Most people have heard of creatine supplements at one time or another due to being probably the most popular and effective sports supplement on the market. It's been shown to have an impact on size and strength many times over. Read on! You may find that it may be beneficial to you too.
A Brief History
Creatine was discovered in the human body in 1832, but hadn't really been considered for use to aid athletic performance until the early 1990's. By the mid-90's, most professional athletes were supplementing with creatine.
Where Creatine Comes From
Creatine is a compound that is found naturally in the body, and about 95% of it is normally found in muscle tissue. It is a combination of the three amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine.
About half of the creatine found in your body is made by the body, and the other half is taken from food. The foods that mainly contain creatine are red meat and fish, but not in such abundant amounts that you can raise the amount of creatine in your body just by adding a little of these foods to your diet. You would have to essentially gorge yourself with these foods to increase your creatine levels only marginally. As with most all supplementation, creatine is sold in order to make increasing your intake practical.
How Creatine Supplements Work
Why would you want to raise the creatine levels in your muscles? Why, I'm glad you asked. Taking creatine supplements has been shown to increase lean muscle mass, decrease lactic acid production, speed recovery during and after workouts, and decrease mental fatigue.
In order to understand how creatine does this, you first have to be familiar with a substance called Adenosine Tri-Phosphate, or ATP for short. ATP is basically the fuel that sits in your cells waiting to burn at a moments notice when your muscles need them. It is a molecule of adenine with three phosphate groups attached to it. When needed, the third phosphate group detaches, which produces energy for your muscles to work. The ATP is now ADP (Adenosine Di-Phosphate), and must wait for that third phosphate group to get reattached before is can produce energy again.
This is where creatine comes into play. After taking a creatine supplement, the body converts it into creatine phosphate, and stores that in muscle tissue. You are essentially keeping a ready supply of the phosphate group needed to convert ADP back into ATP. So as you lift weights, the energy that you're burning is quickly being turned back into usable energy. This should allow you to lift a little more weight and recover more quickly than if you didn't take the creatine supplement. End result, more muscle (assuming your workout and diet are in order).
The Importance of Water
Quick Answer: Real Important
One of the effects of creatine supplementation is that it holds onto a lot of water as it's being stored in your muscles. This causes your muscle to look fuller most of the time. Many have noticed that after they work out their muscles are fuller and more defined due to the increased blood being pumped through the muscles for recovery purposes. Creatine supplementation tends to make muscles look like this much of the time due to the extra water being stored.
Due to this water holding characteristic of creatine, it is very important that anyone that supplements with creatine must drink plenty of water. This is normally noted on the packaging. If you aren't mindful of staying adequately hydrated, dehydration may soon follow.
The muscle volumizing effect of creatine supplements should not be why you use it though. It's not going to make you look ripped unless you already are ripped. Due to the explanation of the effects creatine supplementation has on your body above, you should realize that you only see its true benefits when supplementation is coupled with a good weight lifting routine. Creatine supplements are supposed to help you in the gym. It's not a miracle supplement that you consume expecting drastic improvements to your physique. A workout plan must accompany it.
Added Benefit: Feel the Burn...much less
No Pain, No Gain? I don't like the sound of that.
Creatine supplements will also help relieve the burning sensation you may feel while weight lifting. The burning you feel is a waste product of your muscles called lactic acid which is produced anytime your muscles work. Without getting too much into the biology of it all, the process of turning ADP back into ATP that creatine affords curbs this burning sensation since it is helping your muscles recover more quickly. This will allow you to do one or two more reps than you probably wouldn't have normally been able to pull off.
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