Side Effects During Creatine Cycling Off Phase

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Creatine is naturally produced by the body. However, persons who require gains in performance and muscle can take creatine supplements to boost their efforts. The supplements help the individuals to gain muscle during loading, maintaining and creatine cycling off phases. The first two phases involve rapidly saturating the muscle cells and ensuring the levels of creating are maintained respectively. The cycling off phase also known as the washout phase involves a resting period where an individual does not take any creatine. The phase is responsible for cleaning the body and ensuring that the body regains its own natural creatine production. The excess production is excreted from the body through urine. An individual may suffer some side effects during the washout out period.

Weak muscles

Creatine is stored in the skeletal muscles and increases the muscle’s ability to produce excess amount of energy. Therefore, the supplement can help increase an individual’s work out intensity and muscle strength. If the levels of creatine in the body start to diminish, the muscles may weaken. The weak muscles may not produce enough energy demanded during exercise. This can lead to a decrease in muscle strength and exercise intensity. Water is no longer drawn to the cells in the muscles thus a decrease in cell expansion. Weak muscles may not make workouts as explosive and an individual can feel loss of muscle strength.

Fatigue

Creatine transports energy to the muscle cells. The nutritional supplement reduces fatigue by transporting energy to cells of the individual. The loading and maintaining phases fuel the muscle cells to provide an individual with extra energy to improve muscle functions and give an energetic boost. The individual can have both muscle and performance gains with the supplement. If the individual cycles off, he or she may become fatigued and lack the extra energy workout beyond the normal muscle failure. Without creatine, an activity may become heavier for the individual during the creatine cycling off phase. For instance, a weightlifter may feel the weight begins to feel heavier because the creatine supply is diminishing and the muscles cannot keep up with the energy demand they are being supplied with.

Low creatine production

Being overdependent on creatine supplement can decrease creatine production in an individual’s body. Taking creatine gives the body surplus amounts of creatine. The high amounts of creatine can trick the body into believing that it is producing too much creatine and requires taking action to bring the levels under control. Therefore the body responds by limiting the natural production of creatine and decreasing the absorption of the supplement by the cells. Dependence on creatine may delay the body’s ability to synthesize creatine immediately. Therefore, a short term decrease of creatine production can be observed.

Weight loss

An individual may also lose some weight. This is because the muscles are usually fully dehydrated when taking creatine. When the levels of creatine decrease, the muscles may not hold water. The individual may suffer weight loss in the first several days. Loss of weight can be noticed during the first month of creatine cycling off phase.