Is Creatine Really Worth It?
Quite popular with athletes, fitness buffs, fitness gurus, and strength and conditioning trainers, creatine is undoubtedly one of the most popular supplements ever!
The evidence supporting the effectiveness of creatine is strong: thousands of professional and amateur athletes, weekend warriors, and regular exercisers have discovered it from personal experience. More importantly, irrefutable proof of the efficiency of creatine is also abundant in the scientific literature (Buford et al., 2007; Terjung et al., 2000; Branch, 2003; Rawson & Volek, 2003).
From my point of view, creatine is one of the few supplements that really works. When combined with an effective strength and conditioning program and protein supplementation, creatine is helpful in improving body composition, muscle strength, power, and running ability: improved performance has been observed in almost all sports after creatine use. So whether you like short, intense activities like running, wrestling, or are a strength athlete or just an exercise buff looking to improve your fitness parameters, you can’t afford to miss out on the benefits. offered by creatine supplementation.
How should I take creatine?
Creatine is available for oral ingestion in the form of creatine monohydrate, as a powder, pill, liquid formulation, or stick. Here are some tips on how to take creatine:
• daily dose of 5 g per day (recent thinking is that the loading dose of 20 g/day x 5 days offers no benefit and is therefore not necessary)
• creatine absorption is better when taken in combination with a sweetened liquid (grapefruit juice).
• can be taken before or after training
• taking protein supplements in combination with creatine may further enhance the benefits
• after a 12-16 week cycle of creatine intake, take 4 weeks off
To conclude, creatine is one of the few supplements that actually work. When combined with an effective strength and conditioning program and protein supplementation, creatine is helpful in improving body composition, muscle strength, power, and running ability: improved performance has been observed in almost all sports after creatine use. So whether you like short, intense activities like running, wrestling, or are a strength athlete or just an exercise buff looking to improve your fitness parameters, you can’t afford to miss out on the benefits. offered by creatine supplementation.
To learn more about how creatine works and the benefits of creatine supplementation, follow this link.
References
Branch, J.D. (2003). Effect of creatine supplementation on body composition and performance: a meta-analysis. Int J Sport Nutr.Exerc.Metab, 13, 198-226.
Buford, TW, Kreider, RB, Stout, JR, Greenwood, M., Campbell, B., Spano, M. et al. (2007). Position of the International Society of Sports Nutrition: creatine supplementation and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr., 4, 6.
Rawson, ES and Volek, JS (2003). Effects of creatine supplementation and resistance training on muscular strength and weightlifting performance. J Force Cond. Res., 17, 822-831.
Terjung, RL, Clarkson, P., Eichner, ER, Greenhaff, PL, Hespel, PJ, Israel, RG et al. (2000). American College of Sports Medicine Round Table. Physiological and health effects of oral creatine supplementation. Med Sci. Sports Exercise, 32, 706-717.