PHASE I: Creatine Loading

Body Weight (lbs.) 190 or less 191 to 220 221 and up Daily Servings 4 5 6 Total Daily 20 25 30

Aggressively pursue Phase I on consecutive days (one day right after the other) and don't be surprised if you experience a rather dramatic lean body mass (muscle) gain of 2-4 pounds after 5 to 7 days of Creatine loading. Next, heres . . . Four Hot Tips for Maximum Muscle Tissue Hydration Loading 1.Never allow a Creatine dosage to stand (after being mixed) for more than 10-15 minutes. Drink the beverage immediately (while the Creatine powder is suspended in the liquid) and you wont have to deal with the Creatine residues settling on the bottom and sides of the glass. This can rob you of receiving a full 5-gram serving of the Creatine powder that is so necessary for cell voluminizing or cell hydration. 2. A Creatine drink or beverage should be consumed at least 30 minutes prior to or 2 hours after the consumption of a major high-protein meal (or replacement drink such as

MET-Rx by MET-Rx USA, Mypolex Plus Deluxe by EAS, Rx-Fuel by Twinlab, or Lean Body by Labrada Bodybuilding Nutrition) and/or high-protein snack. Proteins as well as hot teas and coffee (which contain caffeine) kick up stomach acids, which ultimately limit the maximum absorption of Creatine into the muscles. Speaking of hot drinks . . . 3. Never allow a Creatine beverage to be microwaved (nuked) because doing so breaks down the molecular structure and solubility of the Creatine powder. 4. Depending on your bodyweight and which phase (I, II, III) of the Powdered Creatine Plan you are using, always consume a dosage or serving (per particular phase instruction) within one-half hour upon the completion of a workout and always before you load up on the amino capsules.

PHASE II: Creatine Maintenance - Min. 30 days; Max. 45 days If your bodyweight is 190 pounds or less: Consume one serving (one level teaspoon = a 5-gram serving) of Creatine at two separate intervals (see Hot Tips 2 and 4 above) on the days you work out. On non-workout days, consume only one serving of Creatine. If your bodyweight is between 190 and 220 pounds: Consume one serving of Creatine at three separate intervals on scheduled workout days. Tip: Consume 3 to 8 grams of Creatine right after the workout. On non-workout days, consume one serving twice at separate intervals. If you weigh over 220 pounds, consume one serving of Creatine at four separate and distinct intervals on scheduled workout days. On non-workout days, consume 3 servings of Creatine at separate intervals.

PHASE III: Creatine Unloading Min. 15 days, Max. 30 days Bodyweight 190 or less: 3 grams (1/2 teaspoon+) of Creatine. Bodyweight 191 to 220: 4 grams (3/4 teaspoon) of Creatine. Bodyweight 221 and up: 5 grams (1 teaspoon) of Creatine. Every-Other-Day Creatine Strategy

At two separate intervals every other day (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15), consume the number of grams of Creatine appropriate for your bodyweight (see above). One-Day-A-Week Creatine Strategy Upon completion of the Every-Other-Day strategy and for the next couple of weeks (days 16 through 30), select one day out of each 7 and, at two separate intervals, consume the number of grams of Creatine appropriate for your bodyweight. Schedule the two servings on what you consider to be a heavy-duty training day. For me personally, for example, it would be the day I train chest, delts, and triceps as opposed to a workout day where I train back and biceps or even a leg workout. My post-recovery time, both biological and/or psychological, on pushing movements (i.e., bench presses, press behind neck) takes longer than on pulling movements (i.e., barbell rows, curls), so I take my Creatine servings on a pushing day

Upon completion of Phase III, Creatine Unloading, One-Day-AWeek strategy, you have three options to consider: 1. You can give your body (and wallet) a break and totally lay off from Creatine supplementation for 2-3 weeks. Creatine uptake levels in the skeletal muscles will decline (as will muscle torque/contractions and size) somewhat when you stop supplementing Creatine, but your levels will still be higher than the normal unsupplemented levels of 3.5-4 grams per kilo prior to initial Creatine supplementation use. Besides, if your day-to-day nutritional integrity includes red meat and fish, you're still going to be consuming 1 to 2 grams of Creatine daily. 2. Rather than taking a total layoff from Creatine supplementation (see Option 1),many power/bodybuilders will, upon completion of

Phase II, Creatine Unloading, begin a new Phase II, Creatine Maintenance, cycle. The logical progression of the TRIPLE PHASE: Powdered Creatine Plan would be as follows:

LOAD PHASE > MAINTENANCE PHASE > UNLOADING PHASE > MAINTENANCE PHASE > UNLOADING PHASE, etc. 3. The logical progression plan of Creatine supplementation cited above works well as long as there is no more than a total 30-day layoff. What happens if there is more than a 30-day total layoff (due to injury, sickness, vacation, etc.) from Creatine supplementation? In that case, youll have to begin all over again with Phase I, Creatine Loading, as previously detailed and then continue the cycle with Phase II and III. If you are looking to jump-start the loading process, then you might want to consider using a brief but intense Super Saturation Creatine Loading Phase.

The theory behind this unique loading strategy is to consume 4 to 6 equally divided servings of 5 to 10 grams each of Creatine Monohydrate for 3 to 5 consecutive days, according to the following chart