All About Creatine

Creatine is one of the supplements that generates the most doubts about its use. Today we're going to tell you all about it: its function, studies, efficacy, and how to take it.

It is a nitrogenous organic acid, which can be obtained from the diet or by internal synthesis in the body. Creatine is present in protein foods such as meat and fish and is found in the body at the level of the liver, kidneys, and pancreas, where it can be synthesized from precursors. For the formation or synthesis of creatine, the presence of arginine, glycine, and methionine is necessary. Muscle is another location where we find creatine, but in this case, it is in the form of phosphocreatine.

90-95% of the body's creatine is found at the muscular level, mainly in fast-twitch fibers; the rest is free. The daily creatine needs for a 70 kg person are estimated to be close to 2 g. A person following a Mediterranean diet usually ingests 0.25 to 1 g daily. Therefore, to meet their daily needs, the rest must be synthesized by the body.

Effects of Creatine

Creatine monohydrate (CM) has been shown to:

• Increase phosphocreatine levels in the muscle, an essential molecule in the alactic anaerobic pathway for ATP (adenosine triphosphate) resynthesis.
• Facilitate muscle hypertrophy. It is capable of increasing the expression of certain genes responsible for controlling osmolarity and genetic transduction, such as integrin-1, among many others, producing intracellular water retention, which induces muscle hypertrophy.
• This increased muscle volume enhances the capacity for glycogen storage in the muscle.

How does it affect performance and how should I use it?

The use of creatine has been shown to provide multiple benefits for increasing both endurance and lean body mass. It significantly improves performance in repeated sprints under 30 seconds, which is crucial in high-intensity sports. The improved performance in these repeated sprints is likely explained by a faster resynthesis of phosphocreatine and, therefore, ATP, between each sprint, thus allowing for a more efficient and sustained recovery from muscular effort.

Other aspects related to creatine supplementation include an increase in fat-free mass and improved muscle strength and power. This can help withstand a greater training load, improving physical performance in competition.

The recommended supplementation protocols are:

1. A loading phase of 20g of creatine monohydrate
2. Followed by 4-6 days of a sustained dose of 5g for 2-3 weeks.

Other researchers propose using 20g of creatine daily for 5 days a month. This would achieve stable levels in muscle tissue for athletes with moderate physical activity.

Other articles that may interest you:

• Creatine Rush
• 8 Essential Supplements for Muscle Growth
• Muscle Definition Training Plan for Men

Bibliography:

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2. Tarnopolsky MA. Caffeine and creatine use in sport. Ann Nutr Metab 2010;57(2):1-8.
3. Burke L, Deakin V. Clinical Sports Nutrition. 1.a ed. Sydney: McGraw-Hill; 2006. p. 485-580.
4. Bishop D. Dietary supplements and team-sport performance. Sports Med 2010;40(12):995-1017.
5. Safdar A, Yardley NJ, Snow R, et al. Global and targeted gene expression and protein content in skeletal muscle of young men following short-term creatine monohydrate supplementation. Physiol Genomics 2008;32(2):219-28.
6. Robinson TM, Sewell DA, Hultman E, et al. Role of submaximal exercise in promoting creatine and glycogen accumulation in human skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol 1999;87(2):598-604.