Strength / Weight Training

I’ve just started taking creatine, have people found that the bloat and stomach problems remain, or is it something that your body adjusts to?
3g dose of creapure morning and before bed - I didn’t fancy a more intense loading phase because of potential teething issues like this. Will drop to just morning dose in a week or so.

Any advice?

Maybe drop the mg a bit?

I've never had massive bloat or stomach problems so can't speak to them, but may be worth trying a different brand.

First time I tried creatine was last year and had a bit of bloating and stomach pain. Stopped for a few days and then resumed and it was fine from then onwards. This year, started again with the same product and have just felt bloated all the time (despite following the same use pattern). Have given up now which is a pain because last year I really noticed the benefits!

I went with creapure specifically because it’s supposed to minimise side effects by virtue of having no extra shit in it. And I’ve got a kg of it now, so might as well endure!

First time I tried creatine was a few years ago & felt a bit bloated at the time, maybe a bit constipated too - back on it again (different brand) & been totally fine, no idea why but making decent progress so will keep on it and see how it goes, I'm sceptical that any one brand is different to the next, might be wrong though!

Still trying to get used to the wild face tingles from the pre workout though, apparently that's from b-alanine - it's supposed to help buffer lactic acid build up so again, I'll keep at it & trust it's doing something beneficial.

Managed to add almost 10kg onto my bench (3x5) since Christmas so something seems to be working, early nights are probably the most important factor though.

Went back in today after my osteopath said I should probably get back on it. Felt OK all things considered with a reload, but for the time being have gone from 5x5 to 2x5 aka Stronglifts Lite. Think my body will thank me for it, and I guess something is always better than nothing

Versa straps- is rhere an alternative that gives similar performance but isn’t quite so $!?

I know the answer to this but the only way to get better at pull-ups is pull-ups right?

They make me feel fat and weak.

Yes mainly. You can do assisted pulls with bands and slow negatives if you jump up. Lat pull downs can help a bit, but nothing is the same as the compound from pull ups.
I used to hate them but persevered and actually enjoy them now

I found volume really useful for building these. Just throw in an easy superset (stop the second it starts to get slow) straight after basically anything thats not already a pulling movement. Even if it's just 2-3 reps, it adds up to 30+ a session real quick.

fat and weak.

All of us

:)

Thanks all, I can’t do more than four or five and they trigger my rotator cuff injury something rotten.

@Ptown I saw a video about Russian military training today just doing lots of small sets of 2-3 reps to build up strength so I’ll definitely take your advice on board. Little and often to get a base fitness.

A mate had a dip bar in his house and every time he passed it, he had to do ten dips. Needless to say, his chest was ripped.

Try neutral grip, less internal rotation may help lessen the rotator impingement.

Lat pull downs, rows, assisted pull ups - all help.

they trigger my rotator cuff injury

Which ones? Pull up motion? Also, if it hurts to do it, don't do it. No point hurting yourself for an exercise.

I have golfers elbow and I find that rows aggravate it but a 'bicep' pulldown alleviates it. So more bicep pull downs.

For rotator cuff see about getting some rings and doing pull ups on them, allowing joints to move as they desire in a pull up should make it less painful.

and yes the long and short of it is "do more pull ups" with a side dish of "get stronger at pulling in general".

If you can do 4 or 5 then yeah best method will be just doing more pull ups probably. You could try greasing the groove - doing extremely submaximal sets (like, 1 pull up) many times a day. Like, 10-20 times, but spread throughout the day.

I found success in pyramid sets. Do a rep, rest for a short period, do 2 reps, rest, etc, until you fail a set, and then do back down. e.g. 1-2-3-4-5-6(fail@5)-5-4-3-2-1, and for the sets going back down add in negatives when you can't complete a rep.

If you want to really prio them you could look at the russian fighter pull up program https://www.strongfirst.com/the-fighter-pullup-program-revisited/

Agree that bands / negatives etc are best but there are a few other things you can do that might help ease the load. Some ideas: https://meghancallawayfitness.com/my-blog/learn-pull-ups-with-these-8-exercises/

Also, the little and often method (the calisthenics crew sometimes call it "greasing the groove") is definitely good for increasing volume, but obvs be careful if you've got rotator issues. Pull up bar across a door frame etc make this easy to do.

Do you have to do rotator specific physio (and if not, worth adding some to your workout)? I snapped the back of my shoulder joint off years ago, and have memories of having to do interminable number of "pull the exercise band across your body" variants to build the muscles back up.

Edit: just seen @zooeyzooey's post - what he said!

I mean, if your rotator cuff is hurting, fix that first!

But I’ve been super setting bicep curls then chin ups, to achieve a better bias on the back muscles. It’s definitely helped improve strength at chin-ups overall.

Same.
This year I just do 2 pull ups in between every exercise I do at the racks. Will generally mean I accumulate 40+ each time. I went from like 5 in a row to 10. Not huge progress but it has helped and is basically no extra effort on my part

I need to add chins back in. Going from lithe rockclimber repping out weighted pull ups to chunky strongman who can do a max of 2 bodyweight pull ups means they hit me right in the ego.

10

That's a dream world for me. I'll try this greasing of a grove I think.

I made a habit of doing at least a few pull ups almost every day, when I got a pull up bar at home when covid hit and have mostly continued that since. Sometimes a few sets spread out during the day. That got me from like 5 to a comfortable 8, but not really further. Now recently I've been concentrating on them a bit more, doing several sets in a workout and that does feel like it gives me more now. Though just more volume on the separate sets throughout the day would probably do it too, doing little more often. Now I'm doing like 50+ all together about three times a week. I just bought Versa Gripps, as my sweaty fingers are slipping during the last sets, as the gym doesn't allow chalk.

Yep- I feel that (despite definitely not being a strongman of any description ).

Get envious of the climbers/ amateur MMA people / calisthenics people repping endless strict pull ups , compared to the few I can do strict .

Keep meaning to try the little but often approach. but cant quite work out how to fit it in with regular gym sessions going heavy

All the while, I'm looking to get beyond just the 1 strict form pullup.

Even then, I need to do a little jerk motion just to start.