Creatine Supplements
Creatine Supplements Introduction
This article provides a summary of the benefits of creatine supplements for athletes, sports men and women and bodybuilders, along with an overview of how creatine is made and the different types available.
What Is Creatine and what does it do?
Creatine is a naturally occurring acid which helps supply energy to your muscles. In simple terms, a higher amount of creatine in your muscles will provide more energy to your muscles, allowing you to lift slightly more weight for more reps, meaning that you can train to a higher than normal intensity. When combined with a good high protein diet, with a calorific surplus, you will gain significant additional muscle mass and strength in a couple of weeks, due to the increased training intensity. Whilst using Creatine, your muscles become super hydrated, meaning that 8-10 glasses of water per day are required to get optimum results and avoid dehydration. The increased water uptake in the muscles is partly responsible for the weight gain that will be noticed when using creatine supplements.
Where does Creatine come from?
Creatine can be produced by the body from certain amino acids (which make up protein), meaning that a whey protein shake could boost natural creatine production in the body. However, around 50% of the creatine in your body comes directly from food sources, mainly red meat. So, eating more red meat and supplementing with whey protein will boost creatine levels naturally, without using a creatine supplement. However, only small amounts of creatine will be acquired, compared with the optimum amount provided in a creatine supplement and supplementation provides much better results, without the need to eat excessive amounts of red meat. If you are a vegetarian, then your natural creatine levels will be lower than normal, so you will benefit most from creatine supplements.
Which Creatine Supplement is best?
Creatine Monohydrate has been around for years, has been used by millions of people, is tried and tested and works very well. Creatine Monohydrate is purer than ever now and the main side effects are muscle gain, stomach cramps and dehydration. However, If you drink plenty of water, then stomach cramps are less likely and you are left with the muscle gain! Dosage is usually 20g per day for 5 days (loading phase), followed by 5g per day (maintenance phase).
Creatine Ethyl Ester is an advanced type of creatine supplement, that doesn’t give stomach cramps and requires no loading phase, with dosage typically 2-4g per day.
Other creatine supplements include micronised creatine monohydrate (less stomach cramps), creatine and carnosine (enhances creatine effects) and Creatine and Nitric Oxide (enhances creatine effects and improves muscle pump and recovery)
Creatine Tips
Whichever creatine supplement you decide to buy, you will see muscular size and strength gains almost immediately, as long as you:
- drink 8-10 glasses of water per day
- consume a calorific surplus, i.e. 15 to 20 times your bodyweight in pounds, in calories per day, with 20 times for someone with a fast metabolism
- consume at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight, split between 6 or more equal meals, spread out evenly throughout the day
- sleep at least 8 hours per night
- perform high intensity anaerobic exercise 3-4 times per week, with sets lasting 30-40 seconds, i.e. 6-10 slow controlled reps per set
The net result of creatine supplementation is that when you stop using it, you will have already gained the muscular size and strength. Your muscles will not hold on to the additional water, so you may lose a little bit of weight, but this is normal and you will retain the extra muscle which was the original plan. A few weeks later, creatine can be used again for further muscle gain.
Note: As always, it is advised that you contact your GP for advice, before you start any new diet, training or supplementation programme.
Gareth
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