As with any supplements, you should only take if you are active with working out. If you have a lot of rest days during the week because you don't have time to work out or whatever the case may be, don't take creatine. It won't really do you much good. You have to be dedicated to see the results. Keep in mind that your heart is the muscle that works all the time, while you're alive anyway. That means that it will affect the size of your heart along with the strength. If you feel any kind of pressure on the left side of your chest after taking creatine for a couple of weeks or so, back off of the recomended dosage, work out more often so that it is more evenly distributed to other muscles or just completely stop taking it. You may not have room for heart growth and the pain is, well, you get it.

I've been working out a long time (since high school, over 10 years ago), and i've been a pretty solid 200 lbs for that whole time. I plateaued, and it seemed like no matter how hard I worked, or what workout I tried, I never really put on any mass, or lifted heavier weights. I was in shape, but not very big, and no amount of work seemed to help.<br /><br />I have never supplemented before, and this was the first time I have ever tried creatine. I purchased this item, as well as the bodytech whey tech protein powder. Within 4 weeks, I had gained 10 lbs, yet I'm actually a little leaner than I was before. Every last one of my lifts is up at least 5 lbs, some are up 10-15 lbs. After 10 years of getting (almost) nowhere, to put on 10 lbs of mostly muscle in 4 week is unreal. I don't know if it's the creatine or the protein or both, or maybe it's just a placebo and neither one of them really do anything... but I don't care. I'm lifting more and gaining mass, and these two items are the only change I've made to my routine. In my book, they work.<br /><br />This stuff seems to mix really well, and dissolves almost instantly in water. Sometimes a very small amount settles in the bottom of the cup, but just shake it a bit and it dissolves again (or at least is suspended in fluid long enough to drink it). I would recommend using some sort of juice or milk instead of water though. It's supposed to be tasteless, and it is for the most part, but it leaves an odd bitter aftertaste that lingers for quite a while. I mix it with milk and the protein powder, shake vigorously, and it tastes great.

Having tried many of the flavored creatine blends, I wanted to go simple and just get pure creatine monohydrate and mix up my own. I find it suits my taste better and is more economical. Don't expect it to taste like heaven, as it is powdered creatine and that just doesn't taste great on its own. Can't blame any specific brand for that. Keep in mind that if you haven't taken creatine before at all, you may need to slowly work yourself up to the 5g serving as your stomach may not initially tolerate it well. Also, though it is popular to go through a load phase, most research I've read indicates this is not necessary and just makes you use more creatine (costs more $$). Once you're in a 5g a day routine, you should see results if you lift heavy. That said, do your own research please and don't rely solely on advice you read on an Amazon review!

I work out hard and I lift heavy and I am also a vegetarian/vegan. I was always scared of creatine because I never wanted to swell or bulk or gain weight from a supplement. After a couple of years of working out, I realized that I should try creatine. I read all about over loading and all that stuff but I decided not to do that, I just take 1 serving after my work outs in my smoothie. I cannot taste it but I can tell you that IT WORKS. I notice that I am lifting heavier and upping my weights much quicker then I ever was before creatine. I have no gotten puffy, or gained any 'bad' weight. I do think I gained 2lbs but this was muscle since all of my clothes fit the same, if not better then before. Most creatine supplements are garbage, cut with fillers and unnecessary junk. If you do choose to try creatine look for something that is 100% creatine like this product is. There is nothing in this but creatine and that is how it should be.

I'm not even sure where to begin. I'm so disappointed with this company and their crappy product that they're pushing. First of all, my most recent order of this crap didn't look or smell like the one that I've had before. There's 20+ different known types of creatine out there and I'm wondering which one I really got. What I got in this order was not monohydrate because it would have worked. This stuff that I have now is more finely ground and has somewhat of a strong odor to it. My previous order was nearly odorless and it always kicked in near the week and a half to two week point. And the strength gains were so intense that it was simply amazing. With this garbage in the cabinet, I've been taking this stuff every day for nearly a month and I've not experienced any strength gain at all. Right now, I'm at day 25 and still to no avail. NOTHING! It's still a struggle to lift a certain weight a certain number of times. That should be easy work at this point.<br /><br />Now I'm thinking it's either one of three things or a variety of such: I either wasted my money on a placebo, a different and less effective kind of creatine or something in my body has changed dramatically over the course of a few months. From what I can tell, my body isn't much different than it was a few months ago. Well, it's more muscular of course because I work out as much as I can. So, I'll cancel out that possibility and narrow it down to the placebo or the other kind of creatine. I haven't tried a loading phase yet but if I do not notice any gains after my next workout, I certainly will start loading to see if that will make any kind of difference. If loading finally makes it work, I'll go back and edit this review but if it doesn't I will leave it at one star. The quick shipping and the company name was all that I've noticed that was the same from my previous order.

This is one of the best Creatine products I've used. It dissolves very well (with just a little bit of grit left in the glass) compared to many of the other products that are a serious pain for dissolution. I've tried four brands now, and I'm going back to this one.