Let’s get straight to it. Its creatine.
Creatine has been researched for over a century now and there isn’t much we don’t know about it. Saying that, how much do we, gym rats, know about it? Most of us im sure have heard the joke that ‘creatines a steroid bro’ and that it ‘puffs you up’ and makes you look ‘fluffy’. However, is any of that true? Well, along with being the most researched fitness supplement it's also one of the most used, so we either believe the marketing hype or this stuff works.
So, what is creatine?
Without being too boring, creatine is a compound which forms when protein is metabolised, it's in most living tissues. It is mainly synthesised in the liver and cannot be produced by muscle tissue, which means that the only other way we can increase our levels are through supplementation. Once creatine enters the muscle tissue, the fitness guru’s call is phosphocreatine, but we can call it PCr (it's much easier to say).
Creatine allows you to store more PCr in the muscle tissue, which is great as the more PCr you have, the more ATP you can create. Think of ATP as the body’s energy source, at least for short, sharp bursts of intense exercise. Now if you have more ATP, you can train harder and longer for those short bursts of intense exercise.
This can translate into some fun benefits.
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Increase in muscle strength due to performing more reps at a heavier weight
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An increase in muscle size (if you are in a calorie surplus)
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Increase in lean body weight
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Better athletic performance
They sound rather good, don’t they?
If you don’t take creatine already, I assume you are fumbling onto google trying to find out the best creatine supplement to add to your arsenal. Upon doing so, you are likely to come across a few different forms of creatine. Let’s have a look at what they are.
Creatine monohydrate – this is the most common form of creatine and the one I personally take. You will see instructions to load this over a week by taking 5g 4-6 times a day and this method has been shown to increase creatine levels in the muscle tissue by up to 40%. However, the same effect can be produced by taking 5g daily over a period.
Creatine ethyl ester – the jury is still out on this form. Some studies find it is absorbed faster by our body and other studies disprove this. The recommended dosage is 3-6g daily and is usually found in tablet form rather than creatine monohydrates powder form.
Creatine hydrochloride – one of the newest forms of creatine. Due to its molecular structure this form is absorbed faster by the body and therefore the benefits are seen sooner. It also has less side effects such as water retention. It is one of the more expensive forms of creatine.
Creatine monohydrate has been the most proven and researched form of creatine out of the above. There are plenty of reviews from fellow gym rats and published journals on the supplement if you want to read a little bit more into its effectiveness.
Millions of people can’t be wrong, can they? If you are yet to add creatine to your stack then you are missing out on some serious benefits. You’ll find yourself lifting heavier, lifting for longer, feeling more explosive and building more muscle tissue if your nutrition Is in check.
