yes, the cycle method is the way to go. creatine is made naturally in the body, but if you use it for more than a cycle, you'll stop making it. i used the liquid creatine before...worked well. oh, and that loading up stuff ppl tell you, don't bother - i started on it w/o loading up for a week and did fine. as for the metabolism question...supplements like xenadrine or hydroxycut speed up metabolism. just get the ephedrine free kind.

here's a site you might wanna look at:
www.sruonline.com