CON-CRĒT Concentrated Creatine Blog

In POWER Magazine’s most recent online “One to Watch” section, you can read an impressive profile on powerlifter Eric Kupperstein, who has won many national and world titles, and has set and holds many national and world records. At under 132 lbs, Eric currently competes in the USAPL, with his best raw competition lifts in the 60 kilogram weight class (132.25 lbs.) at: squat: 197.5 kg (435 lbs.), bench press: 110 kg (242 lbs.), deadlift: 262.5 kg (578 lbs.), totaling: 567.5 kg (1251 lbs.).

From Cohasset, MA, Eric did extremely well this year at the Arnold Classic, and won the CON-CRET Raw Challenge event in his weight class.    Eric’s overall lifting results totaled 1,234 lbs, which helped him claim the title as the #1 lifter in the men’s raw division with USAPL (United States Powerlifting Association).   As his lifting preference of choice, the “raw lifting” event is a newer and exciting venue, where there is no supportive gear, no bench shirts, knee wraps, braces, etc.  Under the Wilke’s formula (which is based on your body weight composition and what you can lift) Eric was awarded best lifter of the event.  Competing in the 148 lb weight class, his results included a 435 lb Squat, 236 lb Bench and an impressive 562 lb Deadlift.

In addition to being an extremely successful powerlifter, Eric is an average every-day guy in his 40s who is juggling work (as an attorney of his own firm in Boston), along with his family.  When asked about his nutrition plan, Eric is quoted stating, “As a competitor in the lightest weight classes, my bodyweight needs to be monitored.  As such, I tailor my eating habits based upon feedback I receive from the scale and how I feel physically. I do not count calories and/or follow any specific eating regimen. The only constant is my use of Con-Cret. It is one of the very few supplements that I take and I consider it to be a staple of my nutrition plan.”

To see more of this exciting article, go to http://www.thepowermagazine.com/power-exclusive/131-one-to-watch-eric-kupperstein.html

CON-CRET was one of the major sponsors for the Strongman Competition at the Los Angeles Fitness Expo this past Winter, 2010.  Pictured here in the June issue of IRONMAN Magazine, is the familiar CON-CRET ring of stones, one of the six grueling strongman events over the course of two days.  Fifteen professional strongmen from four countries participated in this amazing contest of the “world’s strongest men”.  The top three received invitations to the Mohegan Sun Grand Prix, and the overall champion, Nick Best, also received an invitation to compete in the 2010 Arnold Classic Strongman Competition.  CON-CRET also played a big role at The Arnold Classic in March 2010, as the sole sponsor of the CON-CRET Raw Challenge powerlifting event. 

Fancy, colorful labels?! Amazing claims of “instant strength” or “extreme physique enhancement”?!  What about provocative images of bulging muscles and sexy women…?!?!

What’s to keep a young weight lifter or gym rat from grabbing the “latest & greatest” product that’s being passed around at the gym BUT which may have harmful effects to their health or often turns out to NOT be all it’s cracked up to be?   These are REAL concerns and for college or professional athletes, these products (that may contain banned substances) could have some serious risks for their careers.

The following bullet points are taken from an article we posted back in August of 2009 entitled “Just Say ‘No’ to Steroids” – How to avoid purchasing sports supplements with hidden banned substances.  We have decided to re-post this list on its own because the sports supplement industry continues to be flooded with products that contain questionable ingredients, many of which are listed with “proprietary matrix” descriptions that leave the consumer confused and unclear as to the possible medical or doping control dangers of these “hyped” products.  What is the consumer supposed to believe about such labels? And how does the consumer make the right choice with thousands of sports supplements from which to choose? Here is a simple guideline to help you with your decision:

• Do not use sports enhancement or body building products marketed as containing pro-hormones, steroid-like substances, or that claim to alter the hormone (testosterone) profile of the consumer.  They can cause serious and permanent health damage.  Altering the Endocrine (hormone) Profile is VERY dangerous.  The body attempts to keep hormones in a careful balance and disrupting that balance can cause cancer, heart disease, liver damage, high blood pressure, and can even result in death.  Other serious health risks also include jaundice, increase in cholesterol and blood sugars, enlarged heart, heart attacks, strokes, and unstable mood swings (”roid rage”)infertility, impotency, severe acne, and baldness.  And of course, the ramifications for the collegiate, professional or amateur athlete who tests positive because of having taken products with illegal substances could mean partial suspension to complete termination of their competitive career.
•  Avoid products where companies have made claims or statements “to good to be true.”  Simply use logic and trust your instincts on hyped claims.  Supplement companies are not currently as closely regulated by FDA as some would like and therefore some companies make claims without effective scientific testing or safety data.  The only time the FDA gets involved is when there is a serious adverse reaction/death or evidence of the presence of a controlled substance – then the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) is called in.  But because there is little testing and regulation involved, little is known about the long-term health effects of some of these products. 
• Make sure claims made are backed by real science from recognized universities and institutions that have legitimacy in sports nutrition science. A product that promises to be an “extreme muscle mass volumizer” should have a legitimate (non-hyped) scientific explanation about how the compound is assisting your body and how you can obtain these results.    The science should be able to stand up to scrutiny by credentialed 3rd parties.
• Read labels carefully!  TheAmerican diet usually gets plenty of sugars, additives, and stimulants (caffeine, etc.) so you probably don’t need them in your supplements.   Some of the ingredients being put into products claim to effect a person’s insulin levels — like hormones, insulin levels are NOT something to disturb.  Altered blood sugar or insulin manipulation can result in diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and a variety of other very dangerous medical conditions.
• Companies do not always disclose all the ingredients on their labels.  Beware!  If the label makes claims that cannot be traced to listed ingredients, it can mean other additives or drugs are present or that there may be high levels of legal substances that are deemed illegal for competition above certain thresholds.
• Don’t ignore WARNINGS on labels.  Many companies will have a small description on the bottom of the label warning the consumer of possible dangers from taking their product.  This is to cover themselves from legal allegations should problems occur for the consumer.  These should not be ignored!  For instance, if the product reads: “Athletes or anyone subject to banned substance testing should check with your governing body before using this product,” that’s a pretty good indication that the product may have unlisted banned substances or excessive levels of restricted substances.   Additionally, products should not have adverse effects to any pre-existing medical conditions. 
• Make sure the products you are taking comply with all drug and supplement standards issued by professional and amateur athletic organizations.  Check and see if the company has performed Doping Control testing on the product and/or on athletes taking the product.
• Make sure the products were manufactured according to cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) and have QC / QA processes for safety and purity.  Does the company have a reports of QC / QA analysis performed?

CON-CRET’s pure concentrated creatine is safe and natural.  It contains only ONE ingredient.  And it offers both athletes and work-out enthusiasts dramatic results in strength, endurance. and recovery.  There are no illegal substances in CON-CRET.  As a matter of fact, no other legal supplement has proven to be as effective in increasing athletic performance (strength, endurance and recovery) as CON-CRET. 

CON-CRET is backed by real science from two major universities, with study designs and results displayed on our website.  Because CON-CRET offers dramatic results backed by outstanding science, CON-CRET users can feel good about what they’re taking.  Good luck with your decision!

Team CON-CRET® member Travis Ortmayer was featured in an article entitled: “Static Strongman Power: A guide to increasing base strength and explosiveness for  the ‘heavy’ Strongman Competition,” in the MARCH/APRIL 2010 issue of POWER Magazine (pages 38 - 41). 

Travis has a successful career as a professional Strongman competitor, with many admirable titles including “2008 CON-CRET Stones of Strength Champion” and “Rings of Stone World Record Holder”.  Here are some excerpts taken from this great article. 

“I have spent more than half my life in the gym. Ever since I was 12 years old, using plastic 5-lb weights and a sawed-off broomstick for a bar (which my mom didn’t appreciate), I knew my life would revolve around training in one form or another.  Nine years later, my life was changed forever when I was thrown into a Strongman Competition.”

“This marked the beginning of a new life for me as an athlete, but I was faced with a completely new challenge: How to get brutally strong yet still be explosive and maintain that energy output over an extended period of time. I have been training for Strongman competitions — and trying to answer that question — for the past seven years.”   

Here’s a snap-shot of one day (a Saturday) in Travis’ training log for The World Strongman Competition at The Arnold Classic this past March:

“As always, warm up with active stretches and some sort of light lifting just to get your blood flowing. Due to my collapsed arches, I always make sure to warm up my feet and lower legs as much as possible to avoid injuries not only to my feet, ankles and knees, but to the hips and low back, as well. Heavy Strongman training is much more taxing to the central nervous system and joint structures of the human body than any other form of lifting due simply to the fact that not only do you have to lift a weight in a vertical plane of motion, but you also have to move that heavy load from one point to another in the fastest time possible. This is why a proper warm-up is crucial on these event days.

For a really heavy contest I will train three to four events on Saturday out of the following groups:

Truck pull: This event is a brutal way to start your workout because it severely taxes leg and arm strength, as well as your cardiovascular system. It is also a great way to work the lower leg muscles.

Arm-over-arm rope pull: Like the truck pull, this event trashes your CV system. But I like this event when preparing for the Arnold because working with the rope really helps my grip on the axle for that all-important clean.

Farmer’s walk: I do two speed runs with 305 lbs. in each hand for 80 feet, then 465 lbs. for 45 feet.

Yoke walk: One or two sets of 800 to 1,000 lbs. for 60 to 80 feet.

(I rotate this with heavy farmer’s walks, since doing both is too much for my feet.)

Atlas stones: My personal favorite! One week I will load my 460-lb. stone to 48 inches for as many reps as I can until I feel like I’m going to tear all the skin off my arms. The next week I load my 23-inch diameter 520-lb. stone for reps. I am trying to work up to four in a row with this beast, but my best as of yet is two.

All these events are done against the clock to simulate contest conditions.”

Of course Travis talks a little about his diet and supplementing program as a large part of his training and preparing for a big competition.  He states, “This program is tough on the body and recovery is crucial, so proper diet and rest are very important.”  He lists CON-CRET as one of his main supplements which he takes pre-workout for maximum performance.

To see the article in its entirety along with some great photos of Travis (in action) in his events, pick up the latest issue of POWER Magazine, www.thepowermagazine.com.

Many fans of CON-CRET® who are athletes, bodybuilders or workout enthusiasts have tried other creatines in the past and are new to CON-CRET’s unique Micro-dosing® formula.  If they have used other forms such as creatine monohydrate, they are familiar with taking large amounts of the product the first couple of days or weeks (referred to as loading), and then cycling-off for a week or two to give their bodies a rest. Therefore when they try CON-CRET creatine hydrochloride (C-HCl) with its unique Micro-dosing® quality where only small amounts are needed, 750 mg or ¼ tsp (1 small scoop or 1 capsule) per 100 lbs of body weight, they are almost in disbelief that a creatine product can work so well and have such amazing results in small doses.  There are some common questions these new CON-CRET users share, such as: “How much CON-CRET should I take?” and “Should I take it before or after my work-out, or both?” There is not one common answer to these questions, rather it depends on a number of variables related to each individual’s supplement needs and workout routine.

People who supplement with creatine already know the benefits they receive in performance enhancement, including increased strength and endurance in high-intensity sports or work-outs, as well as muscle recovery and repair.  And most understand that the main function of creatine is to provide our muscles with more energy by recharging ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) to help our bodies work stronger and longer when our muscles start to fatigue. But of course it makes sense for people to question how much THEIR INDIVIDUAL BODY actually needs to sustain this amount of energy for a specific activity such as an intense work-out or playing in a competitive sport.

So how much does your body need? To find the best answer to this question, the main things to consider are body weight, diet, work-out intensity, duration of workout, and the time of day the person is exercising and/or strength training.  Let’s look at body weight first.  As mentioned above, CON-CRET’s Micro-dosing suggests that you take small amounts based on body-weight, only ¼ tsp (750 mg) is required for 100 lbs of body weight.  Therefore if you weigh 185 lbs, you would take 2 scoops of CON-CRET powder (which is also equivalent to two capsules) an hour before your work-out, practice, game, or any other athletic activity.  This will help you sustain your energy level, offering you steroid-like results in strength, endurance and recovery in a safe, natural banned substance-free product for the duration of your work-out.  However if you find that you are over-expending yourself in the weight room with high weights and multiple reps, or playing in high-intensity sports events lasting over an hour, you may consider increasing your dosage to another scoop or so.  This should really be decided by the individual’s needs, and how you personally feel during or after your work-out.  You can start off with the recommended amount and gradually increase the dose if you find that your work-outs have become more explosive and/or are lasting longer.  This will give you a greater amount of creatine for your body to process and convert into energy for the duration of the physically demanding activity you’re engaged in.

Both diet and the time of day that a person works out also plays a huge role.  No athlete or active person should ever rely on supplementation alone, and should strive for a protein-rich, healthy diet as an important means of creatine and energy.  Our bodies naturally produce some creatine (about 50% of what we require each day) and the additional source of creatine that is needed is taken in through animal proteins such as beef, chicken, pork, and fish.  However, most of us do not get the daily requirement in our daily diet, and/or we burn the limited amount of energy obtained from these creatine-rich foods when we challenge our bodies in exercise and explosive work-outs.  Also, if you are working out early morning or evening, the timing of your work-outs can play a factor in how much additional creatine your body needs for maximum performance.  For those athletes that work out in the early hours when most others are still asleep, these athletes do not have time for a substantial creatine-rich meal before they start physically challenging their bodies.  Their bodies have gone for hours, at least 8 or more through the night, and are now lacking important amino acids and energy sources that would normally be obtained from a morning meal.  These athletes are the perfect candidate for a creatine supplement before their work-out, and possibly more than the recommended dose of CON-CRET.  This will help re-charge ATP in a quick and efficient, as well as convenient manner for strong, intensive work-outs when the body has been at a state of rest through the night.  Supplementing with CON-CRET can also accelerate muscle recovery for the night owl who works-out late at night and has depleted himself of vital nutrients.  Sitting down to a large meal before bed to recharge your body with the essential amino acid supplies lost during exercise is not always ideal.

As you can see there is not one specific answer to these common questions on dosing.  There is the recommended Micro-dosing of CON-CRET, but if you are questioning whether you should be taking more than a ¼ tsp (750 mg) for every 100 lbs, consider the various factors mentioned above and assess your own individual needs.  CON-CRET does not cause any side effects typical of other creatine forms, such as creatine monohydrate (CM) including bloating, cramping, dehydration, and GI distress.  Therefore there is no need to worry if you increase your dose.  CON-CRET is pure and safe concentrated creatine hydrochloride proven by two major universities to be 59X more soluble than other creatines, with a 70% greater plasma uptake.  Therefore you can be rest assured, if you are new to CON-CRET’s Micro-dosing, that this extremely potent creatine’s smaller doses do indeed give athletes improved results.  You know your body better than anyone else, and taking CON-CRET allows you an advantage of dosing specific to your own needs.  You are the final judge of what dose works best for you.