VERIFIED CONTENTAuthor: Maciej Szukała

Creatine is the best-researched and at the same time one of the most effective supplements used by athletes. Bodybuilders are especially eager to use it, but it also works well in sports where explosive energy is required. Creatine is also widely believed to be completely safe. What are the benefits of using creatine and how to take it?

Creatinewas discovered in the first half of the 19th century. It was widely used as a supplement much later - in the 1990s. It was then established that supporting the natural production capacity of the human body by administering exogenous creatine brings a measurable effect in the form of a rapid increase in muscle mass and strength.

What is creatine?

Creatine is an organic compound that has the chemical name of beta methylguanidine acetic acid. It consists of three amino acids:

  • arginine,
  • glycine,
  • methions.

Each of them is an important component that builds muscle proteins. Natural reserves of creatine are found in the muscles (over 95-98%). The remaining, small amounts can be found in the brain, kidneys, testes and liver.

How does creatine work?

Creatine works by supporting the body's anabolic and anti-catabolic abilities. It intensifies the production of new muscle proteins, and also increases exercise parameters by:

  • faster weight gain,
  • increase strength,
  • improving speed and power,
  • better post-workout regeneration,
  • creating an additional source of energy.

By increasing the concentration of creatine in muscle fibers, ATP regenerates faster, and as a result, the exerciser can increase the effort, shorten the break time between consecutive series or extend it by adding repetitions.

Regular consumption of creatine makes the muscles fill with water. This, in turn, translates into faster tissue renewal and the ability to perform more frequent or more intense workouts.

Some people may be resistant to creatine. However, this does not happen often and it is genetic.

What forms of creatine can you buy?

You will find a lot in sports supplement storesdifferent types of creatine and the so-called creatine stacks, i.e. ready-made mixtures of various active substances. The prices of ordinary monohydrate, and orotane or hydrochloride, may differ several times. What characterizes the various forms of creatine?

Creatine Monohydrate

Most often chosen by both beginners and those who return to the sport after a long break. It is very cheap and readily available. Monohydrate is available in a regular and alkalized form, which is more stable in the body, so it can be taken in smaller doses.

It consists of the combined molecules of water and creatine. Consuming creatine monohydrate goes hand in hand with high water retention, but often also quickly visible effects (not necessarily qualitative).

Creatine malate

Composed of molecules of creatine and malic acid. It causes less water retention than the monohydrate, is also chemically stable, and the doses taken may be lower. It is characterized by a strongly sour taste.

The first visuals appear later than with monohydrate, but last longer.

Creatine Citrate

Creatine molecules combined with citric acid. Qualitatively similar to malate, but less often in the form of a separate supplement (more often as an ingredient in ready-made stacks).

Among other, more expensive and better-quality forms of creatine, you will also find magnesium chelate, phosphate, orotate and alpha-ketoglutarate. Some of them are only available as an addition to ready-made supplements.

The so-called creatine stacks. They consist of several combined forms of creatine and substances acting synergistically. Particularly frequently used additives include:

  • essential amino acids,
  • betaine,
  • citrulline,
  • beta-alanine,
  • taurine,
  • arginine,
  • alphalipoic acid (ALA).

When choosing stacks, it is worth paying attention to their composition and choosing it so that the doses of active substances from other supplements do not double. Remember that more is not always better.

Creatine absorption

Creatine supplements usually come in the form of powders or capsules. Occasionally, other solutions (e.g. chewing gums or jelly beans with creatine) appear on the market.

Creatine is also added as one of the ingredients of many pre-workout supplements, gainers and bulbs, where it is designed to increase the effect of weight gain. Absorption of the supplement can be improved by certain additives. Among them, it is worth mentioning:

  • insulin,
  • taurine,
  • d-ribose,
  • alpha lipoic acid.

The easiest way to improve your creatine absorption is to take it with ordinary fruit juice, which instantly raises your blood insulin levels.

When supplementing with creatine, remember to consume adequate amounts of water (even 3-3.5 liters per day). Hydration of the body increases the effectiveness of the supplement and creates favorable conditions for the synthesis of new muscle proteins.

The bioavailability of creatine increases in the presence of sugars, and also at the time when the so-called anabolic window, i.e. a period of increased demand for macronutrients immediately after training. Therefore, it is recommended to consume the supplement with meals containing carbohydrates and in a post-workout meal.

When using large daily doses, it is better to divide them into several smaller portions to improve the absorption of the substance.

Who should supplement creatine?

Creatine supplements can be used by athletes of virtually all disciplines:

  • strength (e.g. bodybuilding),
  • endurance (e.g. running),
  • mixed (e.g. martial arts, crossfit).

It is difficult to pinpoint the best time to take creatine. Some athletes take it constantly (all year round), others use cycles of several weeks. Certainly, this supplement can be used to break the stagnation in building muscle mass and strength.

Creatine supplementation is strongly discouraged for beginners who are just getting to know their body's capabilities. The first months of work (and even years) are ideal for:

  • developing appropriate eating habits,
  • learning movement patterns in individual exercises,
  • implementation of a training regime and development of regularity,
  • development of motor skills (e.g. speed, general fitness).

Each supplementation, even the simplest one, is only an addition to sport and should not be a driving force or an incentive to go to training.

How to use creatine correctly?

Creatine can be used in cycles or continuously. In the first variant, the following can be distinguished:

  • loading phase - for the first 7-10 days you take a large dose of creatine (even 20-30 g) divided into several smaller portions,
  • saturation phase - it consists in maintaining a constant concentration of creatine in the muscles by taking a constant dose of 5 g for the next 6-8 weeks.

Constant supplementation with creatine consists in taking 1 g of the substance for every 10kg of body weight (in the case of a person weighing 90 kg it will be 9 g per day).

Both the amount of the active substance and the duration of its intake should be tested individually. There is no one-size-fits-all scheme that will ensure optimal results. A lot also depends on the diet. Eating large amounts of red meat will increase the physiological concentration of creatine in the muscles. In such a situation, less supplementation from external sources is enough.

It is also worth remembering that creatine (regardless of its chemical form) is not a miracle supplement that will guarantee building an athletic and lean body in a short time. Its supply must be supplemented with:

  • correctly selected training,
  • regeneration during which supercompensation takes place,
  • a diet with a calculated caloric surplus (only then will the muscles grow).

Benefits of using creatine

Maintaining an elevated level of creatine in the muscles has a number of benefits:

  • More power during training

The use of creatine increases the exercise capacity during high-intensity training (e.g. sprints) due to the increase in phosphocreatine reserves and accelerated ATP re-synthesis.

  • Faster muscle growth

Creatine works anabolic, accelerating the development of muscles by increasing the level of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1). It also lowers the level of myostatin, one of the natural catabolics found in our body.

  • Lower blood sugar

Creatine has been suggested to lower blood sugar levels due to the increased activity of one of the glucose transporters after taking the supplement. Research suggests that creatine can be used to fight diabetes.

  • Fatigue delay

Creatine makes you feel tired and has a positive effect on the cognitive functions of the brain (also in elderly people with memory problems).

Does creatine use have side effects

Does the use of creatine have side effects? On the Internet you can find a lot of information about the harmful effects of creatine on he alth. Which arguments will you encounter most often?

  • Creatine increases body weight

This is a fact that results from water retention in the muscles caused by supplementation. However, it should be remembered that extra pounds are not harmful fat tissue. Whether building muscle tissue is a disadvantage is a question with no right answer.

For many bodybuilders, but also the elderly who lose quicklybody weight is a big plus. On the other hand, in the case of athletes training purely endurance disciplines (e.g. long-distance running), extra kilograms are ballast, which translates into a worse result at the finish line (but in sprinters or trail runners, the improvement in explosive strength means more power when climbing uphill runs!).

  • Creatine dehydrates

In practice, it is quite the opposite, because increased water retention causes the hydration of the muscle tissue and creates favorable conditions for its development.

  • Creatine damages the kidneys

Consuming creatine can increase the level of creatinine in your urine. This is natural because creatinine is a metabolite of creatine. However, there is no scientific evidence that even long-term consumption of the supplement worsens kidney function. The longest study lasted 4 years, and in another, scientists showed that creatine actually floats to lower the level of cystatin C, a marker used to assess the condition of the kidneys.

  • Creatine causes digestive problems

This is the only correct objection, although this effect of creatine applies only to high doses taken once, and not always. The laxative effect, however, can be attributed to many other products that are consumed thoughtlessly, including protein supplements, dried fruit and coffee.

  • Creatine causes high blood pressure

This conclusion is too much of a simplification. Taking creatine is associated with water retention, the presence of which may increase the pressure in the body. In the case of people with severe hypertension, this may be a contraindication to supplementation. The conditioner itself has no effect on blood pressure, and in addition, forms other than monohydrate cause much less fluid retention.

Creatine has been common in amateur and professional sport for several decades. You can easily find hundreds of publications that show the positive effects of using this substance in the absence of any side effects. It is difficult to find an equally universal and well-tested supplement.

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