Do You Really Need a Creatine Supplement For Superior Physical Performance?

Creatine is something that you will hear a great deal about in any gym in the world. Bodybuilders found out some time ago that a good creatine supplement had numerous benefits for their bodybuilding endeavors. But in the grand scheme of things, can't you get the body that you desire without the use of this supplement?

Creatine is, after all, usually only thought of as a performance enhancement supplement, meaning that it will enable you to do better during your workouts, but that it has few, if any, benefits beyond this. Research shows that this is a mistaken belief. Other people believe that because they eat plenty of red meat and fish, which has this compound in it naturally, that they don't need a creatine supplement. This is also a mistake.

First, it is true that it is a natural performance enhancer, but it enhances more than just your performance. It also enhances your body's performance, by increasing anaerobic performance when you are working out. This does allow you to workout longer and harder as well.

You see, muscles are comprised of four different biochemicals, which include fatty acids, glucose, ATP, and creatine phosphate. All of these are necessary in the exercise and strengthening of muscles, and all of these biochemicals work together. Unfortunately, there is only so much that these biochemicals can do, and if you want them to do more, you need a supplement, which provides more of those biochemicals in the muscles...particularly creatine.

As with most things, there are those who will tell you why you shouldn't take this supplement. They will claim that creatine causes muscle cramping. Unfortunately for them - and fortunately for you - science has proven that it has nothing to do with muscle cramps. Muscle cramps are caused by a lack of hydration and low electrolytes. Experts agree that you need to drink one glass of water for every serving of creatine that you have.

It is also important to note that your body can waste creatine. You see, the muscles store this compound as 'stored energy' and use it as they are called upon to do more than they could without those stores. But you must think of your muscles as a container. Any container can only hold so much of any substance or item. Containers are not 'bottomless' and neither are your muscles. So, the muscles can only store so much of this compound at any given time. Experts agree that 10 grams of creatine a day is all that is really needed in terms of creatine supplements, because the muscles cannot store more than this.

While creatine improves your muscles response to your workouts, there are certain substances that actually improve upon it as well. Research has shown that creatine taken with Ribose increases the ATP in muscle cells. You can find products that now contain creatine and Ribose, and results of those who take a creatine supplement that contains Ribose have been great.

Caffeine is also great for creatine. As you know, however, too much caffeine isn't good for you. Experts advise one cup of coffee prior to a workout, which contains about 250mg of caffeine. You may need to experiment with caffeine with your creatine supplement, because everyone seems to have different reactions to caffeine.

Creatine - The Physical Benefits

Creatine has been thought of as synonymous with other performance enhancing drugs such as: android, anadrol, anabolic steroids, testosterone, human growth hormone, and such. Creatine is primarily used as a weight lifting supplement. To put creatine in the same category as these other performance enhancing drugs is to show how uneducated you are on exactly what it is that creatine is and tries to accomplish.

Creatine is a natural component of skeletal muscle. It is produced in synthesis in smaller amount through our natural diets, usually stemming from meats that carnivorous animals acquire through their natural diets. This is a product we intake whether we like to or not, and as it is a natural substance takin in by our bodies, I already have shown it to be a quality supplement, if taken in correct doses.

Simply speaking, creatine is a supplement which causes and increase in our muscle energy availability stores. The cells of our body store their energy in the form of a molecule known as Adenosine TriPhohsphate, or ATP. The amount of work our muscles can perform is a direct consequence of the amount of ATP they have stored as well as the ease with which ATP is regenerated with the help of PCr during strenuous exercise. Think of ATP as the cell's energy currency and phosphocreatine as a debit card with an adjustable balance - the balance being set by creatine deposit via the diet.

First and foremost, creatine enhances physical performance by increasing the number of times that ATP can be recycled during physical exertion without increasing the absolute amount of ATP stored within our muscles. In the short-term this means that creatine supplementation should improve our ability to sustain near maximal force generation during repetitive bouts of intense exercise without actually increasing the amount of peak force we can produce.

Creatine is transferred into our skeletal muscles in an inward basis. That is, the sodium levels on the inside of the living cells is greater than that of the sodium content on the outside of the cells. During your taking of creatine, eating highly glycemic foods will increase insulin injection and will help sort of soak up the creatine into your skeletal muscles much more easily.

The activity of these creatine transporters is also influenced by the presence of creatine itself in the following manners:
(1) elevated plasma creatine interrupts creatine uptake into skeletal muscle via these transporters;
(2) the synthesis of creatine from amino acids is also stopped by elevated plasma creatine.

These are nothing more than examples of normal regulatory feedback processes that are common in cell biology. However, how exogenous creatine supplementation influences these processes in humans is still an open issue. This is why it is often recommended to periodically stop taking creatine to let the body recuperate. Omitting the load phase from supplementation will also mitigate this drawback of creatine supplementation.