Creatine Supplementation Explained

Creatine is a supplement that has been around for a long time. It has been used in the bodybuilding and sports training communities to help with building muscle and overall strength for decades. Lately this supplement has seemed to become a lot more popular in the mainstream media and social networks, and for good reason.

We regularly get questions regarding creatine supplementation, how it works, if it works, if it’s safe and how much to take, so here is everything you need to know about creatine and supplementing with it.

What is Creatine?

Creatine is an amino acid and we naturally get creatine through our diets from foods like meat, fish and some dairy, it’s just that it is in fairly low amounts. You would need to eat a lot of specific foods to get the amount of creatine needed for increased performance, which is why people supplement with it.

When there is a contraction in our muscles, energy is required and used to make that happen. This energy source is called ATP (adenosine triphosphate). When it gets used it breaks down into ADP (adenosine diphosphate), losing a phosphate. For it to be used as energy again it will need another phosphate to be converted back into ATP. This is where creatine comes in. Creatine will carry a phosphate and help with the conversion of ADP back into ATP. So, if you have more creatine in your muscles, it will help to convert more ADP back into ATP giving your muscles more energy for more muscle contractions.

During your workout this can translate into helping to add a few extra repetitions to an exercise that you might not have normally been able to do. These extra repetitions place more overall stress on the muscle, breaking it down more, which will require it to build back up more. And this is how creatine works to help get you stronger and build more muscle. Creatine itself doesn’t make your muscles grow, it is a result of having more energy available in your muscles, which helps you to lift more, which breaks your muscle down more, which requires it to build back up stronger, increasing muscle strength and size.

What are the side effects?

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, creatine has been around for a long time and is one of the most researched supplements. There has been no evidence of creatine supplementation having detrimental side effects, even in cases where it is taken for long periods of time. In fact, research has shown many positive health benefits from creatine supplementation.

However, there are a couple of things to be aware of with creatine supplementation that are technically side effects but are not harmful if you are aware of them. One is that with higher amounts of creatine in your muscles, your muscles will retain more water. More water retention will show up as weight gain on the scale. Just something to be aware of. This is not weight gain from fat, it’s water retention and will go away when or if you stop taking the creatine, so don’t be discouraged if you see the scale go up a few pounds over the first few weeks of taking creatine. Also, because creatine causes your muscles to hold more water, you have to make sure that you are drinking enough water. If not, some people report getting muscle cramps. Just make sure you are drinking 2-3L of water everyday (which you should be doing anyways) and this will not be an issue.

How to take creatine.

Some suggest doing a loading phase to quickly top up your creatine stores, taking 10-20 grams a day for the first week. You can do this if you would like but it is not necessary. A typical amount to take daily is 3-5 grams. Take this everyday, regardless if you are working out that day or not, to keep creatine stores high in your muscles. There is a threshold of how much creatine your body can hold so there is no need to take anymore more then 5 grams a day for most people. For best absorption of creatine monohydrate, which is pure creatine and the most cost effective and common way to take creatine, avoid using just water and mix it with juice or put it into your protein shake. Some creatine supplements will have added ingredients in it to help with absorption and if that is the case you can just mix it with water, but most of the time you are getting regular creatine monohydrate, so make sure you mix it with a juice or shake.

Other health benefits.

The main reason most people supplement with creatine is for increased strength and energy, which helps performance and helps with building muscle, but there are other health benefits to creatine as well. It has shown to improve brain function, help fight certain neurological diseases, lower blood sugar levels and help fight against diabetes, and can help reduce fatigue and tiredness.

At the end of the day, creatine is a well researched, powerful and effective supplement with benefits for performance as well as general health!