Creatine is the most popular and commonly used sports supplement available today. For the majority of the population, including both elite athletes and untrained individuals, creatine supplementation increases fat free mass and improves anaerobic and possibly aerobic performance. It’s a compound found in the body along with PCr (creatine phosphate) and serves to provide the body with its main source of fuel, ATP during short bouts of intense exercise.
When an athlete supplements with creatine, they are increasing the amount of resting creatine in their muscles which helps increase the amount of PCr by 12-18%. This will increase the amount of ATP available to the muscle tissues and thus help the athlete produce more force and endure an increased workload.
Creatine by itself however is not anabolic and does not produce any gains in lean muscle mass. Weight gain will be noticed as water retention increases dramatically upon taking creatine, which may be of concern to some athletes involved in weight bearing activities.
Runners for example, show a decreased performance upon taking creatine as their weight increases which slows down their time. Therefore, creatine can be beneficial for some athletes, such as those involved in anaerobic non-weight bearing activities. Another negative side effect of creatine, apart from water weight gain is muscle cramping due to increased muscle compartment pressure.
Creatine, when taken in large doses can affect renal function such as glomerular filtration. The typical dose of creatine taken is 20 grams per day during the initial loading phase and then 5 grams per day in the maintenance phase. Athletes often take more than the recommended dose however, adopting the 'more is better mentality', which is unnecessary and will be more harmful than anything.
The largest safety concern with creatine is most likely the quality of the product.
Supplementation with large doses of creatine taken for prolonged periods of time, has not been sufficiently screened for contaminants, could be potentially harmful. Finding a reputable company that provides quality creatine product is very important when considering creatine supplementation.
Finally creatine, which could be one of the most popular bodybuilding supplements, is effective; not directly, but by allowing the individual to work harder, recover faster and thus increase muscle mass through an increased work output. This is a perfect example of how a good workout program will work with the supplement to show an increase in performance
Fascinating. I have never used creatine but I have been researching creatine use myself, as I keep hearing rave reviews about its benefits, although I will probably hold out until more research is done on its long term effects.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I did hear about creatine is that the effects are not permanent and will cease as soon as you stop using the product.
This is an interesting post. My coach has had me take creatine in the past and I never really noticed any drastic changes resulting from it that actually lasted. Basically what happened was that your muscles held more water making you look bigger, but it wore off. I also found that many people develop acne while using creatine, if their body was not able to process it.
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