Why Creatine Is An Essential Part Of Your Training

March 14, 2011 - PRLog -- It was first discovered by a French scientist in 1832 but the first time the benefits of creatine were recorded was 1926. It was discovered in 1923 that 95% of creatine is stored in the muscle tissue. It is created in the liver, pancreas and kidneys and transported to the muscles through the bloodstream.

Once in the muscle, it is turned into creatine phosphate which is the ultimate energy source. Creatine phosphate is used to deliver extreme energy for short bursts but the amount of creatine the muscles store will be used up within 60 seconds. This means that taking a good quality creatine supplement can have a significant effect on high energy training and could also help improve endurance training.
Creatine has traditionally has a number of side effects attributed to it. These include muscle cramps, water retention and bloating. There has been some research into these side effects but there has not been any conclusive evidence to support these claims. It is also worth noting that these claims seem to have disappeared with the new forms of creatine that have recently come onto the market such as Creatine Ethyl Ester.
Creatine has been shown to pull water into the muscle cells, this has the effect of increasing muscle volume. New research has also shown that creatine can work as a lactic acid buffer. Lactic acid builds up during training and is responsible for the muscle burn that many athletes suffer from. By delaying the build-up of lactic acid, creatine can significantly reduce that burn and may therefore aid in muscle recovery. Creatine supplements can help put the body into a state where greater protein absorption can occur, and the greater the protein absorption, the greater the muscle gains.
There have been a few debates on when to take creatine supplements (http://www.nrgstop.com/index.php?webpage=product_detail.p...), but by taking creatine before a work out can benefit more than afterwards. This is because the creatine stays in the body’s system for around 1 and half hours. So taking the creatine supplement around an hour before a work out would give you maximum benefits. This is because the creatine would have worked its way into your muscles within the hour, so it is ready to be used to convert adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) energy to keep your workout going for longer.
If you are thinking of taking creatine supplements (http://www.nrgstop.com/index.php?webpage=product_detail.php&product_id=16263&cID=2347) for the first time, you may have come across a term called “loading” this is the process where you load up on the creatine supplement for the first 5-7 days to make sure your muscles are fully saturated with creatine. But do you really need to load a creatine supplement?
It depends on how quickly you want to see your results, by loading it means that your body’s capability of using the creatine (http://www.nrgstop.com/index.php?webpage=product_detail.p...) is increased, this gives faster results. However over longer periods of time there is no real difference between someone who has loaded and someone who hasn’t. This is because the body can only hold a certain amount of creatine (http://www.nrgstop.com/index.php?webpage=product_detail.php&product_id=16245&cID=2347) in its system at any one time. If the body has excess creatine, due to over dosage, or even through loading, the body simply gets rid of it through excretion.
There are a few ways of increasing its effectiveness on the body, one easy way is to take the supplement with a certain food group containing high glycemic index (GI level) for example Weetabix and cornflakes have high GI levels. It increases the effects because of an increase in insulin release which helps the transport of the creatine to the muscles.

# # #

NRGFUEL is one of the U.K's leading sports nutrition brands and suppliers. Our innovative market leading products have seen us rapidly expand to become the place to go for all your sports nutrition needs.