When wanting to build muscle creatine is one of the few supplements that actually delivers on its promise to help you see more gains. Moreover, study after study has proven that creating a safe and so far no side effects could be found in healthy adults. Before we go over how to use creatine properly, let's summarize what it actually does to improve your workout results. creatine is an organic acid that helps supply the muscle cells with energy during high intensity short duration exercise, even though it is a non essential nutrient. Because our body can produce creatine naturally, supplementation makes sense as it will further improve performance mostly through more strength. without going into too much detail here creating helps produce ATP more quickly, which is the primary energy molecule used during weight training.
Faster ATP availability translates to more strength, which in turn means more lean muscle gains over time, along with increased string, creating will cause more water retention in the muscles. Which makes them appear bigger and fuller. Okay, so how do you use creatine correctly? Here's my step by step guide. First, which form of creatine should you use? The research is clear on this one creatine monohydrate is still the most effective form of creating wealth variations like Korea clean or creatine ethyl Ester are often sold for more than double the normal creatine price.
Scientific studies showed no additional benefits. If you want to save money without sacrificing results, go with a traditional creatine monohydrate supplement to make sure you're getting 100% monohydrate look for the CRI approved treatment, one of the most well known suppliers of creatine monohydrate in the world. When should I take creatine? creatine doesn't have immediate effects so its timing really doesn't matter. This also means taking it before your exercise will lead to increased strength right away. Every now and then you will use someone telling you that you should take it after your workout because it has been shown to lead to better results.
Usually they will cite a study which supposedly proves that taking a post workout leads to better absorption. However, the researchers themselves admitted that the difference was so small that their findings weren't statistically irrelevant. In practice. This means that you can take creatine whenever it fits you best. I personally like to drink it in the morning along with a protein shake simply because that way I have to worry about one less supplement throughout the day. How much creatine should I take?
The short answer is three to five grams per day, which is about a teaspoon. This is enough to saturate the muscle within two to four weeks and enough for maintenance afterwards. taking in more won't lead to better results as you will pay out the excess creating with what liquid Should I mix creatine? To be honest, whatever drink you prefer. It used to be common practice to mix creating with a high sugar drink or some kind of juice. But research has again shown that this leads to no increase in creating uptake.
The spike in insulin levels triggered by the sugar might lead to faster absorption. But as I explained before, this doesn't lead to better performance right away. Do I need a loading phase? No. Some people like to do a loading phase which involves taking 20 grams per day for five to seven days before switching to the recommended dose of three to five grams per day. Whether or not you want to do this is up to you.
The higher initial dose will lead to a faster saturation of the muscle cells, but only by a few days and the normal dose will also get you there. Do I have to cycle creating? No, there are no studies that link continued creating us with health risk or decrease in the body's natural production of creating. If for some reason you want or have to stop taking creatine. Your body won't undergo any withdrawal symptoms, besides the decrease in strength.