Now, creatine has gotten itself a very bad rep. If you're to believe the hype, creatine is going to make you fat, will cause kidney damage along with numerous other side effects. Well, that’s unfair. Creatine has not gotten itself a bad rep. People using it incorrectly have given it a bad rep. To understand why this is the case, we need to look at how creatine actually works.
How it works
Creatine is pretty close to being a natural supplement, as it is extremely similar to a thing called phosphocreatine, a substance made in your body and found mainly in your skeletal muscle that helps increase lean muscle mass. When you supplement creatine into your diet, you essentially allow your body build more phosphocreatine. Secondly you have got both wet muscle mass and dry muscle mass. Wet muscle mass is essentially the stuff you see in the mirror when you flex your muscles. Dry muscle mass is the stuff you can’t see. Creatine goes into your muscle and converts dry muscle mass to wet muscle mass. How you ask? Creatine basically makes your body hold water, allowing you to retain water in your dry areas. Now, there is more to it than that, but to go into that much detail would take a whole new article. Nonetheless, this gives you the appearance of being bigger and stronger. It needs to be said that creatine will also increase your strength as well as just making you look stronger. Sounds good? Sadly, as I touched on in my previous article regarding meal replacements, the supplement world is one driven by money. These companies would sell you their own mother if it meant some extra cash. Creatine is no different.
Types of creatine
Go into any supplement store and you will find creatine from wall to wall. Not only are most of these supplements pretty much useless, they cost you a bomb as well! There is only one type of creatine that you really need to focus on, and amazingly, it is the cheapest of them all - creatine monohydrate. It is the closest thing to the natural phosphocreatine, and one of the very few supplements on the market to actually be scientifically proven safe and effective for long term use. However, like anything in life, there is an optimal amount to take. Go over or under that amount and the affects become nullified. Worse yet, go overboard with creatine, and health problems generally occur. Take it properly, and your results sky rocket!
Health issues
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Creatine can work wonders, but used in the wrong way can cause disasters. That said, use it properly and health problems stay away for 99% of us. The biggest issues with creatine that people report are dehydration, kidney damage, headaches and muscle cramps. Most of these issues only arise in the case of abusing the supplement and not following the guidelines for it. Use it properly and your golden! It should be said here that if you suffer from kidney problems, consult with your doctor before using creatine.
How to use it
Using creatine monohydrate is pretty straight forward. I’ve given you two different plans below on how to use it, depending on your circumstances.
Person A: Person A doesn’t eat any red meat or fish, and doesn’t do a lot of weight training or high intensity cardio workouts
Person B: Person B eats small bits of red meat or small amounts of fish, or has recently begun either weight training or high intensity cardio workouts
Person C: Person C eats a good amount of red meat or good amounts of fish, and does quite a bit of weight training or high intensity cardio workouts
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Plan 1 – Person A + Person B
Day 1 – Day 5: Take 4 heaped teaspoons of creatine monohydrate throughout the day (one teaspoon in the morning, one in early afternoon, one post workout and one late evening)
Day 6 onwards: Take 1 heaped teaspoon with post workout shake or meal
Plan 2 – Person C
Day 1 onwards: Take 1 heaped teaspoon with post workout shake or meal
The key difference in the two plans is that both persons A and B are most likely lower in creatine as red meat and some fish are good sources of creatine. Weight training and high intensity cardio also help increase levels of creatine. Person C does either one of the food or exercise methods of increasing his/her level of creatine. Due to this, persons A and B both do what is called a loading phase, where you load your body with creatine for 5 days to build up your creatine levels and then taper it down to 5g a day. Person C most likely already has good amounts of creatine in his/her body so does not require the loading phase.
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My advice for the loading phase is to have your creatine with either water or milk/juice in 3 of your servings. In your post workout serving, just add it to your post workout shake. Once the loading phase is over, or you are person C, just have your creatine post workout only.
What is essential with creatine however is not just using it correctly, but also increasing your water intake. As mentioned earlier, creatine pulls water into your muscles. For this reason, you need to replace that water to avoid the health problems mentioned above. Going overboard with creatine can lead to kidney damage, so never ever go above the 5g a day once your loading phase is done with.
When to use it
Unless your goal is specifically aimed at gaining lean muscle, and lots of it, creatine is not for you. If this is your goal, then creatine, meal replacements(or the alternatives discussed in the meal replacement article) and good nutrition are the keys to your success.
I hope this helps you with your decision regarding supplements, until next time, stay healthy!
Written by Maurice Walsh, BSc of Exercise and Health Studies
About the author
Maurice works as a personal trainer and lifestyle transformation coach at The Gym, Rathgar. He also works as a physique model. To get in contact with Maurice regarding training and nutrition go to www.facebook.com/totaltransformationfitness
To follow Maurice on Facebook, visit www.facebook.com/maurice.walsh87
