Creatine Monohydrate

What is Creatine?

Creatine is perhaps the best-known and well-researched nutritional supplement, with over 500 studies to date showing that it is an important part of the muscle fuelling process. Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid that occurs naturally in vertebrates and helps to supply energy to all cells in the body and primarily the muscles. This is achieved as the body converts creatine into phosphocreatine (creatine phosphate), which is a critical part of the formation of the high energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which is the source of energy used and stored in cells in the body and the energy source the body uses for muscular contractions.

Creatine in the Body

About 95% of the bodies creatine is stored in skeletal and other muscles. Normally, creatine is produced in the liver and kidneys at a rate of about 2 grams a day from the non-essential amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine. Most of the body’s creatine travels by the blood to be stored in the muscles, heart and other body cells.

During strength training and other high intensity workouts, Creatine levels become depleted in the muscles which impacts performance.

When you supplement, you increase your stores of phosphocreatine. This is a form of stored energy in the cells and it helps your body produce more of the high energy molecule ATP. ATP is often called the body’s energy currency and when you have more ATP, your body can perform better during exercise.

Creatine also alters several cellular processes that lead to increased muscle mass, strength, and recovery.

What Are the Benefits of Taking Creatine?

Creatine can improve health and athletic performance in several ways;

Improved Strength and Power - It enables more total work or volume in a single training session, a key factor in long-term muscle growth. It does this through providing sustained ATP levels and assisting in glycogen loading capacity in the muscles.

Cell Hydration - Creatine lifts water within your muscle cells, which causes a cell volume increase effect that may play a role in muscle growth and a fuller look to your muscles. In addition, creatine increases the concentration of certain cells within muscle fibres, which means that your muscles will appear larger in the short-term, while in the long run your muscles will increase in size due to the growth and gain of muscle fibres.

Reduced Muscle Breakdown – Creatine may increase total muscle mass by reducing muscle breakdown, through ensuring preferred energy sources are available creatine can help ensure that the body doesn’t need to use protein (muscle fibres) for fuel.

Improved Cognition and Brain Health -  Recent research has also shown a link between creatine and improved brain function. Creatine supplements can increase phosphocreatine stores in your brain, which may promote brain health and improve symptoms of neurological disease.

How Much Creatine Should I Take?

Research has shown that multiple creatine supplementation strategies can result in benefits, so your supplement strategy will depend on what practically suits your lifestyle and training goals.

Evidence suggests that the optimum amount of Creatine is a 5g serve post workout and at any time of the day on rest days. Creatine can be stacked easily with your protein shake or other beverage. If using Creatine for the first time or after a prolonged period of not using Creatine, a loading phase may be beneficial. Generally, this would be a double serving for the first 5 days and then revert back to the recommended serve of 5g.

This regime would most definitely cause a gain in water weight during the loading period. Remember, creatine causes cellular hydration. So, if this gain in body weight from water is not ideal for you then you can skip the loading period and go straight into the maintenance dose of 5g daily, just be sure to continue supplementing for at least three weeks for optimal benefits.