One of the most widely used supplements by athletes is creatine. Creatine phosphate is an important energy source during brief, high-intensity activities and is important in rapid recovery (Creatine: MedlinePlus Supplements and Maughan, Depiesse, & Geyer, 2007). “There is substantial evidence to show that creatine supplementation can increase the amount of creatine and creatine phosphate in the muscles and can improve performance in strength and power events” (Maughan, Depiesse, & Geyer, 2007).
Creatine is used for improving muscles mass, strength, and recovery time (McGuire & Beerman, 2013). Maughan, Greenhaff, & Hespel (2011), mentioned studies that show creatine supplements can enhance power output during short maximal sprints, when repeated sprints are performed with short recovery periods, and it can potentiate the gains in fat-free mass and muscle force and power outputs during resistance training.
Creatine is obtained in our diet from meat, fish, and other animal sources. We typically need 1-2g of creatine a day, however, athletes taking creatine supplements ingest 20-30g/day (McGuire & Beerman, 2013). In the article The Use of Dietary Supplements by Athletes, “the recommended creatine loading regimen consist of an initial loading
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Some claim that it can cause dehydration, muscle cramps, and impair kidney function. However, most studies suggest it is safe and pose very little short-term risk (McGuire & Beerman, 2013). Creatine intake in healthy adults has found to be safe (Maughan, Depiesse, & Geyer, 2007). In addition, the International Olympic Committee, NCAA, and professional sports allow creatine. However, the NCAA does not give schools funds to supply creatine to the athletes (McGuire & Beerman, 2013, Creatine: MedlinePlus Supplements, and Maughan, Depiesse, & Geyer, 2007). Based on the articles I read, all of them support the use of creatine supplements as long as it is taken
Creatine phosphate has been heavily experimented upon to show that it is an important effector towards muscle activity. When creatine phosphate is present in a solution containing muscle fibers without the presence of ATP, it serves as the energy supplier due to the fact that it absorbs bound adenine nucleotide, which is firmly linked to the contractile elements on muscle fibers (Bozler, 1953). Even in low concentrations this nucleotide can be considered an energy transfer mechanism, for it takes full advantage of the creatine phosphates energy supply, thus acting as a substrate for the enzymatic activity of the contractile elements of a muscle group. Consumption of this nucleotide leads to an increase in the strength of contraction. Creatine phosphate also speeds up rate of relaxation of muscles, for it induces the relaxing effect of ATP (Bozler, 1953). Thus, this research suggests that creatine phosphate is directly linked to instigate muscle contractibility.
POSITIVES: Many elite athletes swear by Sheer Strength Pre-Workout, and it’s easy to see why. Sheer Strength says it will make you “lift more weight, work harder, and increase your intensity.” As the supplement contains 5x more Citrulline than other products, this was consistent with our experience. Sheer Strength provided a prompt power boost and kicked-in faster than many other supplements.
Creatine (Cr) is a popular dietary supplement used by athletes to increase sports performance, muscle mass, and strength. Creatine was first discovered in “1835, when a French scientist reported finding this constituent of meat” (Demant & Rhodes, 1999). This organic compound is manufactured endogenously by the liver and kidneys “from the amino acids glycine, arginine and methionine” for energy stipulation during muscular contraction. (Arazi, Rahmaninia, Hoseini, & Asadi, 2011). Creatine is either converted into free form Cr or phosphorylated form as known as creatine phosphate (CP). The endogenous production and exogenous consumption of Cr yields about 1 gram a day for the average person (Cooper, Naclerio, Allfrove , & Jimenez, 2012). In
Next, Creatine is a supplement made of three different amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine. Creatine can be produced by the body and found in high protein meats. When creatine enters the body it bonds with a phosphate molecule to form creatine phosphate. When macronutrients are consumed they go through a process called oxidation to become adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is molecule that stores energy. When a task is performed energy is given off to perform the task and a phosphate is lost. Once a phosphate is lost ATP becomes ATD (adenosine diphosphate). ATD is useless to the body and can not be used for energy unless it is formed back into ATP. Creatine gives its phosphate to ATD to make up for the missing phosphate, reforming ATP. Creatine provides more energy to increase performances and strength while training. Shannon Clark, whom holds a degree in exercise science and sport performance said “Creatine allows you to keep pushing hard in the gym at a time when you would previously had to decrease the load or stop entirely, so it helps in building muscle faster” (Clark). Taking a creatine supplement provides more energy needed to build strength.
Taking supplemented creatine can result in a higher increase of muscle mass. Studies have shown that three to five grams of creatine monohydrate orally taken is risk free (EFSA). It increases muscle mass by providing the user to go longer on their exercise. Supplementing with creatine became popular in the nineties for a way to get lean muscle mass. Another study shows that creatine causes water retention in muscles causing mass increase (NCBI). Creatine is also used as a treatment is muscular dystrophy. For people with muscular dystrophy it improves muscular functionality and muscle mass in all. It can be used to treat heart failure and mitochondrial disorders. I personally have been supplementing with creatine monohydrate for the past month and have seen an increase in strength and muscle
Pre-workout supplements are a newer category of products that are designed to increase workout intensity and energy. These products are being used by millions of athletes today, and there have been a lot of questions raised about the long-term effects of them. There are a lot of different brands in this industry, but most of the products contain the same main ingredients: Creatine, nitric oxide, vitamin B, and caffeine. There has been quite a bit of research done on these ingredients individually, but together they have not been studied very much, which is why a lot of athletes avoid them. Another problem with these products is that athletes are becoming
Creatine has been one of the most extensively studied and researched ergogenic aid used to improve exercise performance in sport.
But why is creatine supplementation needed for athletic performance if it can be manufactured by the body? Higher levels of creatine before exercise seem to have ergogenic effects which help the body perform better. Whether creatine is useful in long duration aerobic exercise hasn't been proven yet but it has a very specific and distinct function during
From a very early age sports are introduced upon both young boys and girls. Although it begins with sportsmanship and teamwork, it begins to evolve into new objectives when these young athletes enter high school. In fact, high school sports are vastly different. Your mind is trained to obliterate the opponent and win at all costs. This mentality can often lead many young athletes to turn to supplements to assist in muscle building. The most common supplement in use currently is Creatine. While athletic departments and sports nutrition stores claim that it is harmless, why do so many high school athletes end up with severe muscular and pulmonary damage? The answer has yet to be clearly
They measured muscular strength and anaerobic performance in trained athletes. 17 physically, active young men were selected for the study and the creatine group had 8 people and the placebo group had 9 people with average age of 23 and 26, respectively. The creatine group took 20 grams a day over the course of 4 servings and the placebo group received a carbohydrate mixture and both groups took it before meals. They trained on day 1 and 4, which included exercises that the whole body. They measured anaerobic power on a 30 second Wingate test, max bench press and squat, took blood and urine samples, and measured height, weight, and body fat. Using an ANOVA with repeated measures across time, the results demonstrated that there was an increase in anaerobic force (12%) and back squat quality (11%) when contrasted with the placebo group. With more creatine in the body than with the control group and the creatine group had lower body fat but more body weight because of increased muscle mass. Proper training and creatine led to power and force increases for these athletes, which is helpful to a running back in improving power, speed, and game
Creatine Monohydrate has been proven to significantly enhance athletic performance in the areas of power, strength, and muscle mass. Most importantly though, it doesn't seem to have any serious side effects. Also, since Creatine is found naturally in the body and in foods, it is likely that it will not be removed from sports.
Creatine can be beneficial to many people around the world because it improves the health, desires, and overall quality of life. Creatine can increase muscle energy, improve memory in some cases, lose weight, and increase muscle growth.
The supplement creatine is used for faster recovery for muscles after short periods of exercise. The theory is an athlete on creatine can exhibit more explosive bursts of energy allowing for longer weight workouts, more sprints, etc. Increased muscle mass and bulk are two of the ideas behind creatine, but they only occur as long as people work out while taking the substance. It doesn’t create
Creatine helps in increasing speed, power, and size of the muscles, strength endurance and tolerance to fatigue.
Periodized heavy resistance training was performed for 12 wk. Creatine or placebo capsules were consumed 25 grams per day for 1 wk followed by a maintenance dose of 5 grams per day for the remainder of the training. RESULTS: After 12 wk, significant increases in body mass and fat-free mass were greater in creatine than placebo subjects. After 12 wks, increases in bench press and squat were greater in creatine subjects. Compared with placebo subjects, creatine subjects demonstrated significantly greater increases in muscle total, creatine concentrations were unchanged in placebo subjects. Muscle creatine was significantly elevated after 1 wk in creatine subjects (22%), and values remained significantly greater than placebo subjects after 12 wk. Average volume lifted in the bench press during training was significantly greater in creatine subjects during weeks 5-8. No negative side effects to the supplementation were reported. CONCLUSION: Creatine supplementation enhanced fat-free mass, physical performance, and muscle morphology in response to heavy resistance training, presumably mediated via higher quality training sessions. This study was conducted by Richard B. Kreider of the Exercise & Sport Nutrition Laboratory Department of Human Movement Sciences and Education The University of Memphis. The one concern I have with this study is it seemed to leave out the limitations that Creatine may have on some body