Sports supplements are becoming increasingly popular, you probably know the benefits of using the protein powder and the pre-workout to increase athletic performance, but maybe you don’t understand how supplementing creatine whilst weight training can help when you are looking to gain muscle.
A study from the ‘International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand’ found that using creatine can lead to improved strength, increase muscle mass & exercise performance.
What is it?
It’s a compound that is naturally found in your body’s muscle cells, it helps your body produce the energy it needs for lifting weights for HIIT training. The University of Florida conducted an investigation into Creatine and found that around 95% of the body’s creatine is stored in your muscles as something called Phosphocreatine, which rapidly distributes the element around your body as well as the brain to recycle Adenosine Triphosphate (which provides muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, and chemical synthesis to the body). Creatine’s compound shares many similarities with amino acids, your body can produce creatine by utilising the amino acid Glycine and Arginine.
CREATINE BENEFITS
Several ways actually, it is used to boost the phosphocreatine levels in your body, which then fuels your muscles for the workout – especially during high-intensity exercises. If you have the energy and additional levels after or even if you don’t do high-intensity exercises, it will send Adenosine Thiphosphate throughout your body and help you get through the rest of a gruelling workout. There are five, simplified key benefits of supplementing creatine into your workout.
- Improved signalling within cells: The introduction of Adenosine Thriphostate into your body helps your brain know which muscles need help repairing themselves whilst making room for muscle growth.
- Flow water through your muscles: Building muscles is everyone’s dream, with hydrated cells, it is more likely you will be able to see more volume in those biceps.
- Enhanced workout: Supplementing creatine enables you to lift heavier weights or even your usual weight load for longer!
- Increased levels of anabolic hormones: Levels of hormones such as IGF-1 have been shown to appear after supplementing creatine.
- Reducing the breakdown of proteins: It has been shown that your body’s source of protein supporting the muscles may not be reduced as rapidly when supplementing Creatine, leading to an increase in muscle mass.
I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT NOT INCREASE MUSCLE MASS, CAN I STILL USE IT?
Creatine is great for weight loss, it goes great with weight training which is one of the most popular forms of fat loss! However, if you’re trying to slim down your muscle size, it might not be a great option.
When using weights to burn fat, your muscles will still fatigue, so supplementing creatine will still give your muscles the hydration and protein protection it needs. Whilst it is primarily used to increase muscle mass, you can use it to lose weight – with the added benefit on increased muscle health. An important thing to note is that it when supplementing creatine to lose weight, you may not see a weight reduction in the short term as your body will be building the muscles to cope with the workout you were doing and muscle weighs more than fat. Over time though, you will see your muscles fatigue less and the fat dropping.
SIDE EFFECTS
A study was carried out by researches with several decades of conducting studies on Creatine, concluding that it was one of the safest sports supplements available on the market. Another study was conducted over a 21 month period which found no adverse effects which can be found here.
CAPSULES OR POWDER, WHICH IS BETTER?
Now, that is entirely up-to-you. It all depends on which form you’d prefer. Our records show that capsules are more popular, but you can add the powder to a protein shake for convenience, all depends on your preference.
Optimum Nutrition’s Creatine comes in powdered and capsules form, as do AAEFX Sports and Reflex Nutrition, you can find a full list of all our creatines here.
