Creatine is an essential natural substance found in human muscles, required for energy release and movement performance. Results in sports are higher, the higher the body’s ability to release energy in a short period. Suppose you do not go into the chemical details of the synthesis of ATP, which is responsible for this very release of energy, and creatine is necessary for it to do this.
In that case, it becomes clear that you need constantly replenished creatine reserves in the muscles to take more and throw further. From food, we get creatine from red meat – beef, for example. But to eat such an amount of meat to provide a decent supply of creatine in an athlete’s muscles, a person is most often unable to.
Creatine is both responsible for gaining muscle mass and indirectly promotes fat burning. Due to the increased ATP reserves, a person takes more weight and performs more repetitions, provoking more intense muscle growth. Due to the increased energy expenditure, more fat is broken down from subcutaneous stores.
I’m not very happy about creatine’s ability to bind to water molecules and store water in the muscles. While taking creatine, it “floods” with water due to the increased amount of water in the muscles. Yes, such muscles look larger and pumped up, but the weight gain is also noticeable. It’s because of the water. After a course of taking creatine, water, of course, is excreted naturally from the body, causing the muscle relief to appear more clearly.
Applied Nutrition Creatine Monohydrate is a white powder without fragrance and taste, poorly soluble in water. Usually, creatine is advised to be taken by mixing it with grape juice. The time of admission – after training or before – is undesirable because, by itself, it increases the daily water intake, respectively, which will increase the amount of water drunk during the training, negatively affecting its quality. And the body, to a lesser extent during this period, is predisposed to assimilation.
Therefore, the best time to take it is an hour after training. For example, it was convenient for me to mix a protein shake and creatine in a shaker and drink just during this period when the muscles are most receptive to protein and creatine. Why with protein and in milk, and not in the recommended grape juice? Because creatine is digested with simple carbohydrates. And since there is no way to combine grape juice + creatine and milk + protein, I interfere with such a cocktail. In any case, the protein contains simple carbohydrates, so we kill two birds with one stone.
There are two schemes for taking creatine – with and without a loading phase. The loading phase consists of the athlete taking 4-5 doses of creatine (1 dose – 5 grams \u003d a teaspoon) for 5-9 days and then taking it at a maintenance dosage of 5 grams per day. The effectiveness of these methods is about the same, so I drank it without a loading phase.
How long can you take creatine? Creatine can be taken on an ongoing basis. Still, there is a possibility of a decrease in muscle sensitivity to this supplement, so it is more reasonable to take creatine for 1.5-2 months and then take a break for 3-4 weeks to restore sensitivity. It’s wise to take creatine in a muscle-building mode; in a maintenance or cutting mode, it will be superfluous.
At the moment, several compounds of creatine are used in sports. The most familiar and well-known is creatine monohydrate. There is also creatine with a transport system, creatine ether, creatine chloride, and are-alkaline, which manufacturers position as the latest and latest developments, free from the disadvantages of monohydrate-water retention in the muscles. There are no official studies confirming these loud statements. Monohydrate has been and remains the best in quality and pricing.
