The Journey

Whoa…I totally didn’t even realize how much creatine I was taking in per day.  For some reason I thought that 1 scoop of green magnitude was only 5g’s of creatine.  I have been taking 1 FULL scoop (which is 10g’s) for quite some time now.  Now I think I know what attributes to my lower abdomen bloat.  For my bodyweight I should be only taking 2.5-5g’s a day.  Looks like I need to halve my serving from now on.  I wonder what effect this will have on my overall look.  I’ve always wondered because it seems that at the bodyfat I am at it would seem that my full abdominals would be showing.  It’s interesting to know when I go a full 24 hours without taking 1 FULL scoop of creatine my stomach is more defined.  This is a sure-fire sign that I neeed to reduce dosage.  So from now on it will be half a scoop.  God this will save a lot of damn money too!!!

So ever since I got back on creatine (Green Magnitude) I have noticed a few things good and not so good.  Here’s my list of Pros followed by my list of Cons:

Pros:

1. Recovery time is cut down tremendously.  I can workout harder and longer and go everyday (which I do).
2. Heavier lifts.  As long as the calories in my food intake are on par my lifts are astounding.  According to strength standards for my weight at the advanced level I should only be able to get about 220-225.  I maxed the other day at 238 (12 reps of 165)
3. Density in muscles.  With more water going to my muscles I have found that they look fuller and have more mass.
4. Hardly any fatigue.  This goes along with #1, but I felt like I should put this seperate because after a hard workout the next day I still feel great.

Cons

1. The most immediate thing I see on myself is the water bloating in my abdominal area.  As soon as I started taking creatine I saw my ab muscles fade rather quickly.  Over the thanksgiving break I didn’t have my creatine and within 4-5 days my abs were hard as rock.  Fortunately, we are in winter time now and I won’t really be taking my clothes off outside (unless I was a crazy bastard).  The only way to counteract this is not to drink just 1 gallon of water, but more like 2 gallons of water a day.  When I do that most of the bloat dissappears.  Most days I rarely can get that much water in me.  So for cutting purposes (when I start to cut again) it’s going to be bye, bye creatine.  Unless I can figure out a way to get 2 gallons every single day.  Ugh…
2. Tracking your weight because just a little bit more difficult.  Since there is a couple pounds of water, you have to account for that.

Other than that, there are no cons.  Honestly, I can deal with those cons.  Especially when bulking.  I just hate how much water I have to take in to be able to see my abs.  That’s a pain in the freaking ass.  Oh well, worth it though because I can train like a freaking mad man.

On a side note I’ve gained my first 1 1/2 pounds.  I hope to get to about 148-150.  I’m still doing a 30 minute jog at speed 5.2 everyday so when I start cutting again I won’t need to worry about getting used to the cardio thing.  Plus after a nice run I always feel great!

So I got my jug of White Flood today from bodybuilding.com.  I decided to follow the instructions and assess my tolerance by only taking 1 scoop before I lifted.  Let me just start first by saying this…whoa.  From start to finish there was not a moment where my intensity was below 110%.  Here’s a quick review in numerical format out of 10:

Intensity   10/10 (Every rep was pushed to the limit that my body could handle)
Endurance 10/10 (Uh….2 hours felt like 2 minutes, that says enough right there.)
Power 9/10  (I’m sure if I took 2 scoops I would have seen this to be 10/10, but 1 scoop is going to be enough for me.  Plus it saves me money

Focus 11/10  (If there is one thing that White Flood excels at it’s this.  As I stared down at the dumbbells my mind was completely 125% there.  Nothing else mattered, the world went away, then, the weights went up.)

Taste 10/10 (Contrary to what other reviews of this supplement said I found the taste of this to be yummy.  I used my shaker that I normally put protein shakes in and mixed perfectly)

Side Effects - Huh?  What side effects?  Oh you mean having the best lifting session of your life?  Oh yeah.

I thought there might be a hardcore coming down after I lifted, but as I sit here the pump just seems to gently go away.  I’m impressed.

I had wanted to try White Flood for so long, and now that I have the money, time, and discipline it seems to me I am going to go into uncharted territory for me as far as gains.

Overall Score - 5000000000000/10 

I have plenty of energy to get through my workouts but I was searching for something that will give me that extra edge and pump.  I want to be fully focused and hardcore.  I was about to buy White Flood today when I realized that maybe if I just drink 1 cup of coffee about 30 minutes to an hour before I lift that it would have the same results.  Any ideas, or thoughts?