Should You Start Taking Creatine To Supplement Your Fitness Goals?
It’s so popular for a reason.
Almost everyone these days has fitness goals.
Whether you are looking to get more fit, gain some muscle, lose some weight, or simply tone your body, you must understand that exercise won’t really bring about these changes unless you supplement it with dietary changes.
Eating food and making dietary changes that maximize nutrients and vitamins flow to your body and muscles is an excellent way to ensure your muscles recover, your body is nutritionally stable, and that you don’t harm yourself in the process of achieving your fitness goals.
Because of the rising trend in fitness and health, people have started looking towards supplements. Supplements are substances that are consumed on a regular basis that contain a dietary ingredient that is high in that ingredient. People take it to ensure that their bodies are receiving enough of that necessary ingredient.
Everyone knows that adequate protein must be consumed post-workout to help build muscles, ensure muscle recovery, minimize damage and inflammation, etc. To get this protein, people use protein shakes or protein powders that are high in protein to meet their body’s needs.
Creatine is one substance that has become very popular for its muscle building and strength benefits. Creatine is found naturally in muscle cells with up to 95% stored in the skeletal muscles. Creatine increases our body’s ability to produce energy very rapidly and this enhances energy production.
Here is what creatine can do for the body:
- It increases energy production thus improving performance.
- It helps build muscle mass and strength.
- It improves brain health and can help with neurological diseases.
It increases energy production thus improving performance.
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is like the energy currency of our body. It captures chemical energy that is released by the digestion of food molecules and releases it to fuel bodily activities. This is the main source of energy in our body.
ATP is not stored a lot in cells and during heavy exercise or sprinting at full speed, ATP production can’t simply keep up with ATP usage which is why you can only run at maximum speed for a few seconds before tiring.
In the beginning of exercise, the muscles rely on both ATP and creatine phosphate (main form of creatine that is stored) that are already available until the body finds enough time to breakdown glucose and other substances to supply additional energy.
ATP has three phosphates and when ATP breaks down one phosphate group, the energy that is released helps fuel the body. What is left is ADP that only has two phosphates and to regenerate ATP back, an additional phosphate must be added to ADP.
This regeneration occurs when the enzyme creatine kinase (CK) transfers a phosphate group from creatine phosphate to ADP thus forming ATP. It makes sense to think that if the body has ample supplies of creatine phosphate, then it can keep regenerating ATP at a much faster pace thus continually supplying the body with energy.
Use of a creatine supplement can increase storage of creatine phosphate in muscle cells which helps improve performance during intense exercise and can help accelerate muscle recovery by replenishing any of the energy that was spent.
It helps build muscle mass and strength.
Creatine has been shown to improve muscle strength, increase muscle mass, and stimulate new muscle growth after exercise.
When you train at a high intensity, your body’s store of ATP levels quickly depletes leaving you unable to continue at this level of intensity for long. However, by taking a creatine supplement your body’s store of creatine phosphate goes up which helps your body quickly replenish ATP and increase ATP production which can allow you to workout and train longer thus improving muscle strength.
Creatine has also been shown to increase satellite cell signaling and cell hydration all of which coupled together help stimulate new muscle growth.
In a 12-week study that involved weightlifters, creatine increased muscle fiber growth 2–3 times more than just training alone.
It improves brain health and can help with neurological diseases.
To do any type of movement or exercise requires the planning and execution of the brain. When our brain is healthy and well-functioning, we can do our workouts and exercise the most effectively.
Many studies have shown that creatine plays a role in reducing the symptoms and improving the outcome of diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, ALS, epilepsy, etc.
In fact, a six-month study that involved children with traumatic brain injury observed a 70% reduction in fatigue and a 50% reduction in dizziness when given creatine for 6 months.
Increased creatine intake has been associated with reduced cognitive decline, and improved brain function. One study showed that older people who supplemented with creatine for 2 weeks scored significantly higher on long-term memory tests. They also scored higher on intelligence and memory recall tests.
When you are performing a difficult task, your brain requires a lot of ATP to keep going. By regularly taking creatine, you can increase your phosphocreatine stores in the brain which can help increase energy production and keep the brain well-functioning.
How much creatine should I take?
Creatine comes in both pill and powder form although the powder form is more common. Creatine powder when dissolved in water is much easily absorbed by the body.
For people looking to build muscle or increase their energy levels by taking creatine, you should take 20 grams of creatine per day for 5–7 days followed by a consistent maintenance dose of 3–5 grams per day.
For some people, such a high dose of 20 grams in the beginning could cause some GIT discomfort so some people start with 3–5 grams of creatine per day which takes around 3 weeks to reach the same levels in your muscles as the first method.
You have to take creatine consistently such as everyday to reap the full benefits of it.
The best time to take creatine is either before or after a workout. Some people choose to take it before while others prefer it to be after but whatever the case, take it around the time you exercise or workout to deliver the most benefits.
Creatine isn’t recommended for some people so please make sure you do your own research or consult with a doctor before taking creatine.
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