Many users of creatine do not actually know what it is

Creatine is a hugely popular supplement among many amateur and profesional athletes. But what is creatine and how does it actually help? 

After working in the sports supplements industry for many years I’ve realised that majority of creatine supplements are sold to bodybuilders and it’s even become a standard in many of their daily diets. Many of the newcomers to the bodybuilding world do not really understanding what the benefits of creatine are and often believe that creatine will bulk you up.

There are two main types of fibres that we have in our muscles and they are fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibres. Long distance runners will have a greater number of slow-twitch fibres than athletes who depend more on outright strength, such as sprinters and bodybuilders, of whom will have more fast-twitch fibres. While lifting weights you are putting your body under intense stress and these fast-twitch fibres and the rebuilding of these is known as ATP recovery. This is where creatine comes in to help. Creatine will help speed up the rate of ATP recovery, and this enables your body to recover much quicker between each set. You’ll then be able to lift that bit extra and push out an extra few reps.

There are quite a few different types of creatine available but the main two types are creatine monohydrate and creatine ethyl ester. Creatine monohydrate is pretty much the industry standard and is what the vast majority of all bodybuilders are using. Your body naturally has around 1.5g of creatine in it, and the aim of supplementing your diet with additional creatine is to increase your levels to around 5g. Due to the transport system used in the monohydrate powder, you have to start be consuming a slightly larger dose than normal for one week before then having a slightly smaller amount thereafter to maintain your body’s new levels.  Unfortunately there can be some side effects although not very often and usually minimal when they do happen. These side effects include increased water retention, which can make you muscles appear fuller and although that probably sounds like a benefit you’ll soon change your mind when you stop taking creating and the fullness disappears quite quickly. The other main side effect is that you may experience some slight stomach cramps. If you do suffer from the above side effects then I’d recommend checking out a creatine ethyl ester product that comes in capsule form. The ethyl ester transport system delivers the creatine in such a way that you won’t experience the same kind of negative effects.