[ichbinba]

it's not that it is nessessary to take it after lifting, you will just most likely have better results. with creatine you want to build up the amounts in the muscles. taking it before the workout and expecting results to show in that particular workout is sketchy at best. taking it after the workout with carbs goes under the same principal as taking your protein with carbs after workouts. After working out your muscles take on an insulin like effect and are much more receptive to uptake of nutrients. The carbs, in addition, produce an insulin release which will help drive the protein, and in this case creatine into the muscles. This allows for maximal uptake of creatine into the muscles helping build up an adiquate supply. Once you've built up creatine stores (couple weeks maybe) don't worry, the creatine you took after yesterdays workout will be there for the next one!

Hope that helped and was clear