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Creatine Supplements Benefits and Side Effects

Creatine became incredibly popular in the 90's and changed the supplementation habits of bodybuilders almost over night. Many bodybuilders still swear by it, yet many others do not use it at all. If you are thinking of adding creatine to your list of supplements this article may help you with your decision. There is some scientific discussion, and this is included to help maximise your knowledge of creatine.

Creatine is one of the basic muscle energy stores, particularly in fast twitch muscle fibers - the ones us bodybuilders care about.

Creatine can be found stored in the muscles as the above energy store and also within your blood. There is a balance between these two stores, where creatine that is used up (degrated to creatinine) in the muscles is replenished by the creatine in the blood. The average person uses up about two grams of creatine per day.

Creatine levels in the body can be altered by creatine ingestion. Within a few days of creatine supplementation, levels within the muscles and in the blood increase until they reach a new level where equilibrium is found.

The increase in creatine levels allows for increased anaerobic exercise performance because more energy is available in the muscles.

Creatine Supplementation methods

There are many 'proven' ways of supplementing with creatine. Probably the most common method is to take five grams a day, with some people doing a 'loading' phase at the start of a creatine supplement cycle. During the loading phase they take up to twenty five grams a day of creatine monohydrate or similar for five days. It isn't proved scientifically whether loading has any benefit but general consensus within bodybuilding says that it has, though the only way to find out for yourself is to try it.

Some bodybuilders take creatine all year round whereas others cycle their intake, from periods from as short as two weeks to three months.

Many bodybuilders mix their creatine powder with fruit (grape was commonly used) juice, coffee or hot water (and cold). Simple carbs and other ingredients like Dextrose, Ribose, Nitric Oxide Stimulators, Lipoic Acid and other ingredients have been shown to help us absorb and utilise creatine and there are now many many supplements that are designed to faciliate the absorption of creatine. These so-called 'Cell Volumisers' (called so because the extra creatine and carbs in your muscles bring in extra water with them and hence your muscle cells increase in volume) are generally acknowledged to be more effective than simple creatine monohydrate powders and so you should consider using them over creatine alone.

I recommend Pumped Extreme Creatine Supplement as a very good cell volumiser product - it is VERY popular at the moment and you can be sure it's a high quality product. Amongst other breakthrough nutrients it contains a special form of creatine: Kre-Alkalyn, which is very soluble and stable and so far less is required than with creatine monohydate (which is poorly absorbed and instable).

Creatine Supplementation Effects

Unfortunately, the benefits of creatine supplementation is varied between people - some have fantastic results, where they can train harder and lift more weight and so gain muscle quicker yet for others the effect is minimal or even non-existant.

There are two possible causes for why some people don't benefit much or at all from creatine. The first is that creatine levels in the muscles varies quite considerably between people who aren't supplementing. Those that already have high levels are not likely to gain much from additional supplementation of creatine as there just isn't scope for them to put that much more creatine in their already full muscles.

The second reason is that some people's creatine regulatory systems are just too effective - their body's cope with the creatine they injest by simply reducing the amount of creatine it makes and eliminating any extra creatine that it doesn't want. For these people their bodies are just too happy at their current creatine levels and simply doesn't want to change (this is known as homeostatis).

How do you know how you are going to respond? Well, it's impossible to say - the only way to find out is to try it. Try with and without loading and vary your cycle durations (from two to eight weeks is good) before you make your final decision and if you find a system that works stick with it but experiment slowly over time to further increase your results.

Creatine Side Effects

There are a couple of minor side effects when supplementing with creatine monohydrate. First is the stomach discomfort and nausea some people experience when they take creatine. For these people the newer forms of creatine supplements are more suitable as these are far easier on the stomach.

The other creatine side effect is that some athletes report muscle cramps. These individuals need to reduce the amount of creatine they take and experiment with the new cell volumiser products to see if they can eliminate the cramps but still reap the benefits of creatine.

Conclusion

In summary, creatine can definitely be of assistance to those bodybuilders who can substantially increase their creatine levels through creatine supplementation. The new cell volumising products have taken creatine supplementation to a new level and products like Pumped Extreme Creatine Supplement are truly revolutionary for us modern day bodybuilders. Along with sensible diet, training, supplementation and rest our chances of getting as big as we want is one step closer!

Give creatine a go today - you have nothing to lose and a LOT to gain!

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