creatine supplements

Creatine – how to supplement it?

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Creatine is an extremely important substance, primarily from the point of view of athletes. However, its advantages are invaluable to all other people as well. Anyone can take creatine supplementation to facilitate the regeneration of the body after exercise. How to do it properly?

What is creatine?

Creatine is a chemical compound created from the combination of three amino acids – arginine, glycine and methionine – which resembles a protein in its structure. It occurs naturally in animal organisms from the group of vertebrates, and therefore also in human organisms. 98% of the creatine in the human body is found in the muscles, the remaining 2% can be found in the brain, kidneys and liver. The daily requirement of creatine for a person weighing 70 kilograms is about 2 grams. It can be supplied naturally to the body by consuming meat and fish.

How creatine works?

Creatine has anabolic and anti-catabolic effects. As a result, it supports protein synthesis and stimulates muscle growth, which leads to an increase in mass, strength, endurance and speed of the body. The most important function of creatine, however, is the role it plays in the process of rebuilding ATP molecules, i.e. adenosine triphosphate – a substance responsible for storing and supplying energy to muscle cells, especially important in anaerobic exercise. Creatine also has a beneficial effect on tissue reconstruction, so it can be used as an element supporting the regeneration of muscles damaged as a result of increased physical exertion.

Creatine for athletes

The way creatine works and its effect on the human body make it often used by athletes who want to improve their results and accelerate the growth of muscle mass. Creatine supplementation by physically active people gives, above all, such effects as:

  • Muscle gain – due to the anabolic properties of creatine, its use stimulates the growth of muscle mass, improving the effectiveness of strength training. Due to these properties, creatine is often supplemented by people practicing so-called body sports, for example bodybuilding and various types of fitness.
  • Increase in strength – along with the increase in muscle mass, a directly proportional increase in strength can be observed. Taking creatine means that you can significantly improve your results in sports and strength exercises, such as snatching, chin-ups, deadlifts, squats or bench presses.
  • Improving endurance – thanks to its action on the reconstruction of ATP, creatine helps to provide the body with more energy. This results in an improvement in endurance and resistance to fatigue, allowing you to perform longer and much more intense workouts.
  • Accelerating regeneration – creatine supports the processes of muscle rebuilding after exercise, enabling their faster regeneration. For physically active people, this means the possibility of increasing the intensity of training, which allows you to achieve the desired results in a shorter time and improve your results.

People who decide to enrich their diet with creatine must, however, take into account that the effects are not visible immediately – improvement in performance is possible only after a longer period of regular supplementation.

When to supplement creatine?

There are different opinions on when and in what amounts of creatine supplements might be used. There are two leading methods among nutritionists and athletes: two-stage supplementation and permanent supplementation.

Two-stage supplementation

Two-stage supplementation consists in dividing the cycle of creatine intake into two stages. The first is the loading stage, where you should take 10 to 30 grams of creatine over a period of 5 to 10 days. The second stage is the saturation stage, which involves taking a dose of 5 grams of creatine for 4 to 8 weeks.

Permanent supplementation

Permanent supplementation consists of the regular consumption of 5 grams of creatine daily. Another version of constant supplementation is the intake of creatine in a dose depending on the weight – 1 gram of the supplement for every 10 kilograms of body weight.

Regardless of the method chosen, it should be remembered that the most important thing in creatine supplementation is saturating the body with it for a period of at least a few weeks. Continuous supplementation can be used for a long time without fear of side effects. The time of day of taking creatine does not matter at all – satisfactory results can be obtained by taking the supplement both in the morning, afternoon and evening.