Creatine, alongside caffeine are the two most researched ergogenic aids for athletes. Since we’ve covered caffeine, it seems fit we cover the other.
| Creatine itself is a naturally occurring substance within red meat and seafood. If you read our previous Carbohydrate newsletter you will be aware of the molecule ATP, but for those of you who are new here, ATP or adenosine triphosphate, is considered the energy currency of our cells. ‘When we use energy’ ATP turns into ADP (adenosine diphosphate) + energy + water. This ADP now needs to be turned back into ATP so we can use it again for energy. So, by supplementing creatine we are subsequently increasing our phosphocreatine stores (what is needed to turn ADP back to ADP). THUS by having this extra creatine we have a higher rate of ATP resynthesis and therefore more available energy. More energy = enhanced quality and volume of training. |
| How to supplement? Creatine is stored in the body, this means you need to supplement in order to reach required stores/levels before you started reaping the rewards. You can do this via an optional loading phase of: 0.3g per kg of bodyweight per day for 5-7 days followed by 3-5 g a dayOR you can just consistently take 3-5g a day to reach these stores gradually. Taking your creatine with carbohydrate or carbohydrate & protein have been reported to promote greater creatine retention. Some people cycle creatine which is not actually needed. Cycling supplements is used to ensure the body doesn’t stop making it naturally (endogenously) (like how taking testosterone decreases the body’s natural stores), but with creatine, no studies have found this to be the case. Benefits The main benefit is that you have more energy available to produce better quality training, and the benefits that come from training, i.e lean body mass or increased anaerobic capacity is a repercussion of effective training. Reports have found a direct increase in performance of up to 15%. There is some research into injury prevention with creatine use. Side effects Increased water retention, you may gain up to 2kg when you first start taking creatine, this is completely normal and if you avoid the loading stage, you may be able to avoid to the ‘bloating stage’, too. Which creatine to take? Creatine Monohydrate has been found to be the most economically efficient whilst also working at exactly the same. In summary, We suggest all athletes/recreational athletes to take 3-5g a day of Creatine Monohydrate per day. |