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Creatine

Creatine – to use or not to use

So, you want a beautifully chiselled, muscled body? Hours in the gym will get you just that, and of course there is always creatine to help.
Creatine is a legal supplement that primarily benefits elite athletes and body builders who use the substance in conjunction with a scientifically designed eating and exercise routine.

Creatine will however only aid the increase of muscle mass in athletes who do intensive muscle workouts on a daily basis. In fact, creatine will have little or no effect on someone who, even though they might go to gym on a regular basis, does not follow an intensive weight training programme.

What is Creatine?
Creatine is a protein compound that the human liver produces naturally, and is found in high concentrations in skeletal muscles. Creatine phosphate is the result of creatine combining with phosphate, and is utilised to store energy for use in muscle contraction. This protein compound is found in many foods we eat, such as red meat, with biltong and herring have the highest creatine content of all natural foodstuffs.

Why use Creatine?
For a developed weight lifter, body builder or athlete participating in a resistance training programme, Creatine will help to augment lean body mass and it will help enhance performance during exercise. Creatine can also be taken in to aid in the recovery of muscle injuries such as muscle tears or stretches, as it assists with the healing of damaged muscle tissue.

Professor Tim Noakes from the UCT Sports Science Institute is quoted as saying, “Creatine will have best results in fit and highly active persons, and may increase their lean body mass by up to 1% in total, but will have little to no effect on the average person who is not involved in intensive sporting activities.”
What it cannot do is build muscle in conjunction with light training or moderate exercise. Neither will Creatine increase the body’s metabolism or the natural burning of body fats.

How to use Creatine for Maximum Effect
Ultimately, the ideal creatine dosage for you will have to be found through trial and error. Due to the unknown effects of long-term supplementation with higher doses it is probably not a good idea to pursue large creatine dosages for long periods of time.
The amount you ingest will not be the amount that the body will be able to utilise; as such, a percentage will be lost due to a variety of factors including your particular stomach's ability to digest the creatine. Therefore, the ideal creatine dosage will vary from person to person.

If the body is given creatine that exceeds its capacity, it will simply get rid of the excess. Taking a dosage that is too high will mean that you are literally flushing away a portion of your creatine budget (and putting unnecessary strain on your kidneys). Once your muscles are saturated, there is no point in taking more. Therefore, it is a great idea to measure and monitor or own ideal dosage.