By Juan Rojas
Introduction
If you’re interested in fitness, chances are you’ve come
across many different supplements. Especially when you open up a bodybuilding
magazine, you will see that half of the magazine is just pages upon pages of
supplement advertisements. Sure a lot of
them claim that you will look like Mr. Olympia in just a short timeframe by
taking their product. While most of these claims are exaggerated and the
products are overpriced, there are many products out there that are used by a
large portion of bodybuilders; one that we hear a lot of is creatine. Many
don’t know how creatine works or what creatine is, I have actually had guys
tell me: “I don’t take creatine, I don’t wanna put that chemical into my body,
I’m natural.” Let’s look at some of the facts to see if this “chemical” is
dangerous and how “unnatural” many think it is.
What is creatine?
Creatine is an organic compound that naturally occurs in our
body. It is used to supply energy to all
the cells in the body, primarily our muscles by increasing adenosine
triphosphate (ATP). ATP is very important because it is required for the
biochemical reactions involved when contracting a muscle. As the workload on
the muscle increases, more and more ATP is used and must be replaced in order
for the muscle to keep moving. The body
can use up to 4 different systems of obtaining ATP depending on the duration of
the stress put upon it. But the one that concerns us the most is when the
muscles need short bursts of energy in a range of up to 10 seconds; this is
when the body uses creatine to turn into ATP in order to give your muscles a
burst of energy. Not only does creatine give your muscles more available energy
but it also improves your body’s ability to make protein within the muscle
fibers, which will also add increased amounts of water in your muscles, thus
increasing muscle mass. Many people think that supplementing with creatine
gives you “Water muscles”, yes creatine does increase the amount of water in
your muscles, thus making them appear larger, but your muscles are 70% water to
begin with so their ideology doesn’t even make sense. Creatine is created by the combination of 3
amino acids; these are arginine, glycine and methionine. In order for your body to create creatine the
process begins in the kidneys where the 3 amino acids blend and are then
transported via your blood stream to the liver, where it is converted into
creatine. We originate most of the creatine in our
bodies from food, primarily meats. Foods high in creatine include steak, salmon
and tuna. In a study done by St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, 18
vegetarians and 24 non-vegetarians who were not supplementing with an outside
source of creatine were examined. It was proven that the ones who were
vegetarians had significantly lower levels of creatine in their bodies. So why
does all this science stuff matter to us if our goal is to gain as much muscle
mass as possible? BECAUSE SUPPLEMENTING WITH CREATINE HAS BEEN PROVEN TO ALLOW
AN INDIVIDUAL TO PERFORM MORE REPS WITH A GIVEN WEIGHT, ALLOWING YOU TO TRAIN
AT A HIGHER INTENSITY LEVEL, WHICH MEANS MUSCULAR HYPERTROPHY AKA GETTING SWOLE
BRAH.
Is supplementing with
creatine safe?
Creatine
monohydrate is the most studied sports supplement. Although creatine does have
some side effects like weight gain (due to the muscles storing more water),
muscle cramps, increased urination, and increased thirst, these can be
countered by just drinking more water. According to diet and fitness expert Dr.
Melina Jampolis, this was mentioned in an interview with CNN:
“[creatine] is considered the most
effective supplement for athletes looking to increase lean body mass and as
well as enhance muscular strength, power and endurance. Despite a few widely
publicized, but mainly anecdotal reports, of kidney or electrolyte
abnormalities, hundreds of studies have found that it is safe in healthy
individuals and may also be effective for people with certain medical
conditions, including heart patients, and on some types of neuromuscular
disease or orthopedic injury if taken at recommended
doses.“
Although
creatine makes your kidneys work harder, according to many studies done at the University
of Maryland, studies found no significant permanent side effects at doses used
up to six months. This isn’t the only study saying creatine is safe, you can
look everywhere on the internet and find thousands of studies and reports
saying the same thing. This is more than enough proof to know it’s safe. If you’re
scared to take creatine due to safety concerns then maybe you should live in a
bubble, because I can assure you those pitchers you and your buddies have every
weekend aren’t therapeutic to your kidneys and liver.
Is creatine worth the money?
Yes it’s
true your body creates creatine from the foods we ingest, but this amount is
smaller than when we supplement with it. Unless you’re eating 2 lbs. of beef a
day, your body could probably maximize its strength potential by supplementing
with creatine. Creatine is very inexpensive compared to many other supplements
out there, especially if buy it in bulk. Buy it and try it out, if you don’t
like it, send it to me, because I’ll sure as hell use it. You will feel a nice
boost in strength when you begin supplementing with it; a study was done that
said supplementing with creatine increased phosphocreatine in muscles by 20%. To
me, pushing more weight in the gym has no monetary price. There are also a few
studies claiming creatine can decrease myostatin levels, increases testosterone
and increase IGF-1. (All these things are good and more studies are being done
to look further into this).
What type of creatine is best to use?
There are
many types of creatine out there, HCL, ethyl ester, nitrate etc.; the most
studied and cheapest one is monohydrate. Creatine HCL claims to not bloat you
at all, but it is much more expensive. If you’re on a budget, monohydrate is
your best bet. At the end of the day, creatine is creatine no matter what
ester.
What dose should I follow and should I
cycle creatine?
The recommended
dose of creatine is between 5-10 grams per day, obviously a 100 lb. girl will
need much less than a 300 lb strongman. If you take too much creatine your body
will simply urinate out the excess creatine you don’t need, so you’re literally
flushing it down the toilet. A lot of people claim they cycle creatine because your
body stops making its own levels of creatine, but no study has ever shown this
to be true. No harm is done to the body by not cycling it, so you can try
cycling it or just run it straight through, your decision.
Conclusion
We’ve seen
creatine is naturally made by the body with foods we ingest ourselves. There is
no need to be scared of creatine supplementation, as research has shown it is
harmless. And to the contrary of what many people say creatine is NOT a
steroid, as we saw in the previous article steroids are hormones that derive
and have similar effects of the hormone testosterone. Besides, last time I
checked steroids were illegal to sell and buy, so why would the grocery store
down my street sell it? So next time you bash or get bashed for using creatine,
give them all the facts straight how I mentioned them here. So remember House
of iron readers: “Train, say your prayers, eat your vitamins, and take your creatine”
;)
If you want me to write about a specific topic, have any questions, or want me to talk about a specific supplement on this blog please let me know, your input and feedback is appreciated, comments can be made anonymous!
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