Read on to learn when the best time to take creatine is, how much creatine to take, when to take creatine, what creatine brand to take and more!
Creatine is one of the most popular muscle building products on the market available today, and for good reason. The hype surrounding the supplement is backed up by some pretty impressive studies. Its popularity continues to grow due to its effective muscle building results and low chance of side effects when it’s taken within the recommended dosage.
It’s also considered quite safe since it helps to supplement a process in the body that occurs naturally, assisting to supply energy to muscle and nerve cells.
Although the long-term effects aren’t completely understood, creatine is considered one of the most effective, safe supplements to gain muscle; period. Below we’ll be breaking down all of the important aspects of creatine, including the history, creatine’s scientific principles and what exactly it does in your body.
We’ve also thrown in instructions that explain the best
time to take it, how much to take and few other recommendations.
- The History and Media-Coverage of Creatine
Even though creatine has been known to scientists to boost performance since as early as the 1900s, it has become increasingly popular since the early nineties, when supplement companies first started major production.
The media was first introduced to creatine during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, when it was stated that Linford Christie, the gold medalist in the 100 meter, had trained with creatine prior to the Olympics. A few medal-winning rowers were also named as using creatine during their pre-Olympic training that year.
From then on, creatine came into the spotlight as being a well-researched, credible supplement to aid in physical performance, as well as muscle building.
Gain Muscle with Creatine- Natural Scientific Process of Creatine within the Body
Unlike most bodybuilding supplements, creatine is not a mineral, vitamin or hormone. It occurs naturally within your body, derived from three non-essential amino acids. As you probably already know, amino acids are vitally important, and are the most basic building-block of protein.
Ninety-five percent of creatine in the body is stored within the skeletal muscle system. Although most people acquire a healthy dose of creatine naturally through meats, fish, dairy, egg whites and nuts, the body has the ability to store high amounts of creatine within muscle tissue.
Since it is nearly impossible to eat enough food to fill these reserves, a creatine supplement plays a large role in enhancing muscular gains.
One of the main advantages of creatine is its ability to aid in energy production within the body. When ATP (adenosine triphosphate, the activated carrier which “feeds” organisms energy) loses a phosphate molecule and becomes ADP (adenosine diphosphate), it must be converted back to ATP for the molecule to be used as energy again.
This is where the creatine stored in your body comes into play. The phosphocreatine stored within your muscle cells donates phosphate to the ADP, which renews the ATP molecule, allowing it to produce energy once again.
Despite the fact creatine’s most prominent trait is aiding in energy production, a large portion of the benefits help to stimulate and enhance muscle growth. Creatine helps supply you with more energy within your cells for your lift, which also allows you to hit more reps, resulting in a larger amount of muscle fibers being worked.
By allowing the lifter to perform more reps and sets, increased protein synthesis occurs naturally. Additionally, when a larger amount of creatine phosphate is stored within muscle tissue, the muscle retains more water, which is referred to as being volumized.
As a result of the volumized muscle, protein synthesis is enhanced, the breakdown of protein is discouraged, and an increased level of Glycogen synthesis takes place within the muscle. There are also studies that show creatine supplementation aids in repairing muscles quicker then a placebo group.
Bottomline: Creatine is used in the body to renew molecules quicker to be used for energy, resulting in more work within the muscles being done, which yields greater muscular strength and mass.
- Are there any adverse side effects associated with creatine?
The majority of short-term studies (doses taken for 2 weeks or less) on creatine monohydrate have resulted in no high-risk adverse effects being associated with taking the recommended dosage.
Dehydration, due to excess water being pulled into muscles, as well as muscle cramping, normally associated dehydration, have said to have been small side effects associated with creatine. These both can be eliminated by increasing your daily water intake, making sure you get close to a gallon of water per day.
Although, since there haven’t been many long-term studies on creatine, no one can tell for sure if creatine is safe in the long-run. But by following the recommended dosages, and increasing your daily water intake, creatine usage is quite safe.
Creatine does tend to put more stress on the kidneys since the excess does need to be filtered from your blood, but no direct correlations have been found between creatine and any type of kidney disease, or failure due to creatine intake.
In conclusion, creatine is one of the safest, most effective supplements. To stay the safest, it’s a good idea to take creatine on a daily basis for no more then 12 weeks. After a 12 week period, it’s suggested to take a month off to allow your body to return to its normal levels of creatine, just to be safe.
- Which Creatine is the best? When and How Much Creatine do I need?
There are many different types and forms of creatine available, including creatine serums, micronized creatines, effervescent creatines, creatine monohydrate, creatine ethyl ester, etc.
Instead of messing around with the new forms that are “marketed” to have better absorption rates or a higher potency, forget about every other one and stick with the most common, fully researched form of creatine: creatine monohydrate.
Creatine monohydrate is simply a creatine complexed with a molecule of water, which helps make its bioavailability higher, resulting in the highest researched absorption rate.
Which creatine brand is best?
The best brand we suggest when it comes to creatine supplementation is PrimaForce’s CreaForm. PrimaForce is a company owned by Scivation, known for providing high-quality, research-proven products at an affordable price. We personally use Creaform ourselves for every workout, and can definitely back it’s quality and effectiveness.
When and How Much?
There are currently two “popular” ways of taking creatine. One is on a daily basis, before and after workouts, while the second is referred to as “loading” and sometimes “cycling.” A loading and cycling form of taking creatine requires you to take a high dosage for 5-7 days, followed by a maintenance dosage per day.
We won’t go into much more detail then that here, because we firmly believe a loading phase is just not necessary. A much more effective and easier process is to sandwich your workouts with a moderate creatine dose.
Assuming you take a pre and post-workout shake, which, by the way, is the most effective way to supplement around your workout, it’d be a perfect time to throw in one scoop, or 5g of CreaForm.
This strategy of supplementation will enhance your lift, since your body will use up the creatine it gets beforehand for energy, as well as aid in recovery by using the creatine it gets afterwards to help repair and rejuvenate your muscle fibers.
Pre-Workout (Approximately 45-60 minutes before your lift): 5g of Creatine
Post-Workout (Within 60 minutes of your lift, the sooner the better): 5g of Creatine
As your system adapts to the creatine, it will begin to saturate your body, storing higher amounts of creatine within your muscle tissue, pulling more water into the muscle, as well as giving you all of the benefits we’ve talked about: building and maintaining lean muscle, providing more energy during sets and faster recovery between sets when training, promoting muscle cell hydration, increasing strength and recovery.
It can take up to a month for your body to regulate and store the new creatine, so stick with it for at least that long before you judge its benefits and results.
5 Steps to Ensure Creatine works for You:
1. What is it? Creatine occurs naturally within your body as an amino acid.
2. Why use it? Creatine is used in the body to product greater energy, resulting in greater muscle gains when supplemented.
3. When should I take it? Pre-Workout (Approximately 45-60 minutes before your lift), as well as Post-Workout (Within 60 minutes of your lift, the sooner the better).
4. How much should I take? 5g (1 scoop of CreaForm)
5. Recommendations: Drink 1 gallon of water per day, don’t exceed recommended dosage.
Also, to clarify, we’re not compensated in anyway for suggesting CreaForm as our choice in creatine. It’s simply a good product that we’ve personally used and recommend. You can choose your own brand if you like, but it’s a good idea to at least stick with creatine monohydrate, and 2.5-5g as your dosage.
Although, if you choose a different product, make sure to check the label to see what they suggest for proper dosage instructions.
Creatine is one of the most popular muscle building products on the market available today, and for good reason. The hype surrounding the supplement is backed up by some pretty impressive studies. Its popularity continues to grow due to its effective muscle building results and low chance of side effects when it’s taken within the recommended dosage.
It’s also considered quite safe since it helps to supplement a process in the body that occurs naturally, assisting to supply energy to muscle and nerve cells.
Although the long-term effects aren’t completely understood, creatine is considered one of the most effective, safe supplements to gain muscle; period. Below we’ll be breaking down all of the important aspects of creatine, including the history, creatine’s scientific principles and what exactly it does in your body.
We’ve also thrown in instructions that explain the best
time to take it, how much to take and few other recommendations.
- The History and Media-Coverage of Creatine
Even though creatine has been known to scientists to boost performance since as early as the 1900s, it has become increasingly popular since the early nineties, when supplement companies first started major production.
The media was first introduced to creatine during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, when it was stated that Linford Christie, the gold medalist in the 100 meter, had trained with creatine prior to the Olympics. A few medal-winning rowers were also named as using creatine during their pre-Olympic training that year.
From then on, creatine came into the spotlight as being a well-researched, credible supplement to aid in physical performance, as well as muscle building.
Gain Muscle with Creatine- Natural Scientific Process of Creatine within the Body
Unlike most bodybuilding supplements, creatine is not a mineral, vitamin or hormone. It occurs naturally within your body, derived from three non-essential amino acids. As you probably already know, amino acids are vitally important, and are the most basic building-block of protein.
Ninety-five percent of creatine in the body is stored within the skeletal muscle system. Although most people acquire a healthy dose of creatine naturally through meats, fish, dairy, egg whites and nuts, the body has the ability to store high amounts of creatine within muscle tissue.
Since it is nearly impossible to eat enough food to fill these reserves, a creatine supplement plays a large role in enhancing muscular gains.
One of the main advantages of creatine is its ability to aid in energy production within the body. When ATP (adenosine triphosphate, the activated carrier which “feeds” organisms energy) loses a phosphate molecule and becomes ADP (adenosine diphosphate), it must be converted back to ATP for the molecule to be used as energy again.
This is where the creatine stored in your body comes into play. The phosphocreatine stored within your muscle cells donates phosphate to the ADP, which renews the ATP molecule, allowing it to produce energy once again.
Despite the fact creatine’s most prominent trait is aiding in energy production, a large portion of the benefits help to stimulate and enhance muscle growth. Creatine helps supply you with more energy within your cells for your lift, which also allows you to hit more reps, resulting in a larger amount of muscle fibers being worked.
By allowing the lifter to perform more reps and sets, increased protein synthesis occurs naturally. Additionally, when a larger amount of creatine phosphate is stored within muscle tissue, the muscle retains more water, which is referred to as being volumized.
As a result of the volumized muscle, protein synthesis is enhanced, the breakdown of protein is discouraged, and an increased level of Glycogen synthesis takes place within the muscle. There are also studies that show creatine supplementation aids in repairing muscles quicker then a placebo group.
Bottomline: Creatine is used in the body to renew molecules quicker to be used for energy, resulting in more work within the muscles being done, which yields greater muscular strength and mass.
- Are there any adverse side effects associated with creatine?
The majority of short-term studies (doses taken for 2 weeks or less) on creatine monohydrate have resulted in no high-risk adverse effects being associated with taking the recommended dosage.
Dehydration, due to excess water being pulled into muscles, as well as muscle cramping, normally associated dehydration, have said to have been small side effects associated with creatine. These both can be eliminated by increasing your daily water intake, making sure you get close to a gallon of water per day.
Although, since there haven’t been many long-term studies on creatine, no one can tell for sure if creatine is safe in the long-run. But by following the recommended dosages, and increasing your daily water intake, creatine usage is quite safe.
Creatine does tend to put more stress on the kidneys since the excess does need to be filtered from your blood, but no direct correlations have been found between creatine and any type of kidney disease, or failure due to creatine intake.
In conclusion, creatine is one of the safest, most effective supplements. To stay the safest, it’s a good idea to take creatine on a daily basis for no more then 12 weeks. After a 12 week period, it’s suggested to take a month off to allow your body to return to its normal levels of creatine, just to be safe.
- Which Creatine is the best? When and How Much Creatine do I need?
There are many different types and forms of creatine available, including creatine serums, micronized creatines, effervescent creatines, creatine monohydrate, creatine ethyl ester, etc.
Instead of messing around with the new forms that are “marketed” to have better absorption rates or a higher potency, forget about every other one and stick with the most common, fully researched form of creatine: creatine monohydrate.
Creatine monohydrate is simply a creatine complexed with a molecule of water, which helps make its bioavailability higher, resulting in the highest researched absorption rate.
Which creatine brand is best?
The best brand we suggest when it comes to creatine supplementation is PrimaForce’s CreaForm. PrimaForce is a company owned by Scivation, known for providing high-quality, research-proven products at an affordable price. We personally use Creaform ourselves for every workout, and can definitely back it’s quality and effectiveness.
When and How Much?
There are currently two “popular” ways of taking creatine. One is on a daily basis, before and after workouts, while the second is referred to as “loading” and sometimes “cycling.” A loading and cycling form of taking creatine requires you to take a high dosage for 5-7 days, followed by a maintenance dosage per day.
We won’t go into much more detail then that here, because we firmly believe a loading phase is just not necessary. A much more effective and easier process is to sandwich your workouts with a moderate creatine dose.
Assuming you take a pre and post-workout shake, which, by the way, is the most effective way to supplement around your workout, it’d be a perfect time to throw in one scoop, or 5g of CreaForm.
This strategy of supplementation will enhance your lift, since your body will use up the creatine it gets beforehand for energy, as well as aid in recovery by using the creatine it gets afterwards to help repair and rejuvenate your muscle fibers.
Pre-Workout (Approximately 45-60 minutes before your lift): 5g of Creatine
Post-Workout (Within 60 minutes of your lift, the sooner the better): 5g of Creatine
As your system adapts to the creatine, it will begin to saturate your body, storing higher amounts of creatine within your muscle tissue, pulling more water into the muscle, as well as giving you all of the benefits we’ve talked about: building and maintaining lean muscle, providing more energy during sets and faster recovery between sets when training, promoting muscle cell hydration, increasing strength and recovery.
It can take up to a month for your body to regulate and store the new creatine, so stick with it for at least that long before you judge its benefits and results.
5 Steps to Ensure Creatine works for You:
1. What is it? Creatine occurs naturally within your body as an amino acid.
2. Why use it? Creatine is used in the body to product greater energy, resulting in greater muscle gains when supplemented.
3. When should I take it? Pre-Workout (Approximately 45-60 minutes before your lift), as well as Post-Workout (Within 60 minutes of your lift, the sooner the better).
4. How much should I take? 5g (1 scoop of CreaForm)
5. Recommendations: Drink 1 gallon of water per day, don’t exceed recommended dosage.
Also, to clarify, we’re not compensated in anyway for suggesting CreaForm as our choice in creatine. It’s simply a good product that we’ve personally used and recommend. You can choose your own brand if you like, but it’s a good idea to at least stick with creatine monohydrate, and 2.5-5g as your dosage.
Although, if you choose a different product, make sure to check the label to see what they suggest for proper dosage instructions.
