Reddit mentions of Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Monohydrate Powder, Unflavored, Keto Friendly, 400 Servings (Packaging May Vary)

Reading your responses, I just have to say - Wow... You've done WAY more research for your son than most new guys do before they post for themselves! Amazing job! It sounds like you've got a great base of knowledge and are anxious to learn.

To answer your question - The reason people don't recommend mass gainers is not only because they are expensive, but because the majority of the calories are from a very inexpensive simple carb (maltodextrin). When you are making your own, you have control over everything. You can add healthy fats like PB and olive oil. You can add healthy complex carbs like oats. You can add fruit (bananas, berries). You can add vegetables (spinach). You can add things like chia/hemp seeds. You can control the sweetness with honey. One scoop protein, or two? You decide! It's just so flexible, and gives you way more nutritional value than a mass gainer will.

My strategy has always been to track my meals for the day. By night time, I look at the remaining calories, carbs, fats, and protein, and I make a shake tailored for that day to fill in all the gaps.

As for creatine, 5g of Creatine Monohydrate daily is what is recommended. I like ON Micronized Creatine. $40 for 380 (THREE-EIGHTY!) servings.

I buy Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey, as well as their unflavored Creatine Monohydrate.

ON's gold standard whey is widely accepted to be high quality, as well as one of the less expensive brands. I personally use the milk chocolate and double rich chocolate flavors. And creatine monohydrate is just creatine monohydrate, no matter how you slice it.

I just bought this Big Chungus off of Amazon myself

To answer your direct question, a study found no accelerated loss in strength or muscle mass 12 weeks after stopping creatine supplementation and moving to reduced-volume training. I'm not aware of any studies that go beyond 12 weeks. The participants were also older men (age 77), so the impact may or may not be the same for someone younger, or for someone who maintains the same level of intensity in their workouts. See study here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15263100

The indirect question raised by your post is creatine cost. Simply put, creatine is one of the cheapest and best value supplements in existence, particularly given that is so heavily supported by well-designed research. A 380-serving tub of Optimum Nutrition unflavored creatine monohydrate powder is currently $39.69 on Amazon, with free shipping. That's more than a year's worth of creatine at less than 10-cents per day. That's about $2.90 per month, assuming an average of 30 days in a month.

There are probably even better deals to be found from other bulk suppliers, but I generally like ON products and have Amazon Prime so I went with something easy. Find it here: http://www.amazon.com/Optimum-Nutrition-Micronized-Creatine-Unflavored/dp/B000GIQS34/

Amazon says it is half off, but according to camelcamelcamel the highest it has sold for in the past 3 years is $54.48. And it looks like it averages around $38. Not really a deal (unless amazon is showing you a different price than me - $36.94).

Cheaper to buy in bulk.

Instead of getting 150g of creatine monohydrate from ON for $8.96 (17g creatine/dollar) he can get 2,000g of creatine monohydrate from ON for $37.79 (53g creatine/dollar).

Source: Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GIQS34/

Plus you save on shipping if you don't have a website that offers free shipping like Amazon (Amazon gives free standard shipping on certain products and free 2 day shipping on certain products if you have a prime account, which you can get for a 30 day trial free).

I use this Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Monohydrate Powder, Unflavored, 2000g https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GIQS34/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_UCFEAb2TDJN10

I just used amazon and found the highly rated one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GIQS34/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_bFpdn_c_x_3_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=3W0GEHGDXSPV6QZHSFJC&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=9e116c2a-041f-5090-aa8b-4d61d62aed7a&pf_rd_i=3773431

I use ON Creatine just because its not too expensive and I get my protein from ON as well. 10g certainly wont hurt either way, but I would try taking less and see if it still gives you the desired effects. You could always try mixing it with food if the texture is too apparent in liquid.

Most of what I feel in the preworkout is the caffeine, I take about 3/4 of a serving and thats over 300mg of caffeine which is a ton for me so I usually only take it if I'm really feeling sluggish beforehand. It also gives me a really good pump, I'm not sure if it helps with any lifts but I certainly enjoy it.

https://www.amazon.com/NUTRITION-Micronized-Creatine-Monohydrate-Unflavored/dp/B000GIQS34?ref_=Oct_MWishedForC_3773431_2&pf_rd_r=XRPXTVAK956V950HNJ4T&pf_rd_p=8f2e8a47-0e12-538a-8d62-349662e190d2&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=3773431&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER


Don't bother with the flavored crap, that turns it from 0 calories to 150~200 with carbs to deal with. It doesnt really taste like anything mixed with 12~oz. Chalky maybe?

[Like this stuff] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GIQS34/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

What brand/site/anything do you recommend for Creatine? Looking particularly for the best pricepoint (bigger bulk). I'm in Canada, so shipping is also a consideration. I've looked on bodybuilding.com and amazon. This is the best I've found so far, got anything better? :)

It's half off and even cheaper than that right now.