o_Hurley's Krea-Genic Log

[O-Train]

The creatine arrived today along with a nice workout bag, which I will be using and some other goodies. My first impression of the product is that it wouldn't stand out on a shelf among flashy colourful supplements. Although I personally really like the layout of the label and how straight forward the instructions are. Not gimmicky or full of useless information. I think it may get overlooked by a lot of the people who typically buy supplements.

I won't be taking other supplements aside from whey protein, dextrose, vitamins and minerals. I perform resistance training 3x per week and probably won't be doing any structured cardio during this log. If I perform any cardiovascular activity I will address that on a case by case basis.

Weight is roughly 220-225lbs. It fluctuates quite a bit throughout the day. I will try to start weighing myself every week at roughly the same time.

Measurements
Calves 16 1/2''
Thighs 29''
Abdomen (at naval) 37''
Arm Rt 17'' Lft 17 1/4''

I don't perform 1RM lifts or train specifically for strength but it is a good indication of my progress.

Starting lifts that I am using now:
Deadlifts 335x4
Box Squats 275x5
Incline Barbell Press 205x7+2=9
Standing Military Press 130x6+2=8

[O-Train]

Weight this morning was 222lbs. I'm going to stick to the recommended dose of 4 capsules (3g) per day. I was taking creatine monohydrate up until yesterday so I'm wondering if I'll see a difference in terms of water retention or anything else.

[O-Train]

Weight (at same time) this morning was 223lbs. Haven't noticed a difference in water retention between the monohydrate and the Krea-Genic. I don't think there should be if the dose is relatively similar. I had a little bit of nausea/upset stomach after taking 4 caps on an empty stomach before the gym. It went away and my workout went fine. Haven't noticed this again so far.

Did 30 minutes on a stationary bike yesterday.

[O-Train]

Weight at 9 AM was 222lbs. I feel like I'm losing fat, if only a little bit, while keeping weight steady. Did 40 minutes of stationary bike on the 12th. Workouts have been going well. I seem to have more energy during my workouts. I wouldn't say I feel any stronger but I don't feel as tired. I definitely need to drink more water than while not taking creatine and I feel thirsty a lot of the time.

I'm going to save measurements till the end. I have all of my workouts logged in a different thread so hopefully I should be able to keep most of my main lifts (keep progressing) and make a comparison over the 6 weeks.

[O-Train]

It's already been 3 weeks, hard to believe. Weight this morning at 9am was 224lbs. I have only noticed the upset stomach feeling 2 times so far. Both times were pre-workout with the full 3g serving. Wasn't anything serious. I've noticed that I am progressing better between workouts than normal. Not a big difference, but enough that I am not having to change my exercises very often (when I don't progress each workout the exercise is switched for another one). I also have noticed more energy at the gym and it is keeping me better focused on lifting. I am not sure how much of this can actually be atributed to the creatine product.

A lot of the time when a person takes something and they think their performance should be increased, it is. So I am probably experiencing placebo effect to some degree but I believe the product is also helping in a noticable way. If I thought otherwise I would definitely say so.

I did 30 minutes on a stationary bike yesterday. Cardio is going to increase soon because I need to start losing weight.

[O-Train]

Weight this morning was 223. Did 30 minutes on the bike yesterday. The last 2 days I have had an upset stomach to the point of noticable discomfort.

I havn't completely figured out what is causing it. First day it happened (June 28th). I had 1 1/2 cups oatmeal (uncooked), 1 1/2 cups 1% milk, 1 scoop whey protein, multivitamin, 3 caps (1000mg) fish oil, a banana and 2 caps of Krea-Genic creatine.

This morning (June 29) I had exactly the same thing for breakfast minus the fish oil and the banana. Same symptoms as yesterday (minus the fish burps I get from the fish oil). Felt like I was going to throw up, started salivating a lot more. It lasts about 5-10 minutes and then goes away.

I have taken creatine monohydrate products from several different companies and I havn't had any issues like this. Not sure what the cause would be.

[Timbo89]

ur pregnant, duh.

[O-Train]

Weight this morning at 9am was 221lbs. I havn't noticed the stomach problems since the last time it happened. As recommended by someone I'm trying to keep my water intake very high. I still get a bit of dry mouth and have to urinate all the time.

I've started dieting so my weight should be slowly dropping over the remaining couple weeks of this log. Hoping to maintain muscle while decreasing fat and still increase my lifts at the gym.

Very pumped to get to the gym tomorrow, the last week of training didn't go as planned.

[O-Train]

Workout went really well today. Weight is still dropping, but energy and strength feels great. I had a lot of drive in the gym today. I think this product is specificallly very beneficial for me. I use short recovery times (rest pause sets) which is very similar to the recommended workout on the Krea-Genic Website. So creatine helps a lot when I am going to failure, resting 30 seconds then going to failure again.

You really need to drink a lot of water with this product. More than with regular creatine. I think it is because of the sodium based buffers.

I have 5 more workouts to go before the end of 6 weeks. I did have to drop incline barbell press but I'll post up comparison lifts for the other ones and take measurements.

[cog]

I take it other creatine products have not impressed you very much,o_Hurley?

[O-Train]

I take it other creatine products have not impressed you very much,o_Hurley?

I have also found creatine monohydrate to be excellent. It's too hard to tell if there is a difference. There might be, but I'm not sure.

[O-Train]

Quick update. Weight this morning was 219 at 9am. Diet is going well, cardio is ~3x/wk, 30 minutes on the bike. Training legs tonight, should be fun.

[O-Train]

Weight at 9am was 217. I've really had to watch my water intake. If there is one thing I noticed the most about this product vs. creatine monohydrate it is that you really need to drink a lot of water. Couple more workouts still to go before the 6 week mark. Things have been going well so far.

[O-Train]

6 weeks is up. Time to look back and see how things went. Overall I enjoyed the product however I did have occasional stomach problems.

Weight this morning at 9am was 216lbs. I switched from bulking to dieting about half way though so I'm down 6lbs from my starting weight of 222lbs.

Starting Measurements:
Calves 16 1/2''
Thighs 29''
Abdomen (at naval) 37''
Arm Rt 17'' Lft 17 1/4''

6 Week Measurements:
Calves 16 1/2''
Thighs 28 1/2''
Abdomen (at naval) 36 1/2''
Arm Rt 17'' Lft 17 1/4''

Basically I maintained muscle and lost some fat.

I had to drop some exercises so I'll post up the starting and ending numbers of the ones I was able to keep using over the full 6 weeks. Numbers would have went up more if I had been more consistent and not started dieting. Also keep in mind that the way my program is structured I must make improvements on an exercise each and every time (reps or weight). I use a number of different workouts so each exercise is used every 6th workout.

Deadlifts 335x4 -> 355x2
Box Squats 275x5 -> 285x5
Leg Press 750x7+2=9 -> 800x6+3=9
Standing Military Press 130x6+2=8 -> 135x7+2=9
Seated Military Press 150x7+3=10 -> 155x8+2=10
Rolling Tricep Extensions (DB) 35pl x 7+3=10 -> 40pl x 6+3=9
One Arm DB Row 75pl x 7+3=10 -> 85pl x 6+2=8
Straight Barbell Curl 105x8+2=10 -> 110x7+2=9
(There are more, but it's not worth posting all of them).

My energy level in the gym was always good and my muscles felt full almost all the time. I just really had to watch my water intake and make sure it was high. I am still not sure if there is a noticable difference between this product and creatine monohydrate. The only thing I can say with certainty is that it caused me some stomach problems. With a product like creatine it's too hard for me to say that something works better than something else. At some point I will probably be switching back to regular creatine mono so perhaps then I will be better able to notice a difference.

Thanks again to Weider for giving me the opportunity to test out their new product. I think that for anyone who uses creatine on a regular basis Krea-Genic is worth trying. You may or may not notice an improvement over other creatine products but I personally like to form an opinion based on first hand experience.

[O-Train]

I just wanted to add something I've noticed. I think some of the stomach discomfort I was feeling in the morning can be attributed to my multi vitamin. I've noticed lately (while not taking Krea Genic or any creatine) that sometimes after taking a multi vitamin I will get mild stomach pain/cramps. In the mornings I would take Krea Genic at the same time as my multi vit so possibly the two things in combination made it worse. I'm not sure, but I believe some of the problems I was having are at least partially the result of my multi vitamin.

[69challenger]

^^^I used to have the same problem with the mulit. I started splitting it in half and taking the second half at dinner....worked for me:)

[O-Train]

^^^I used to have the same problem with the mulit. I started splitting it in half and taking the second half at dinner....worked for me:)

Thanks for the advice 69C. I may have to give that a try.