What is Creatine
What is Creatine?
Creatine is one of the most studied supplements on the market which time after time as shown positive impact on performance, strength & the ability to push for them extra sets whilst aiding muscular recovery. Creatine is naturally produced amino acid within certain tissues of the body & is used as a source of energy, however during bouts of intense exercise, stores can often become depleted. We can rely on our diet to supplement from food groups such as red meat, fish & poultry but many prefer to supplement with a creatine monohydrate supplement creatine is also vegetarian friendly & will support overall creatine levels which are not obtained from a vegetarian diet.
How Does Creatine Aid Performance?
Ø Creatine plays a key role in the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the one of body’s main energy sources alongside the breakdown of carbohydrates & fat stores.
Creatine has been shown to support increases in muscle mass, strength, endurance & recovery in various studies through the delivery of more energy to muscle tissues via CM metabolism to lead to an increased ATP production.
Creatine Monohydrate as been shown to be most effective in anaerobic exercise of <30s, however further studies have shown benefits during aerobic exercise durations too.
Creatine can lead to more water being retained in the muscles which leads to better hydration & retaining muscle glycogen stores for longer in HIIT exercise & within longer endurance activities in conjunction with adequate carbohydrate intake will increase the lactic acid threshold.
In studies, there as seen to be a relationship between Creatine supplementation, heavy resistant training & an increase in Insulin Like Growth Factor (IGF-1) which is a key signal for muscular protein synthesis & hypertrophy.
Creatine has been shown to also be effective in supporting blood glucose management, brain health
How much Creatine should I take & when?
Creatine Monohydrate has been shown to be effective at doses of 3-5g per day, however a dose of 0.1g per kilo of bodyweight as been shown to be most effective where muscle building is the goal. Studies have shown both front loading with 20g for weeks per day followed by maintenance dosages of 5g per day for a following 4 weeks to be effective but not necessarily optimal as daily dosing as proved to be just as effective.
ü Pre-Workout- Ensure muscle phosphocreatine stores are fully replenished ahead of the activity
ü Intra-Workout- To replenish stores of creatine for ATP generation during workouts to provide longer lasting endurance
ü Post-Workout- Recovery, reduce muscle soreness & the DOMS effect, replenish creatine stores post workout
ü Daily- Many health benefits of creatine outside of exercise at low dosages which can prove effective in blood glucose regulation & supporting cognitive function
Why Complete Strength Creatine?
Complete Strength Creatine is a must have supplement for any athlete that’s designed to help promote increased athletic performance, muscle cell volume & hydration and endurance as well as promote muscular recovery from during & post exercise. Our NEW rebranded formula delivers 5g of creatine per scoop with a huge 60 servings per tub.
Creatine can be used in conjunction with other Complete Strength supplements to support overall muscle growth, both a whey od whey isolate to ensure protein requirements are met & an EAA are imperative to ensure you are getting the right amount of protein & Amino acids to start the muscle building a repair process. Other additions to be considered are glutamine, highly branched cyclic dextrin & our NEW hydration product which all work extremely well with Complete Strength Creatine!!!
References
Creatine supplementation with specific view to exercise/sports performance: an update - PMC