Stimulation free workout or a high stimulation free workout, you are probably looking for the best available and suited ingredient to go with it, and through consultation and ingredient labels, creatine will likely be coming first on that list.
Now, you are wondering that “what is creatine? “or “ is it good for me at all? “and your concern is valid. However, you have come to the right place to find out and give your mind rest because we have got the answers to your questions!
Before getting into the detailed information about creatine and its usage, so let’s look at what it means. You need to understand and know what you will be taking for yourself, right? Please scroll down below to know more about creatine, its uses, and much more!
Table of Contents
What is creatine?
Creatine is a chemical or an organic compound that is present inside the body. It is present in the brain and as well as the muscles. It exists naturally in the cells of the muscle. And it produces various amino acids, and it is produced from two of them, called arginine and glycine. Also, you can find it in food products like seafood and red meat.
Moreover, it is mainly used to improve performances during exercise and increase the mass of muscles in older adults and athletes. Science has approved the usage of creatine to increase efficiency and enhance athletic performances of young and healthy athletes in high magnitude activities like sprinting, weight lifting.
Due to this, this organic compound is naturally used as a dietary supplement for improving the strength of the muscles and performances. It is a significant source of supplement in the US, where most nutritional supplements contain it. The usage of creatine is approved by the International Olympic Committee, National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA), and professional sports. Also, creatine is used to help with muscle cramps, depression, and multiple sclerosis ( MS). However, there is no scientific evidence to support such usage.
Uses of creatine
Athletes and fitness freaks consume creatine as it helps them in their workouts. There are multiple evident uses of this supplement that can help you out. Here we look at the uses of this compound–
Improving athletic performances
The compound helps to improve athletic performances of rowing, jumping heights, and soccer. Although, it depends on the effect of the organic compound when it comes to sprinting, swimming, and cycling performances. It varies from one person to another due to the differences in the number of doses taken and the differences in the test taken to measure the performances. One thing to note, the compound has not been an able supplement to improve tennis players’ performances as there is no evidence of it yet.
Creatine metabolism disorders
Many people have disorders relating to the secretion of creatine inside the body. This can create malfunctions mentally, autism, and frequent seizures. The supplements help massively to increase the level of brain functions in young adults and children by taking it by mouth daily for 3 years. This contains the disorder known as guanidinoacetate methyltransferase ( GMAT ) deficiency.
Increasing muscle strength
According to researches of scientists, creatine helps to improve body strength in younger and older adults. It revitalizes muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and preserves the composition of the muscles. It helps the athletes to improve neuromuscular function and reduces fatigue. This compound reduces muscle damage due to high-intensity exercises.
Improving cardiovascular system
Creatine helps to maintain a flexible cardiovascular system for heart patients. It enhances heart circulation, rhythm stability, and blood vessel pliability. Along with that, creatine maintains blood triglyceride levels to sustain it within the normal range. Also, it provides the support to maintain blood pressure levels normal within the range.
Now that you thoroughly have an idea about creatine and its uses let us move on to the main focus of the article.
When to take creatine?
After understanding the supplement, you are probably thinking of taking for increasing your performance, and it is necessary to know when to take this super ingredient.
Here we have all the answers for you below!
Taking creatine on days that you workout
Taking creatine on days you exercise possesses around three major options for you concerning when to take creatine. The best option for you is to take it before you exercise or after you complete your exercise. In simple words, take it at some time when you are not exercising. Another option is there, and you need to split your daily dosage and take it throughout the whole day.
It can be said that the best option is to supplement before or after workout sessions. One study showed results through this process. A ten-week examination gave a dietary supplement that contained creatine, carbs, and proteins to gym goers who trained weights. Two separate groups were made to complete the study. One group took the supplement before and after a workout, and the other group took it throughout the day in daily dosage, not close to workout sessions. The group which took the supplements before and after the workout gained more compact muscles than the other. Therefore, according to this research, it can be said that taking creatine before or after a workout is better and the best possible way.
Taking creatine on days that you rest
Taking it on resting days is likely to be less important than the days you workout or exercise. The main aim of taking a supplement on the days you rest is just to keep the amount of creatine in your muscles and body elevated to avoid irregularities in dosage.
During this period, a phase is known as the ” loading phase “ is favorable to approach. You need to take high amounts of creatine, more or less than 20 grams, for around five to six days in this phase. This helps to increase the creatine of your muscles in a quick manner for several days. You must take 4-5g of daily dosage of the supplement after you get past the above stage. Therefore, this stage is called maintenance dosage.
While taking the maintenance doses, the primary purpose of supplementing during this resting period is simply to sustain the levels of creatine in the muscles.
Taking creatine with a high nutritional meal
Till now, you have understood the benefits and gains of creatine. However, there are ways to maximize the effectiveness of the supplement.
Scientists and researchers have tried to look for ways to maximize the efficiency of creatine supplements; they did it by adding other nutrients like protein, amino acids, carbohydrates, and other compounds based on plants. Some studies have said that adding carbs to the diet to go along with creatine increases the effectiveness on the extent of muscle growth.
Although, some studies have gone against this statement and pronounced that adding carbs does not affect creatine intake. Protein and amino acids are proved to work well alongside creatine supplements.
It has also been proved that it increases the rigidity of the body and its creatine retention. It will be beneficial for you if you take protein and amino acids with creatine supplements. You can put on extra weight by adding more carbs to your diet. This would help with the intake of it.
How to use creatine for muscle growth?
There are people who take creatine in the correct manner, but there are some who take it in the wrong manner. The best ways to enhance the effectiveness of the supplement are simple. As per Darryn Willoughby, Ph.D., ” it takes a while to saturate the muscle. ”
So, you can understand that just taking the creatine, it will not bulk you up with ripped muscles in two weeks. You need the correct procedure and patience to have a muscled body.
Keeping this in mind, you have two procedures that you can follow to increase your blood creatine to get the range of productivity you have targeted. Those two ways are the loading phase and the daily dosage phase.
Here are the procedures in a detailed manner –
Creatine Loading Phase
This is the most simple and common procedure that all trainers and doctors would suggest. Creatine Loading Phase helps your muscles saturate. You must consume around 20g of this product for a week.
The dosage of the same can be divided into 2 parts – 10g + 10g, once in the morning and once at night. You can divide it further into four parts like 5g + 5g + 5g + 5g; each dose at morning, afternoon, evening, and night. The consumption of this must be before and after your workout.
Maintenance Phase
This stage comes after the loading phase. The maintenance Phase is important to maintain the creatine level in the muscles during the resting days. For this procedure, the daily dosage must be within 4-5 grams and not more. A lower amount of creatine during this phase sustains the creatine in the blood. An important part of this organic compound intake as a stoppage to taking it may create the muscle levels to dry down to normal without any gains.
Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs )
Is it safe?
Creatine is absolutely safe for consumption as long you have consulted about the same with your doctor. A healthy human body has 100 grams of creatine in the structure of creatine phosphate. If creatine is consumed according to the dosage, then you won’t experience any adverse side effects. You must consult with a doctor before taking it.
Can I take creatine and whey protein together?
Yes, you can take creatine and whey protein together. Many people take it together to have more significant benefits from the supplement, but there are no scientific pieces of evidence to prove it.
So, you can assume there are no extreme benefits. But you must note that protein increases the maximization of muscle mass and strength when you have it with creatine. Both these will definitely give better compactness to your muscle.
What are creatine and whey protein?
Creatine is an organic compound or amino acid present inside the body. Whereas, whey protein is a protein-based product rich in nutrients and comes in the form of powder.
When to take this before or after a workout?
As per research, both are applicable and approved. You can either take the supplement before or after workout sessions, utterly dependent on your choice.
However, as per the survey, a pre-workout supplement helps increase your stamina level and improve muscle building over post-workout supplement sessions.
Although, as per a survey, it is essential to note that a post-workout supplement has a better creatine storage input for the body than a pre-workout supplement. This means that a post-workout supplement is better for the resting phases, but it does not mean pre-workout is not good enough. As previously said, it entirely depends on your choice, and you can take it as per your preference.
Can creatine make you fat?
No, it does not make you fat. It increases the muscle mass of the body, which makes the body look more prominent. It has no relation to increasing fat. However, high quantities of carbs intake along with this product may give an unusual increase in fat.
Final Thoughts
Creatine is a popular method for athletes in the form of supplements to increase the efficiency of workouts and muscle gains. Also, it is a natural component of the body, and the deficiency may lead to certain troubles that you can prevent by taking supplements. However, we would always suggest you speak to your doctors and fitness trainers before including this product into your diet
So, it has health benefits as well. However, taking it in improper quantities and a wrong procedure may lead to specific side effects, and it will end up having no positive impact on your muscle at all. Proper doses and proper methods will give you a positive response from your body. What do you think about this product, and will you take it? Do let us know in the comments and do tell us how this super organic compound did a spell on your health!