Supplements have been in the health and fitness industry for as long as we can remember. You could even say they started the health and fitness industry.
For years, they’ve promised results that can save you from your fat loss problems. Supplements promise to build more muscle than ever before. They promise and promise and promise, and promise.
Yet they don’t come through like they say they will.
Except for creatine.
Creatine is one of the most widely studied and used supplements on the market for one reason: it works.
WHAT IS CREATINE?
Creatine, though you may have never heard of it, is a naturally occurring substance. Our body creates it, and it is found in our muscle cells as well as the muscle of the animals we eat. It is most commonly known and recognized in its powdered supplement form.
WHAT DOES IT DO?
When we exercise, our cells produce ATP for energy. Our cells produce lots of ATP when we are lifting weights and training at intense levels.
Creatine helps increase the phosphocreatine stores in our muscles. The increase in stores can help produce more energy in the cells (ATP) which can lead to the following benefits.
BENEFIT #1: INCREASED MUSCLE MASS
Even if your goal is to lose body fat, increasing your lean muscle mass will help you do that. Muscle is one of the main contributing factors to a faster metabolism.
Having a faster metabolism makes fat loss far easier. It is important to put on and maintain lean muscle mass, and creatine can help you do so.
Creatine is known to be the best supplement for building muscle, and it should be. Time and time again, study after study, creatine helps individuals build muscle. But how?
There are many different ideas, but the most common understanding is that since creatine increases energy production in the cells, it increases performance in the gym, too. The increase in performance in the gym leads to greater strength increases.
Lifting more weights increases the individuals overall volume, which is believed to be one of the main contributing factors to increased muscle. Your body adapts as your volume (weights x sets x reps) increases.
Basically, creatine can help you increase the amount of weight you lift in the gym which can help you build more lean muscle.
BENEFIT #2: EXPLOSIVE PERFORMANCE
Aside from strength and lean muscle mass increases, creatine has been shown to help athletes and top performers get more from their body.
Without creatine, ATP is gone after about 8-10 seconds of exercise. Creatine can help ATP last a few seconds longer.
This has been shown to help sprinters sprint longer, cyclists cycle further, and athletes perform better. Whether you’re performing a one-rep max or a 12-second play on the field, creatine may be the supplement for you.
BENEFIT #3: COGNITIVE FUNCTION
Believe it or not, creatine has been used to treat neurological conditions. Much of the research is not conclusive as to whether or not this supplement can help treat the symptoms of the many neurological demons we face today, but some say they notice a difference.
Anecdotally, creatine seems to have more of an impact on vegans and vegetarians, or those with a diet low in meat. Given that creatine is found in animal meat (especially in red meat), it is likely that vegans and vegetarians are in dire need of creatine and thus see the greatest cognitive improvements when supplementing.
Aside from neurological disorders, creatine is believed to help with things like memory.
Pretty cool, huh?
WHO SHOULD TAKE CREATINE?
For some reason, creatine has been over popularized in men and hardly marketed to women at all. So much so, that many women believe it is a man’s supplement. This simply is not true.
Both men and women can see benefits from supplementing with creatine. If your goal is to improve your performance in the gym, get stronger, and increase your lean muscle mass, creatine may be a great fit.
THE TAKEAWAYS
Creatine is one of the safest and most widely studied supplements on the market.
Creatine helps our bodies produce more ATP. This can lean to increased strength, performance, and lean muscle tissue.
It seems that vegans and vegetarians may see the most benefit from creatine given their low to non-existent exposure to meat.
Creatine can be taken by both men and women. Whether your goal is to build muscle, burn fat, increase strength, or improve your overall performance, creatine may help.
Consult with your physician before making the decision to take creatine.
And remember, no supplement is as effective as a sound diet and quality training program. Supplements do best when all of the big rocks are dialed in.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.
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