One of the more popular bodybuilding supplements out there is creatine. Creatine has been around for a very long time and as such, there have been numerous scientific studies that have proven it is effective when used in certain situations.
But, if you are not using it correctly or don’t quite understand exactly what creatine does in the body, you’re going to be left wondering where your results went – because you won’t be seeing any.
Here are some of the things you need to know about creatine.
What Creatine Does
First up, it’s paramount you understand what creatine does. Creatine is not going to magically make you add muscle to your frame. If you think taking a teaspoon a day along with your favorite juice is going to make you wake up the next morning growing muscle like mad, you’d better think again.
In the body you have natural creatine phosphate stores. If you haven’t been using creatine these will be naturally synthesized by some of the foods you eat. How full these stores are will depend on a variety of things such as your tyipcally daily diet as well as the type of activities you’re commonly performing on a daily basis.
It is these creatine phosphate stores then that help the body generate a high energy compound called ATP, which is what is used to fuel the ‘power stroke’ (essentially the contraction in the muscle fibers that causes you to lift a weight).
When this ATP runs out, that is when fatigue sets in and you stop being able to lift weight. Usually ATP will be continually resynthesized as long as the creatine stores are full, but many times once they run low, it becomes to long of a process to continually generate those muscular contractions.
When you start supplementing with creatine however, you help ensure those stores are stocked up as high as they possible can be, therefore the chances that you run into this fatigue during the workout are that much lower.
So, it’s not actually going to be the creatine use that allows you to build muscle better, but rather, the fact that you are able to work harder in the gym by using creatine, which then leads to results.
If that hard work is not performed, you aren’t building muscle.
Who Should Not Use Creatine
This leads us to the second big mistake some people take with creatine, and that is taking it when they don’t really need to.
Since ATP is only going to be needed during high intensity exercise (other forms of moderate exercise can easily run on fat as fuel), creatine is only going to be really beneficial in athletes performing these types of exercises.
Individuals who are just going for a moderate paced run, or are performing some type of aerobic class, aren’t really going to notice any different with creatine supplementation.
Those who will notice a difference are those who are lifting heavy in the gym, performing anaerobic types of interval sprints, or athletes who are in stop-and-go sports (basketball, football, hockey, etc).
They will be relying more on ATP and without enough creatine in the body, they’re going to start feeling fatigued.
So, as you can see, creatine isn’t for everyone and it isn’t just for those who want to build muscle. If you have been feeling drained in your higher intensity workouts, regardless of whether you’re working to build muscle or not, creatine might be something for you to consider.
Far too many individuals have come to associate creatine as the ‘bodybuilding supplement’ that makes you gain weight. Sadly, this is not accurate at all.
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