How can creatine help you?

Creatine is becoming increasingly popular among regular exercisers, but the majority still need to learn; How can creatine help you? And how creatine works and what it does to the body.

Creatine is a popular supplement with a wide range of purported benefits.

This article will explore the most common claims about creatine and see if there's any truth. We will also discuss the potential side effects of creatine and how you can best take it to reap its benefits. 

How creatine basically works

Every time we use our muscles, ATP, whose full name is adenosine triphosphate, kicks in. When you use a muscle in your body and the ATP battery, it will stop at some point. 
It runs out of energy, just like an ordinary battery.

What we get from a creatine supplement is a lot of creatine phosphate.
Which is vital concerning the ATP battery. That's because creatine phosphate can recharge the ATP battery, giving the muscles energy to perform.

So by taking creatine as a supplement, you're making sure your muscles' ATP battery can recharge again and again.

3 advantages of taking creatine

Strengthening

Creatine is a natural supplement that has been shown to help improve performance in several different tasks. The most well-known use for creatine is as a muscle builder, which can help you increase your muscle mass. However, creatine has other benefits, such as reducing fatigue and increasing energy levels. 

Taking creatine can also help improve your physical endurance. This is because it enables you to recover more quickly from strenuous workouts. In addition, creatine can help protect your muscles from damage and reduce the risk of injuries. Finally, taking creatine can improve your cognitive function and memory.

Greater muscle mass

Creatine is a molecule found in the body and helps create energy by supplying ATP. Research suggests that creatine can help you build greater muscle mass by improving your energy production and muscle contraction speed. Additionally, creatine may help to preserve muscle mass during aging.

More effective recovery

Creatine is a natural supplement that is effective in helping muscle recovery. It helps by enhancing the effectiveness of protein synthesis and decreasing the time it takes for muscles to rebuild after being damaged. This can help speed up your body's healing process and improve performance.

How much and how do I take creatine?

If you want the effect of creatine as soon as possible, it is about running a "loading period" just when you start with creatine supplementation. 

It is recommended to consume about 20 grams daily for 5-7 days during a loading periods. However, the 20 grams should only be taken at a time but spread over 3-4 times. This can be 5 grams morning, noon, after exercise, and evening.

After the loading period, you start on the regular dose of 2-5 grams daily.

You then run this for 2-3 months, after which there should be a break of one month. The gap ensures that your own production of creatine does not stop, as you can risk a constant intake of creatine for longer than 3 months.

Side effects of creatine

A well-known side effect of creatine supplementation is weight gain caused by fluid retention in the muscles.

In addition, several major or minor side effects have been discussed, such as itching, cramps, muscle pain, etc. But this has yet to be confirmed in major scientific studies.

In healthy people, apart from weight gain due to fluid retention, there are no scientifically documented side effects of creatine supplementation. However, it is unknown whether there may be any harmful consequences of creatine use over a long period.

How can creatine help you conclusion

Creatine supplementation is popular among both exercisers and professionals, and the supplement works by increasing the amount of creatine in most people's muscles. The increased concentration of creatine in the muscles improves the ability to restore ATP, thus maintaining maximum work intensity for longer. Creatine supplementation uses so-called loading-maintenance phases to rapidly maximize muscle creatine content and maintain the concentration at a high level.

It is pretty well proven that creatine supplementation increases performance during repeated high-intensity sprint work and that creatine, in combination with strength training, increases lean body mass, muscle mass, and strength. 

Conversely, creatine does not improve performance during aerobic work but may increase muscle glycogen accumulation, which could affect performance during endurance work.