Creatine

On Tuesday, I went to Walmart. I was just shopping with my dad, but I remembered that I was running low on my protein mix, so we went to the pharmacy section. Beside the protein mix was creatine. It was in a tub very similar to the protein that I have. My dad told me that he thought it was proven bad for you, but there it was on the shelf, so it must pass certain standards somewhere.

I bought it. It was fruit punch flavored, so I decided to mix it with water, not milk. I started drinking it on my way to school, so that I would have extra energy during my workout. It tasted like bubblegum, not fruit punch. Maybe I didn't use enough of it for the amount of water I put in. I drank it all, and then went to the weight room.

I started with hang cleans. This is where I have weight about equal to my own weight on a bar, and I hold the bar while standing. I then bend down a little, and then push up with my legs, and then my arms, and catch the bar at my chest. I decided to put on a little more weight than normal, but not too much that I wouldn't be able to lift it. I then bent a little, and pulled up as hard as I could. It moved, but not nearly far enough. I regained my poise, and tried again. I couldn't get it close to high enough.

I decided that I just had to warm up. After all, I don't usually start with that much weight. I took off 50 lbs (It had been 185, and I weight 150). I knew that I could easily do this amount. I had once lifted 135 for 12 reps. I got ready, and lifted. The only problem was that the bar wouldn't go high enough for me to catch it. I decided that today wasn't my day, and quit. I then did hand curls on the machine that has been used only rarely as a joke.

I wondered why I couldn't lift that day. Maybe I slept funny, or I had worked too much the previous day. It took my possibly 10 minutes to figure remember that I had drank creatine that morning. I found the culprit.

But Since, I have though differently. The next day, I tried again and failed to do hang cleans. Bench press, on the other hand, was perfectly easy. I also noticed while attempting hang cleans that my back hurt a little. It wasn't very painful, but it definitely hurt the amount of weight I could pull up. I figured that my back was the problem, so the creatine must be fine.

Tomorrow, I will drink creatine, and then a protein shake afterward. Hopefully it helps.