Blog

Creatine

You've probably already heard of creatine. You may have already heard of its benefits, maybe even heard of some side effects. But what is correct and what isn't? 

There has already been thousands of studies done on the use of creatine; the majority of which showing a greater amount of positives than negatives. Here I will discuss the use of creatine, it's benefits, any side effects and how it should be used.

What is creatine? 

Creatine is produced naturally in the body, mainly in the liver and kidney from amino acids and helps to supplies energy to muscles. 

Why is creatine supplementation useful?

At any given moment, the body has enough ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) storage for your muscles to contract maximally only for a few seconds. By supplementing with creatine, you can increase your maximal muscular contraction time, force and speed. 

How?

In order to contract muscles you need energy. In order to create energy, you will need chemical reactions to take place in the muscle. Energy is created when an ATP bond is broken and becomes ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate), however, you cannot use ADP for energy; Creatine will boost your energy supply but resynthesising ATP stores quicker, therefore allowing you to produce more energy. 

So an increase in ATP stores will give you more energy, thus allowing for a maximal muscular contraction for longer and with greater force.

What are the negative side effects of creatine use?

There have been many articles claiming negative side effects when supplementing with creatine. But the truth is, negative side effects such as diarrhoea and stomach cramps are rare, very rare. The main 'negatives' include water retention into the muscles, resulting in weight gain (isn't that partly the point -increased size and strength?), muscle cramps and the body requiring increased hydration because the muscles are retaining water. Hardly negative don't you think? And if you follow correct dosage instructions, then you really will not have a problem with creatine supplementation. 

What are the benefits?

Well as explained earlier, creatine supplementation will help to increase energy stores, but how does this help.

Think of it this way; if you are lifting weights, or sprinting during training, then this extra energy boost will allow your muscle to add extra reps, take shorter rest, help you sprint for a few seconds longer and improve recovery times. 

If you can add all of this extra training into your workouts, then results are only going to be enhanced, and your performance on the field will inevitably improve. 

Recommendation

Here at Synergy Fitness Systems, we recommend that you take 3-5 grams each day. Use the powder form and mix it with water. It does not really matter what time of day you take creatine, because it can take about 6 weeks to build up in your system, resynthesising ATP stores and boosting energy. 

Creatine is a great supplement, one of the only supplements which actually works, with thousands of research papers to back up the results it offers. So if your an athlete, amateur or professional, a fitness fanatic or even a recreational gym user, then we definitely recommend creatine use if you want to push your performance to the next level.

You may also like:
SND Top supplement deals
8 Nutrition tips to get lean

About the author

Matthew Healey is a qualified personal trainer and sports therapist. Matt is the owner of Synergy Fitness Systems in the UK which has been helping people change their body and improve human and sports performance for several years.

Matt has worked with many different types of clients from professional athletes, to recreational sports people to the general fitness population.

Matt has extensive experience in the fitness industry and has worked in many different settings including a top human performance centre in San Diego owned by Todd Durkin as well as working with sports teams and individual athletes and clients.

Matt’s area of interest is human and sports performance, and injury prevention and rehabilitation. At Synergy Fitness Systems, Matt focusses on improving the function, efficiency and performance of each of his clients and athletes.