All About Creatine Supplementation

Considerations for Creatine Supplementation:

1. What is Creatine and How Does it Work?

2. Creatine's Effect on Performance and Exercise

3. Benefits of Creatine Supplementation for Men and Women

4. Side Effects of Taking Creatine

5. Safety and Cycling Creatine for Optimal Absorption

6. Cost

7. Who Should Avoid Creatine

1. What is Creatine and How Does it Work?

Creatine was discovered in 1832 when a researcher extracted it from meat. Since the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games, when track athletes reported creatine enhanced their performance, the market for creatine supplementation is now valued at $901 million USD in annual sales. Many high school and collegiate athletes, recreational athletes, and professional athletes and bodybuilders now consume creatine as part of their nutrition regimen.

Creatine is found in meat products like beef, chicken, fish, mollusks, and milk. It is a naturally occuring amino acid that helps the human body develop and maintain muscle mass. Creatine produces energy during high intensity exercise and weight lifting. It enhances force and power output, increased strength, higher anerobic threshold for short duration activities, and improved workout capacity. Creatine, when used alongside protein powder post-workout, is excellent for repairing torn muscle fibres from intense exercise during recovery.

Known for increasing muscle mass, creatine is known to promote intercellular water which helps to swell muscle fibres and allows them to grow. When taken in conjunction with a structured exercise program, creatine has been shown to consistently increase lean body mass. Creatine has not been shown to enhance performance in endurance sports. Not enough studies have been done.

Some studies have suggested that creatine can improve cognitive abilities in older adults. It can improve short-term memory, reasoning, and neuroprotection for nerve cell damage. Further studies are needed before we can determine if it could be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases like dementia.

The most popular version of the supplement is creatine monohydrate which is a powdered form that can be mixed into liquids. Many people will mix it into their protein smoothie. It is generally tasteless and odourless. There are also liquid forms and pill forms available for people who don't like the powdered version.

2. Creatine's Effect on Performance and Exercise

With high intensity exercises, like HIIT, sprinting, heavy weight lifting, jumping, football, hockey, wrestling, creatine has been shown to improve performance from anywhere between 1-15%. To reach the higher percentage improvement, one would have to be training and taking creatine for months or years.

Improvements in time needed to complete a sprint, and increased cycling power were shown when athletes did specific creatine loading. In a study on weight lifting over a 6 week period, participants were able to lift up to 15% heavier weights than when they started for a one rep max.

Studies have not shown significant improvement in endurance sports like long distance running or swimming. Since creatine promotes energy production for short duration activities and endurance sports don't require quick bursts of energy, it's not known to demonstrate much benefit.

3. Benefits of Creatine Supplementation for Men and Women

For men, creatine supplementation has been shown to increase testosterone production of up to 20%. Much of the benefits of creatine supplements mentioned previously were studied mostly in men.

For women, creatine has not been extensively studied but it has shown improvements in exercise capacity, power, muscle mass development, and improved bone health. Mood and cognitive abilities are also positively impacted by creatine. In some studies, there was a marked improvement in PMS symptoms. For post-menopausal women, combining creatine and resistance training may assist with preventing muscle loss and bone density deterioration. Since women generally have lower stores of creatine in their bodies, they are most likely to double their performance when they supplement their workouts. 

4. Side Effects of Taking Creatine

Due to water retention caused by taking creatine, some people can feel uncomfortable in the early loading phase. This can also cause the scale to go up temporarily as the excess water is slowly flushed from the system. Other side effects can include muscle cramps, stomach upset, high blood pressure, liver dysfunction, among others. There are some concerns about creatine supplementation causing kidney damage but one would ingest beyond the recommended dose for a period of time for this to occur.

There can also be contraindications with certain medications and chemicals like caffiene and ephedra that can increase risk of stroke. If you are taking any medications, please check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking creatine to ensure there are no issues.

5. Safety and Cycling Creatine for Optimal Absorption

When first taking creatine, many people recommend taking up to 25g of creatine to get your body optimized for absorption. After 2 weeks of loading, you can reduce the dosage to 5g-10g daily for up to 16 weeks.

The loading phase can be sped up by doing the higher dose for 1-2 weeks as it takes creatine about 28 days for optimal absorption into the muscle tissue.

The maintenance phase of the lower dosage of 1-5g can be maintained for anywhere between 6-8 weeks or as long as 12-18 months. The research is mixed on the long term use of creatine.

Then stop taking creatine for 2-4 weeks (deloading), and re-start the loading phase and maintenance phase again. When you stop taking creatine, you may experience fatigue, muscle loss or weight loss. All of this is temporary until the loading phase is restarted.

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of research available on why creatine cycling is necessary. If anything, it can help to combat the side effects of creatine over a long period of time.

6. Cost

Compared to other supplements on the market, creatine is one of the most affordable choices on the shelf. Be aware of counterfeit supplements that may not contain high potency creatine. Stick to buying creatine from reputable retailers or directly from the manufacturer. Many retailers supply 80-200 servings in a tub of creatine so it will last a long time depending on your dosage requirements.

7. Who Should Avoid Creatine

People with kidney disease, liver disease, or high blood pressure should not take creatine. Children under 18 should not take creatine. Women who are pregnant or nursing should also avoid creatine. If you are on medications that affect blood sugar, it's not recommended that you take creatine. People with bipolar disorder may have increased risk of manic episodes. Never start taking creatine without speaking to your doctor first.

Creatine Supplementation has Pros and Cons

When starting on your fitness journey, or ramping it up from where you were before, do your research on supplements. Many health practitioners say that supplements are not necessary and just a waste of money. But for many others, supplements can offer a boost and there are studies showing that creatine is one of those supplements that has many benefits.

Since Rage Fitness coaches build mostly strength and performance programs for our clients, supplementing with creatine is something they may recommend. But you know your own health history and should be researching any supplement advice independently. Making an informed decision about your health and fitness will earn dividends in the end. Don't take shortcuts without understanding the ins and outs. Book a free demo session or a physical assessment, please call/text us at 1-825-945-7733, or fill out the online contact form today!