Breaking down creatine

You may have seen many creatine supplements across the Internet or in shops claiming that they can increase your muscle mass but what do you really know about the supplement?

Do you know how best to utilise it within your diet and your training regime? When should you take it? What does it really do to your body? These are all good questions and we’ll cover these as we discuss how best to include some creatine into your diet whilst you bulk up and add some serious muscle mass to your frame.

Creatine can be taken in many forms but it is mainly taken directly in powder form and the results are usually seen quite quickly. Anyone who is adding bulk to their frame should know that this is a great way to make sure your muscles are getting a good supplement and adding that extra something to help you get over that threshold and reach new goals.

When you begin to take creatine as a new supplement you’ll probably notice that you begin to add weight quicker than normal and gain size within each week. This is because your muscles are gaining water pretty immediately due to the process that creatine takes your muscles through. This should subside after roughly 2-4 weeks and you’ll begin to see a real true growth in your major muscle groups as you are able to physically lift more and hold more weight with each training session.

This of course is down to your increased energy levels and your increased chance of protein synthesis happening with your new levels of water present. If you don’t take advantage of this new state of feeling energised then you won’t see the results, so like any other supplement it will be down to you to make sure you’re putting the work and the effort in.

There are many different supplements out there but you should aim for a high quality creatine monohydrate such as BioTechUSA’s Crea Force chewable tablets. This is a great way to add some much needed and valuable creatine to your training with the ease of chewing a tablet before your workout.

Each serving of two tablets before and after training (4 tablets) contains;

3.46g Creatine

821mg L-glutamine

82mg L-arginine

16.4mg Green tea extract

410mg Taurine

8.64 Caffeine

From the above values you can see that each serving of Crea Force will instantly impact your training efforts in the gym with great amounts of caffeine and taurine meaning you’ll feel energised and ready to smash some records in the gym. The boost of L-glutamine and L-arginine will mean your muscles are repairing themselves with high quality amino acids and the large amounts of creatine mean you’ll be adding the best chance of protein synthesis to occur as you workout and directly after.

If you are starting to use creatine in your daily intake then you should follow a simple rule for your body to see the best results and also to be in the best condition it can be in during this heavy training and bulking phase.

Loading Phase

(First 5-10 days)

Take 10-20 grams of creatine per day to influx your system.

*Be sure to hydrate effectively and even more than usual.

Maintenance Phase

Take 5-10 grams of creatine per day to maintain your training efforts and to keep the muscle mass you have created.

Key points

• Keep this cycle going for a period of no more than 6 weeks to give your body the best chance to gain vital mass and size.
• Allow 3 weeks of non creatine training to follow to give your body the chance to readjust and build normally again.
• Your training efforts shouldn’t suffer in this period.
• Begin your creatine cycle again making sure you hydrate properly during and throughout this period.

As with most supplements there are arguments to say that they can be bad for your health but as with everything it is about taking your time to see what works for you and how they best work in your system. Never over do them and make sure you do your research before you make a decision on what to take. Taken properly and within the required limits creatine can really be a great addition to your training schedule and make you cross that threshold you’ve been at for a few weeks, adding real and meaningful energy and muscle mass to your training efforts.