What Creatine is
Creatine is a substance that is actually found in our bodies naturally and is a critical component in providing fuel for the muscle tissues to contract and relax as exercise takes place.
You will get creatine from sources apart from supplements, however, often times these sources are still not enough to fully meet your requirements.
Most of the creatine you do get naturally is from meat, where it is absorbed from the food, into the bloodstream. If the diet is not providing much creatine at all from meat sources, the body can then manufacture a small amount of creatine from some other amino acids, namely arginine, glycine, and methionine, but this will still not be enough for intense exercise purposes though.
If you don't eat a fair amount of meat in your diet regularly, chances are, you're going to be running short in creatine.
About 95% of the total creatine you have in the body is housed in the muscle cells, so ensuring that this creatine supply is as full as possible is going to go a long way towards promoting optimal workouts through ongoing muscle fiber contractions.
How Creatine Works In The Body
Creatine's basic role is to be a main component in the high energy compound that fuels muscular contractions. It is found in the muscle fiber in two different forms, free (unbound) creatine, and then as creatine phosphate, which is what is formed when the creatine molecules combine with the phosphate to make the high energy compound ATP.
More of the creatine in the body will be in the form of creatine phosphate than in the free creatine form.
This ATP then physically provides energy by releasing one of the phosphate molecules during the contraction-relaxation cycle, leaving behind what is now called ADP (which consists of only two phosphate molecules as opposed to three).
Naturally the body only has enough ATP to perform about 10 seconds worth of high intensity exercise, so you can see how quickly it would run out. In order for the exercise to continue on past this point the body must manufacture more ATP. This is where the creatine phosphate molecules come into play.
They will give up their phosphate molecule to the ADP, therefore creating ATP so the cycle can continue.
So to summarize, the primary role of creatine is to serve as a carrier for the phosphate molecule, which is what itself provides the muscular fuel for the power stroke in the muscle tissues to take place.
The more creatine you have available coming into the muscle tissues from dietary sources or otherwise, the more likely you are going to be able to sustain longer durations of intense exercise.
By choosing to supplement with creatine, you are taking one extra step to making absolutely sure your body isn't running low.
As stated in the introduction, it is rather difficult to maintain completely optimal full stores of creatine in the body strictly from eating food - or being manufactured from other amino acids, which is why adding the supplement is a good idea in most cases.
When to take your creatine
One question that many people often have is when the most optimal time to take their creatine will be.
Ideally you want to be taking it right around the post-workout period, as this is when the muscles will be most receptive to taking it into their cells.
If you are in the loading phase, chances are though that you don't want to be taking that whole dose all at once, so in this case split it into three or four different doses; one pre-workout, one post-workout, and the other one or two later on in the day.
Should You Take Creatine If You Aren't Working Out
This question should be divided into two categories:
If you're currently on an intense weight lifting routine, then yes, you should be taking your creatine on non-workout days. This will help to ensure your muscles are well stocked for the next workout.
If you aren't working out at all though, then it would be a good idea to stop using creatine as there will not be much demand at all for it in the body.
Creatine is a substance that is actually found in our bodies naturally and is a critical component in providing fuel for the muscle tissues to contract and relax as exercise takes place.
You will get creatine from sources apart from supplements, however, often times these sources are still not enough to fully meet your requirements.
Most of the creatine you do get naturally is from meat, where it is absorbed from the food, into the bloodstream. If the diet is not providing much creatine at all from meat sources, the body can then manufacture a small amount of creatine from some other amino acids, namely arginine, glycine, and methionine, but this will still not be enough for intense exercise purposes though.
If you don't eat a fair amount of meat in your diet regularly, chances are, you're going to be running short in creatine.
About 95% of the total creatine you have in the body is housed in the muscle cells, so ensuring that this creatine supply is as full as possible is going to go a long way towards promoting optimal workouts through ongoing muscle fiber contractions.
How Creatine Works In The Body
Creatine's basic role is to be a main component in the high energy compound that fuels muscular contractions. It is found in the muscle fiber in two different forms, free (unbound) creatine, and then as creatine phosphate, which is what is formed when the creatine molecules combine with the phosphate to make the high energy compound ATP.
More of the creatine in the body will be in the form of creatine phosphate than in the free creatine form.
This ATP then physically provides energy by releasing one of the phosphate molecules during the contraction-relaxation cycle, leaving behind what is now called ADP (which consists of only two phosphate molecules as opposed to three).
Naturally the body only has enough ATP to perform about 10 seconds worth of high intensity exercise, so you can see how quickly it would run out. In order for the exercise to continue on past this point the body must manufacture more ATP. This is where the creatine phosphate molecules come into play.
They will give up their phosphate molecule to the ADP, therefore creating ATP so the cycle can continue.
So to summarize, the primary role of creatine is to serve as a carrier for the phosphate molecule, which is what itself provides the muscular fuel for the power stroke in the muscle tissues to take place.
The more creatine you have available coming into the muscle tissues from dietary sources or otherwise, the more likely you are going to be able to sustain longer durations of intense exercise.
By choosing to supplement with creatine, you are taking one extra step to making absolutely sure your body isn't running low.
As stated in the introduction, it is rather difficult to maintain completely optimal full stores of creatine in the body strictly from eating food - or being manufactured from other amino acids, which is why adding the supplement is a good idea in most cases.
When to take your creatine
One question that many people often have is when the most optimal time to take their creatine will be.
Ideally you want to be taking it right around the post-workout period, as this is when the muscles will be most receptive to taking it into their cells.
If you are in the loading phase, chances are though that you don't want to be taking that whole dose all at once, so in this case split it into three or four different doses; one pre-workout, one post-workout, and the other one or two later on in the day.
Should You Take Creatine If You Aren't Working Out
This question should be divided into two categories:
- Non-workout days.
- Those who simply do not workout - period.
If you're currently on an intense weight lifting routine, then yes, you should be taking your creatine on non-workout days. This will help to ensure your muscles are well stocked for the next workout.
If you aren't working out at all though, then it would be a good idea to stop using creatine as there will not be much demand at all for it in the body.
By: Shannon Clark (bodybuilding.com)
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