in it's pricepoint. If you try it and are unfortunate enough to experience bloating to a point that it makes things undesireable for you, you can just stop. The extra water you're retaining will likely subside quickly enough. The low price will make it much easier to not worry about wasting it.

I'd also agree that monohydrate is the better choice. It's got the science, it's the cheapest, and it's been around the longest.