Creatine: Energy for Muscles

Many supplements touted over the years have come and gone, but creatine is here to stay. Creatine is on its way to being one of the most popular sports nutrition nutrients ever made available. Why? Because it really works.

By Zach Bashore   Talk to the Author.

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Creatine: Energy for Muscles Many supplements touted over the years have come and gone, but creatine is here to stay. Creatine is on its way to being one of the most popular sports nutrition nutrients ever made available. Why? Because it really works.

What is Creatine?
Creatine is a nutrient that is naturally found in our muscles. It is made from a combination of the three Amino-Acids-c-15698.html" title="Shop for Amino Acids">amino acids arginine, glycine and methionine. Creatine helps provide the energy our muscles need to move. Approximately 95 percent of the body's creatine supply is found in the skeletal muscles. The remaining five percent is scattered throughout the rest of the body, with the highest concentrations in the heart, brain and testes.

Unlike many supplements, use of creatine monohydrate under specific circumstances is supported by sound scientific investigations. Nearly all of the total creatine in the body exists within skeletal muscle as either free creatine or phosphocreatine. The primary function of phosphocreatine is to act as a buffer against rapid increases in energy requirements. Depletion of phosphocreatine has been shown to be related to the onset of fatigue. Thus, it may be theorized that increasing the total creatine in muscle via supplementation may have a positive effect on high-intensity exercise performance.

Several studies indicate that the total creatine content of muscle can be increased 20 to 30% following supplementation with creatine monohydrate. Furthermore, many studies have been performed demonstrating that intermittent high-intensity (not endurance) exercise performance is improved following creatine supplementation. The improved performance is attributed to increased pre-exercise concentrations of creatine and phosphocreatine and/or a greater resynthesis rate of phosphocreatine between exercise bouts. Recent evidence supports a greater role for the latter mechanism. A quicker resynthesis of phosphocreatine should increase the body's ability to sustain maximal force or power production during intermittent high-intensity exercise.

Supplementing With Creatine
The average person consumes about 1 gram of creatine daily in food. Creatine is found in moderate amounts in most meats and fish, but animal flesh contains relatively high amounts of cholesterol relative to creatine. Creatine comes as a white powder and is sold in bottles of four ounces to a kilogram. Most creatine is sold as creatine monohydrate. Some creatine products contain additional nutrients such as carbohydrates, pyruvate and phosphate.

Users frequently divide their supplementation into two phases. The first phase, the "loading phase," usually lasts five days and fills up the muscle fibers' storage capacity for creatine. The loading dosage ranges from 10 to 20 grams daily, divided into four portions. In the maintenance phase, many reduce their dosage levels to 2 to 10 grams daily, for extended periods of time. Another option is to cycle: Use creatine for a week or two, stop, and resume

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