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Why Use Creatine Monohydrate?
Creatine Monohydrate is widely ingested supplement
by many bodybuilders, and for many reasons. This
is mainly because it is one of the few dietary
supplements proven to increase performance. First
we will go ahead and review what creatine is,
and how it is used in our bodies. Creatine is
created in our bodies from the amino acids methionine,
glycine, and arginine. Furthermore, it’s
stored in our bodies as either creatine phosphate,
or phosphocreatine (1).
Now during high intense
short amounts of exercise adenosine triphosphate
(ATP) is the main energy source, the problem is
that it quickly used. For ATP to release energy,
it releases a phosphate to create energy and then
is now adenosine diphosphate (ADP). However, it
needs an additional phosphate to produce more
energy, and that is where creatine comes into
play
. Creatine phosphate gives a phosphate to
ADP so it can then become ATP and again produce
energy. So, in theory increased creatine phosphate
stores can increase the amount of exercise you
can perform during short intervals (1).
Research shows creatine monohydrate increases
performance!
Now that we have gone over the basics of creatine
lets now look at scientific research to see if
it lives up to its hype. One study conducted had
two groups, one added creatine to supplement their
diet, and the other a placebo for 28 days. The
end results portrayed that the creatine group
had total weight increase of 2.42 kg, while the
placebo only gained .85 kg, additionally they
pointed out the water weight of both groups was
similar showing that this increase would not be
due to water-retention during the use of creatine.
Additionally increases in bench press, squat,
and power clean were all much higher. This study
obviously shows that creatine aided in performance
for people doing resistance training, and also
those who are looking to add weight (2). Furthermore
another study conducted found that when compared
to the placebo maximal strength of the muscle
groups trained increased 20-25%, and fat-free
mass increased 60% more. Furthermore the group
taking creatine had a higher muscle phosphocreatine
stores (3). There are numerous other studies showing
creatine’s effectiveness, however I believed
the ones I highlighted show that it does work.
Creatine is it toxic for our kidneys?
There is some concern about it being bad for the
kidneys, however these statements are not true.
One study performed had people who had used creatine
10 months to 5 years compared to a control group.
They found that there was no statistical difference
between for plasma contents and urine excretion
rates of creatinine, urea, and albumin (4). In
conclusion, research shows that creatine is an
safe and effective supplement to use for enhanced
performance.
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