Typically, muscle growth and development can be one of your reasons why you go to the gym and keep up with your workout routines. However, the process of building healthy muscles in the fastest time possible is never easy.
In addition to hard work and motivation, you may consider taking some supplements to help you gain muscles quickly. This is where creatine enters the picture.
So, if you haven’t heard about this supplement and how it can become beneficial to your muscle-building efforts, keep reading this article to learn more about it.
What Is Creatine?
Creatine is a naturally occurring substance present in the body’s muscle cells, and it consists of three amino acids (methionine, glycine, and I-arginine), which are responsible for promoting adenosine triphosphate production (ATP), which is the body’s primary energy source. Chemically speaking, the body can produce its own creatine levels through the kidney and liver after eating protein-rich food sources.
Also available in liquid or powder form, many athletes and bodybuilders can use creatine supplements from reliable suppliers, like Transparent Labs, to replenish the energy and creatine lost while exercising. Therefore, it’s clear to say that the use of creatine supplement allows them to carry on exercising for an extended duration, leading to a quick increase in muscle mass.
When it comes to how you should use creatine, it all boils down to your personal preference. The first and more scientific approach is a personalized plan that suits your needs, and this entails using 0.3 grams as per your body weight per kilogram. You can also choose to use around five grams of creatine each day, four times a week. Once you’re through with this protocol, go ahead and start using about three grams each day.
Another option would be consuming between 3 to 5 grams of creatine daily. Doing so will provide you the necessary creatine source for optimal muscle building.
How Do Creatine Supplements Work?
As you exercise, you’ll be using the creatine in your body to produce the energy needed to continue with the intense workouts. But as these energy levels fall, using creatine supplements offers you the added energy.
When it comes to knowing how creatine supplements can work best for you, it has something to do with the adenosine triphosphate and what it does for your body. When doing high-intensity workouts, such as lifting weights, your body starts breaking down Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) to provide you with energy. ATP refers to an organic compound that produces energy to drive several processes in the living cells.
But where do creatine supplements come in all this? The intense workouts usually deplete the creatine found in the body that’s used in making ATP. Once the ATP runs out after it’s been recycled by your body, you won’t be able to carry on with high-intensity workouts. This happens since your body starts using fatty acids or glucose as the energy source, but these aren’t as efficient when doing intense workouts.
The use of the creatine supplement prevents this from happening. Therefore, you can continue partaking in high-intensity workouts for an extended duration, increasing your muscle mass up to 10% to 20%.
Creatine supplements are effective at helping you build muscle, allowing you to become fit and healthy. It does this through the following:
- Enhance energy production – As mentioned, using a creatine supplement can increase energy production by generating new adenosine triphosphate (ATP) during high-intensity exercise. Since your body’s ATP energy runs out during a workout, you need to take creatine supplements to make sure you have the extra energy for a high-intensity exercise.
- 2. Improve strength, power, and performance – Since ATP is considered the main energy source for high-intensity exercise, taking a creatine supplement can be a great way to increase ATP production, which is necessary for increasing strength and power. When you have the necessary strength and power to perform an extensive workout, you may build your muscles as quickly as possible.
- Gain muscles effectively – Typically, using a creatine supplement can be effective for long-term and short-term muscle growth and development. But in order to better understand how it works, it’s important to know some ways on how creatine can help you gain muscles effectively:
- Improving cell signaling that helps in muscle growth and repair;
- Increasing the level of anabolic hormones, including IGF-1;
- Reducing myostatin levels that can hamper the rate of muscle growth;
- Improved cell hydration and increases the water content levels in the muscle cells, thereby increasing the volume of cells, which promotes muscle growth;
- Increases satellite cell signaling. This promotes the growth of new muscle and responsible for muscle repair.
When To Consume Creatine?
As you can see, there are many ways a creatine supplement can help you build healthy muscles. But if you want to get the most out of the results, consider when you should use this supplement for your needs.
For example, you may want to use it before your exercise routine to allow better efficiency in the activation of muscle fibers, leading to more gains. Since creatine is a natural supplement, you don’t suffer any harm using it whenever you desire. This is because the use of this health supplement doesn’t affect your nutritional plan.
Generally, your body’s muscles are usually depleted of energy right after you’re done with your exercise. Because of this, they’re in need of nutrients that promote the repair process and make sure you achieve your goal of gaining more muscle. Thus, you may also have the option to use creatine after your exercise.
Does Using Creatine Have Any Side Effects?
Because creatine is a natural compound, there’s little chance you’ll experience any side effects from its use. Still, creatine use has been reported to cause specific side effects, such as the following:
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Muscle cramping
- Stomach pain
- Dehydration
- Compartment syndrome
- Bloating
- Kidney damage
- Liver Damage
- Weight gain
However, many of these side effects, such as kidney and liver damage, only happen after using higher dosages for a prolonged duration. With that said, research doesn’t agree with this, but you should generally remain cautious when using creatine. If you aren’t sure of the ideal levels to use, make sure to consult your doctor.
Takeaway
The use of creatine supplements is very common among athletes and bodybuilders due to their effectiveness at increasing muscle mass. If you had your doubts on whether this product was effective, this guide has offered you useful insights on all there is to know about creatine supplements.
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