Creatine 101: The Best Supplement for Faster Workout Results

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The one supplement that has been the subject of hundreds of scientific studies and truly passed the test of time is Creatine. Creatine is hands down, the best supplement for improving performance in the gym and maximizing the time you spend working out.

Better performance in the gym from using creatine means getting stronger and building muscle mass at a faster rate than working out alone. There are virtually no downsides to taking creatine as a supplement, read on to learn about what creatine is, how it works, and how to take it to maximize your workouts!

What Is Creatine?

Creatine is a natural substance that is both made by the body and absorbed through protein-rich foods we eat such as red meat and fish. Made up of a combination of the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine, creatine is your body’s first choice of energy during periods of intense physical and mental activity.

Creatine acts as an energy source by helping to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) more rapidly. If you remember back to middle school biology- we know that ATP is the chemical energy created by our mitochondria aka “the powerhouse of the cell.” Specifically, ATP is a molecule that carries energy within the cells.

Creatine acts as the phone charger that recharges your battery back to full power for the best performance.

In the context of exercising, ATP is what supplies the energy for a muscle contraction to take place. When you contract your muscles, ATP loses a phosphate molecule and becomes adenosine diphosphate (ADP).

You can think of your body using ADP as your phone being on “battery saving mode” where performance is reduced to save energy. Creatine donates high-energy phosphate groups to ADP, effectively regenerating it back into ATP, and recharging our ATP stores. Creatine acts as the phone charger that recharges your battery back up to full power for the best performance.

The benefits of creatine become most apparent when paired with explosive exercises or intense workouts. With suboptimal levels of creatine, you can still get in a good workout BUT if you want to be maximizing your time in the gym, supplemental creatine can help your muscle cells work on a full battery and get more done in less time.

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What Does Creatine Do?

When you have more ATP available in your body, you can enhance your performance and workout efficacy in a multitude of ways. Even beyond the gym, you can improve your muscle recovery and brain health by taking this all-around good supplement.

Creatine Increases Muscular Strength and Endurance

More cellular energy in your muscles means increases in your strength and endurance. Creatine diminishes the effects of metabolic fatigue and allows you to lift heavier and longer than before which effectively gives your muscles a stronger stimulus to grow from. A stronger stimulus means faster results!

This was shown in a study by Bloomsburg University, where researchers reviewed 22 different studies and analyzed the effects of taking creatine and how it translated to strength gains. They found that people who took creatine were able to improve their strength by 20% while the people who took a placebo only increased their strength by 12%. 

They also found that people taking creatine were able to perform 26% more reps after taking creatine compared to just 12% for the people taking a placebo.

The researchers concluded that “there is substantial evidence to indicate that creatine supplementation during resistance training is more effective at increasing muscle strength and weightlifting performance than resistance training alone, although the response is highly variable.”

Creatine Hydrates Your Muscle Cells

Creatine binds to water and as it saturates your muscle cells, it floods your muscles with water. This makes your muscles look fuller or “pumped up” but more importantly, the intracellular water helps the muscles to function better.

Cell dehydration can have severe consequences for the intracellular protein structure and function and, can ultimately, result in cellular damage. A decline in intracellular water has been shown to parallel a decline in muscle mass and muscle strength because water acts as a medium in which all biochemical metabolic reactions occur.

Without water in your muscle cells, studies have shown that protein production can slow down and protein breakdown can speed up. Because of this, post-exercise muscle growth would likely be hampered in a dehydrated state. 

Creatine Improves Muscle Recovery Processes

Post-workout recovery is just as important as performance in the gym. Remember: we do not build muscles in the gym. Muscle tissue is broken down during our workouts which stimulates the muscle repair process, called anabolism, while we are recovering. Creatine can enhance the post-workout recovery process in multiple ways and accelerate your muscle growth in and outside of the gym!

One way is by improving your satellite cell mitotic activity. The increased mitotic activity contributes to new nuclei growing myofibers at a higher pace. This means creatine supplementation assists in the growth of new muscle cells at a faster pace which results in expedited recovery.

Supplemental creatine also leads to the natural production of anabolic hormones, like testosterone. Anabolic hormones play a crucial role in the body’s response to metabolism and repair and are proven to accelerate the recovery process.

Related Blog Post: Protein Guide: How Much Protein Do You Really Need?

Beyond the Gym: Creatine Supports Brain Function

After our muscles, our brain is the highest user of energy in the human body and it depends on nutrition to continue running optimally. Adequate creatine stores in the brain allow for optimal energy production to support cognitive function and brain performance in a similar way to how creatine affects muscle performance.

Emerging research shows that there is a relationship between brain creatine metabolism and depression. Creatine supplementation may result in increased mood, cognition, energy, and emotion. Creatine may also improve cognition, attention, and memory especially during high stress or periods of sleep deprivation.

What Are The Side Effects and Is It Safe?

Creatine is well researched and very safe for healthy people to use supplementally. Most people experience no side effects from taking normal doses of 3 to 5 grams a day.

If not taken with enough water, or taken at too high of a dose, creatine can cause GI distress such as stomach cramping, diarrhea, and nausea. All of these side effects can be avoided by sticking to moderate daily dosing and drinking a full glass of water along with supplementation.

Another side effect many people report is weight gain, but it is important to note here that creatine does not cause fat gain. The weight gain reported is water weight from the increase in intracellular water that is hydrating the muscles. An adult beginning to take creatine may gain between 1.5-3.5lbs of water weight initially and then up to 6lbs of muscle mass thereafter.

Creatine is very safe and has been proven over and over to increase strength and performance. There is even developing evidence for certain neurological benefits.

Who Should Take Creatine?

Creatine clearly benefits the athlete, physically active people, and people attempting to change their body composition, but it serves its purpose as a supplement to so many other populations of people:

• Women. Women have 70-80% lower natural creatine stores than men and they tend to consume less dietary creatine than men. Because of this, women don’t naturally get the same creatine benefits as men typically do and may benefit greatly from supplementation.

• Plant-Based Eaters. Because dietary creatine comes from animal sources, vegetarians and vegans can only get it from supplementation. Plant-based eaters may see significant benefits from creatine supplementation because they lack the baseline stores that people who eat animal products get from their diets.

• Pregnant People. Supplementing with creatine during pregnancy is considered safe and may have benefits for the fetus. Creatine supplementation may enhance the neuronal uptake of creatine by the fetus which may reduce brain injury and other complications experienced during delivery and post-partum.

• Post-Menopausal People. People who are post-menopausal or in older populations may find that creatine supplementation decreases the loss of muscle mass, bone density, and strength that is normally associated with aging. Creatine may also reduce inflammation and oxidative stress.

Optimal muscle function and neurological function are important for a healthy body, regardless of which population that body belongs to. Most healthy people would find the benefit from creatine supplementation in combination with a balanced diet and regular exercise.

Related Blog Post: How Does Weight Loss Work?

How to Take Creatine

There are many forms of creatine on the market, but the truth is that there is no best form. They all are just as effective as the others are, so the recommendation is to choose the supplement that you have the best access to.

How Much Creatine Should You Take?

Research shows that supplementing with 3 to 5 grams of creatine per day is optimal for keeping your creatine levels saturated and reaping all the benefits of supplementation.

While some studies show that you can see benefits sooner by introducing creatine through a “loading” phase- or taking around 20 grams a day for the first week, other research shows this may be unnecessary and you can achieve a similar level of saturation by consistently taking the normal, smaller doses.

Doing a loading phase may induce some of the GI distress and other negative side effects previously discussed, so it is my recommendation to achieve cellular saturation by taking a normal dose of 3 to 5 grams over a longer time. 

When Should You Take Creatine?

Creatine is beneficial taken consistently at any time of the day, but to maximize its results, taking creatine post-workout, with a post-workout meal including protein and carbs, can maximize its absorption.

On your non-exercise days, the timing is less important just be sure to take it consistently, daily, to maintain creatine stores within the body.

Related Blog Post: Amazon At-Home Workout Essentials

Use code CBM10 at checkout to get 10% off!

Where to Get Creatine?

I like the creatine monohydrate from Enhanced Performance Nutrition. This unflavored powdered form of creatine can conveniently be added to any liquid and consumed. I personally take it in some orange juice along with my Immuno Greens, and my husband adds a scoop of creatine to his post-workout protein shake! It is worth noting that the creatine supplement by EPN is a vegan formulation and safe for plant-based eaters to take!

You can use code CBM10 at checkout to get 10% off of any Enhanced Performance Nutrition products! 

Key Takeaways

Tested and proven to be a safe and effective supplement for everyone from infants to the elderly, creatine is the best supplement for improving performance and muscular strength and size, effectively maximizing every workout you show up to do. There are virtually no downsides to taking creatine as a supplement. Using creatine means getting stronger and building muscle mass at a faster rate than working out alone.

+References

1. Antonio, J., & Ciccone, V. (2013, August 06). The effects of pre versus post workout supplementation of creatine monohydrate on body composition and strength. Retrieved from https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-10-36JS;, R. E. (n.d.).
2. Effects of creatine supplementation and resistance training on muscle strength and weightlifting performance. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14636102/Parise G;Mihic S;MacLennan D;Yarasheski KE;Tarnopolsky MA;. (n.d.).
3. Effects of acute creatine monohydrate supplementation on leucine kinetics and mixed-muscle protein synthesis. Retrieved September 6, 2021, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11509496/PE;, D. B. (n.d.).
4. Dietary creatine monohydrate supplementation increases satellite cell mitotic activity during compensatory hypertrophy. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10683092/Smith-Ryan, A. E., Cabre, H. E., Eckerson, J. M., & Candow, D. G. (2021, March 08).
5. Ritz P;Salle A;Simard G;Dumas JF;Foussard F;Malthiery Y;. (n.d.). Effects of changes in water compartments on physiology and metabolism. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14681706/
6. Creatine Supplementation in Women's Health: A Lifespan Perspective. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/3/877Vatani, D. S., Faraji, H., Soori, R., & Mogharnasi, M. (2011, September 01).
7. The effects of creatine supplementation on performance and hormonal response in amateur swimmers. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0765159711001171?cc=y&_ga=2.52057513.1051893820.1630863571-358735355.1630863571

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