Creatine and gainer: which is better, can you mix it and how to take it together

Creatine is quite popular as a dietary supplement for athletes. The product helps to increase energy potential and muscle mass, and improve strength and performance indicators. To get noticeable results, you need to know how to properly take creatine to gain muscle mass and when.

Chemical structure

Creatine phosphate is a derivative of amino acids. It is mistakenly called an amino acid, although from a chemical point of view it is a metabolite.

To synthesize creatine, our body uses:

Methionine;
Glycine;
Arginine

That is, technically, it is enough to simply eat protein foods, and the body itself will “make” the required portion of creatine to maintain the contractile activity of muscle fibers.

Interesting fact: foreign athletes massively prefer wild fish and farm beef. The reason is simple - the meat of trained animals contains about 20% more creatine and amino acids. But poultry, conventionally produced veal and farmed fish are “weak” options for replenishing creatine reserves.

Why should we take creatine if we already have to eat large amounts of meat in order to stay strong and beautiful? Creatine phosphate has been repeatedly recognized as a revolutionary supplement in sports nutrition. It's simple. Heat treatment of meat and fish leads to the reverse breakdown of the substance into amino acids. Thus, the body has to synthesize creatine again from amino acids. All this does not allow us to consider meat the optimal product for obtaining creatine phosphate.

In addition, the less heat treatment, the more creatine the meat contains. Few people are ready to eat raw fish and rare steaks every day. And it is not safe for digestion.

Everything you need to know about creatine

Creatine is a natural amino acid derivative produced in the liver, pancreas and kidneys. From there, this substance is transported through the bloodstream, primarily heading to muscle tissue.

More than 90% of the body's creatine is stored in muscle, with small amounts also present in the heart, brain and, in men, the testicles. A typical adult has about 120 grams of creatine. However, muscles have the ability to store 160 grams. The purpose of adding creatine is to fill the creatine “fuel tank”, which provides the body with high-intensity energy. This increase in energy can lead to greater adaptation to training, as the body is able to do more work and create a greater stimulus for muscle growth.

It is believed that the daily requirement of this supplement for the average person is about 2 grams. In addition to creatine, which the body produces itself, it can be obtained directly from food. The highest concentrations of the substance are found in animal products: red meat and some types of fish. Some of the largest suppliers are salmon, tuna, beef and pork. The champion food is herring, which contains more than 3 grams of creatine in 500 grams. But eating that much fish every day seems a little more difficult than a small dose of tasteless powder mixed with water or grape juice.

Why should creatine be taken separately?

Unlike other protein metabolism derivatives, creatine is difficult to obtain from food. Only a person who consumes about 2 g of protein per 1 kg of body weight has a chance. Agree, there are not many of these among non-professional athletes. Therefore, even for the purposes of regular fitness, it makes sense to take creatine separately, as an additional food supplement.

Creatine is hardly metabolized in the body when taken as a supplement. It goes straight to the muscles and is stored there. The average athlete can store up to 450 g of creatine phosphate per month. How much do you need for active training? Various sources give figures of up to 20-30 g per day. For ordinary people - about 5-8 g. At the same time, the average dosage of creatine announced by companies selling sports nutrition is about 5 g.

Even theoretically, it is impossible to obtain such an amount of creatine from food. You need to eat several kilograms of meat per day. This will quickly lead to failure of the digestive system.

CREATINE. NEEDED OR NOT? HOW TO TAKE CORRECTLY.

Should you mix supplements?

Creatine is absorbed as quickly as possible when taken together with amino acids and fast carbohydrates. The gainer contains exactly these components. Therefore, taking both supplements together is not only possible, but necessary for a complex effect.

Carboxylic acid contributes to the supply of energy to support physical activity, and the gainer provides nutrition and muscle growth. Taking supplements together increases the effectiveness of training and maintains the body's activity when increasing the standard load.

Note! Creatine provokes an increase in water reserves within the body, and the gainer provides a large number of additional calories. Taking these supplements together may increase body weight and waist size. This should be taken into account by girls with low weight who do not want to gain weight.

Be sure to check out:

Creatine: properties of the supplement and its importance in sports nutrition. Expiration date and storage of creatine. Is it possible to mix BCAA with creatine and what can this lead to? Creatine and protein: rules for taking it together

How does creatine affect the body?

Is creatine needed for normal body function? Modern sources on sports medicine classify it as an essential substance. Creatine affects the following processes in the body:

"Mobility" of cholesterol. This term refers to the ability to remove “bad” cholesterol and transport “good” cholesterol. Creatine affects the health of the cardiovascular system and can indirectly be considered a means of preventing high blood pressure;
Increased lactate threshold. The lactate threshold is the body's ability to resist the effects of lactic acid. If you consume creatine, the body's performance will increase due to;
Fluid retention and binding. This effect applies only to the muscles, and causes a pump during training, and a more “full” appearance after it;
Improving oxygen supply to white muscle fibers, and, accordingly, improving their performance;
Improves overall performance during training through fluid retention and improved angles.

Contrary to popular belief, creatine does not help “heal joints” or “fill” them with joint fluid. It only improves metabolic parameters, but does not affect joint health.

Creatine: what is it, why is it necessary for an athlete?

This is the skeleton (building material) of human muscles. The more this substance accumulates in muscle tissue, the higher the “explosive” power of the muscle. That is why every novice athlete wants to know whether it is possible to take a gainer with creatine to improve performance in the gym? To give a reliable answer, let’s look at both PDs in detail.

Creatine is actively generated by the amino acids arginine, methionine and glycine, which are produced naturally by the human kidneys and liver. This natural substance accumulates in muscle tissue and serves as a natural source of energy during physical activity. Regular and timely intake of the substance into the body ensures the restoration of the energy potential of the muscles within several hours.

The substance is also important for the body and its normal functioning, as are fats, vitamins, protein, minerals and carbohydrates. Therefore, to the question: is it possible to combine taking a gainer with creatine, any specialist will give a positive answer. The main thing is to understand the action of both PDs and develop the correct treatment plan.

Creatine in sports

Creatine supplements are popular in strength sports. Indeed, this is a godsend for a bodybuilder who likes bulky muscles and just wants to look big. There is an opinion among bodybuilders that creatine can be used constantly while bulking, and at the very beginning of cutting, too, in order to maintain the speed of metabolic reactions.

But athletes who need to stay within a weight class are not very fond of creatine. It is known from practice that with the help of creatine supplements you can gain 2-3 kg of weight. Again, after stopping creatine, this weight quickly disappears, but many people don’t like the idea of gaining weight, so they are against creatine supplements.

In strength sports and bodybuilding, creatine promotes:

Rapid muscle pumping, this is especially noticeable when taken together with arginine;
Mass growth;
When used together with selective androgen receptor modulators – acceleration of anabolic processes and a significant increase in strength;
When used “solo” - an increase in strength indicators for the duration of use;
Overcoming the “power plateau”;
Accelerating metabolism by gaining muscle mass;
Increasing the efficiency of the heart;
Glycogen binding and more efficient muscle function;

Performance boost

You can find information that creatine increases performance by 35%, which contributes to both strength and endurance. Moreover, the effects of creatine are not directly anabolic and therefore do not affect the athlete’s hormonal system.

It works indirectly. Creatine retains water, muscles plump up faster. This requires more oxygen consumption, improves blood circulation and muscle nutrition. As a result, a person breaks through a strength plateau. It turns out that the pumping effect helps to overcome a strength plateau and a plateau in endurance due to creatine.

Muscle pumping itself promotes:

Increased oxygen supply;
Glycogen retention

Creatine thus helps indirectly increase strength endurance. The normal effect of taking it is that the athlete learns to overcome heavy loads in a multi-repetition mode. Thus, working weights can increase from 50% to 60-70 of 1 RM in basic exercises. Over time, this leads to an increase in the athlete’s fitness and strength indicators.

Conclusion: creatine does not affect the human hormonal system. It is also not a selective androgen receptor modulator. It simply promotes the retention of glycogen and water in the muscles, which mechanically increases their performance. Creatine helps you become stronger and more resilient, but all this happens with an increase in the athlete's own weight.

"Filling" with water

Many bodybuilders specifically drink salty mineral water and increase the salt content in their diet during the off-season. This should promote greater endurance and strength, and serve as a means of injury prevention. Creatine works in much the same way. Its “mission” is to retain water. In the offseason, this could be promising in terms of injury prevention.

Important: “filling with water” also improves the biomechanical characteristics of the muscles, and therefore serves as a good way to prevent injuries resulting from poor technique.

“Filling” can also have side effects. It is a common cause of cramps, as an imbalance of mineral salts and water is created in the body. When performing heavy approaches in this condition, the athlete should always use the help of a spotter. The problem with cramps is solved by additional consumption of potassium and magnesium, but this also leads to a slight decrease in the amount of water in the muscles.

Increasing the amount of fluid in the muscles is considered beneficial, but it must be borne in mind that this point is not suitable for those who have problems with kidney health and high blood pressure.

Muscle growth

So, creatine starts the process of increasing the supply of blood and oxygen to the muscles. With adequate training loads, its use will also contribute to the growth of muscle mass. Creatine “gains mass” only when all conditions for normal protein synthesis are present. The athlete must eat normally and recover. Otherwise, creatine will be a useless supplement. These are not anabolic steroids to correct lack of regimen, lack of nutrition and too heavy, incorrectly selected training programs.

The work of creatine can be schematically represented as follows:

When loading it in the muscles, fluid retention also occurs;
A muscle pump leads to increased oxygen consumption and increased blood circulation;
Amino acids that enter the body through nutrition are used for muscle growth;
Anabolic processes are also supported by the partial resynthesis of creatine into amino acids;
When increasing strength indicators, this scheme works better

So, creatine really helps you recover faster and build muscle. What about other sports indicators?

Maestro Pain about creatine

Creatine and kickback

This substance is deservedly “disliked” by beginners who became acquainted with the phenomenon of creatine withdrawal too early. What it is? Over time, the substance accumulates in tissues, and all metabolic processes are concentrated on its removal. The body stops accepting creatine and simply tries to get rid of its excess. There is no point in drinking more. The athlete must stop taking it.

When you stop taking creatine, the following happens:

The substance accumulated in the muscles is removed from the body;
The liquid retained by it is “drained”;
The body no longer looks the same - the muscles become flatter;
Endurance indicators drop;
Pumping disappears

Important: recovery from creatine is never complete. If you compare dry mass indicators before and after a course of creatine, they will differ.

It is advisable to cycle creatine intake according to your training plan. That is, when an athlete reaches the peak of strength, creatine supports his efforts. Then, when the reception stops, the athlete reduces the volume and intensity of the load and rests.

Creatine and bone density

Athletes supplementing with calcium and D3 may benefit from taking creatine. It serves as an indirect transport of these substances, which means that with its intake the bones are also strengthened.

Bone density is a value that depends on the athlete’s muscle mass. If muscles grow at a fairly slow, physiologically natural rate, as happens with creatine, the athlete receives stronger bones in addition to improved body quality. This allows him to be more protected from injury.

Creatine supplementation is therefore advisable in sports where there is a high level of impact and injury. There he is adjusted to the off-season, in which the athlete is engaged in general physical training.

So is it possible or not to combine gainer intake with creatine?

Some of the effects of taking PD are the same, so when taking gainer and creatine together, you should monitor the daily intake of substances in the body. Abuse may have adverse consequences. In fact, every specialist will say that the most effective drugs are gainers, the composition of which is balanced in terms of the amount of substances needed by the athlete.

Bottom line: is it possible to combine gainer and creatine to improve the effect of exercise in the gym? Yes, you can. But when making a “cocktail”, you must adhere to the following recommendations:

Before mixing, take PD separately. Determine the body's susceptibility to each.
Decide on the desired effect. For example, to gain muscle mass you will need a balanced “cocktail”, and to lose extra pounds, creatine will be enough.
Decide on the intensity of the load and calculate the daily dose of essential substances.
Combine PD intake with proper, nutritious and fractional meals.

Experts recommend taking a “cocktail” before and after going to the gym. If the gainer does not contain creatine, then it must be added to the carbohydrate-protein product in a volume of 5 grams.

Creatine for cutting

Some athletes practice taking creatine while cutting. But this applies to those who have already completed several cycles of it and have a fairly small percentage of body fat. Such athletes do not need to significantly deplete glycogen stores, and they remove carbohydrates significantly only in the last weeks of cutting. Creatine helps them protect themselves from injuries, since in this case high-intensity training is used during cutting.

Most people do not use creatine when cutting. They immediately begin to practice a low-carb diet, and combining creatine with it is counterproductive.

Creatine retains glycogen in muscles.
When cutting, the goal of the diet is to deplete glycogen reserves so that the body begins to burn fat.
Creatine slows down this process.
The additive retains water. It is impossible to assess the athlete's physique. This leads to irregularities, mistakes, and suboptimal nutrition and training plans.
Creatine can contribute to the occurrence of cramps, since the water-salt balance during drying is disturbed.
In the final stages, the supplement can become the reason why “water does not drain”, since creatine retains water, and the athlete, on the contrary, strives to get rid of it.

But when losing weight in strength sports, creatine can be used. Let's say the preparation for the competition lasts 4 weeks. 2 of them, the athlete follows a diet with a slight calorie deficit and takes creatine. Before the start, the supplement is removed, which gives “minus 2 kg” at the weigh-in, and before the competition itself, a loading dose of creatine is taken to increase performance. This weight loss scheme is quite widespread.

creatine for cutting. side effects of creatine

What will be the effect of taking creatine?

Increasing the muscles' ability to perform more intense and powerful efforts.
Increased muscle volume. This effect is associated with the regular replenishment of glycogen and water reserves in the tissues.
Saturation of muscle fibers with ATP. When wondering whether creatine can be added to a mass gainer, one must not lose sight of the fact that the ATP molecule is a pure source of energy. It is able to interact with certain minerals, which gives an anabolic effect.
Accelerated stabilization of energy potential.
Increased endurance. When wondering whether it is possible to mix gainer and creatine, it is also worth considering that taking the latter PD leads to normalization of acidity in muscle tissue. An effect that eliminates burning sensation in muscles after high-intensity exercise. Read more about how to increase endurance with the help of drugs, without harming the body, on our portal.
Promotes protein production in cells.

Creatine in food

Regular herring contains 26% creatine phosphate. It can be considered a good source, but only with heat treatment its beneficial properties are reduced, and it turns out that the athlete receives even less creatine. In fact, without sports nutrition products, it will not be possible to obtain normal dosages of creatine sufficient to solve the problems of building a body. Therefore, you should either admit that sports nutrition sometimes makes sense, or abandon the idea of “breaking through a plateau” with creatine.

Amount of creatine monohydrate in food (grams per kilogram of pure product)
Product	Creatine (g/kg)	Percentage of daily dose for an athlete
Herring	8	26%
Pork	5	16.5%
Beef	4.5	15%
Salmon	4.5	15%
Milk	0.1	0.30%
Vegetables fruits	0.01%
Nuts	0.01%

The creatine content in plant foods - fruits, vegetables and legumes - is so insignificant that it can be neglected. At one time they liked to promote mushrooms as a source of creatine, but the absorbable amount of it in them is negligible.

Indeed, to obtain creatine you will have to eat 4 kg of herring. And if someone is capable of such a feat, then he should know that the fish will have to be chewed raw, since cooked fish will contain even less creatine. The conclusion suggests itself - either put up with sports nutrition, or use other means of building muscle mass and recovery.

Recommendations from professionals

H. Antonio, sports nutrition expert

When you are introduced to sports supplements, start taking 3-6 g of creatine daily. After training, combine this product with a quality gainer or protein. This combination allows you to replenish the deficiency of nutrients in the body and enhances the effect of supplements regarding recovery, mass gain, etc. On days without strength training, a complex of sports products can be taken in the morning to restore the balance of nutrients in the muscles after sleep.
H. Antonio, professor at Nova Southeastern University, sports nutrition expert

Olga Nedorezova, nutrition consultant, trainer

To actively gain muscle mass, an athlete needs to create a calorie surplus in his diet. Those. consume significantly more than you expend during daily activity. Some gainers contain a large amount of calories from simple carbohydrates, so you should correctly calculate the dosage of the product. The combination of a protein-carbohydrate mixture will work in the right direction only with intense exercise.
Olga Nedorezova, nutrition consultant, trainer at the Republika fitness club

Svetlana Mayorova, doctor, nutrition consultant

The main task of a gainer is to increase muscle mass due to the large amount of nutrients in the composition. However, its benefits may be ambiguous for the body. Additives with a large amount of sugar in their composition pose some danger - they provoke insulin surges, disrupt metabolism and digestion processes. Those. supplementation to support physical activity may lead to a direct reduction in activity. For this reason, pay great attention to the composition, especially if you want to combine the gainer with other sports nutrition products.
Svetlana Mayorova, general practitioner, nutrition consultant

Side effects of taking

Creatine has been used in the sports nutrition market for more than 30 years. During this time, no serious problems associated with its use were identified. From the first examples back in 1996 to today's advanced forms of cre-alkaline, it is a relatively safe supplement.

However, discomfort may still occur when using it:

The gastrointestinal tract may “rebel” during loading. This is due to a short-term local disturbance of the water-salt balance and tissue dehydration;
Cramps due to electrolyte deficiency. They can be easily prevented by supplementing with electrolytes;
Swelling of the face;
Increased load on the kidneys during loading;
Vitamin and mineral deficiency

You should not start taking creatine if you have kidney problems. Otherwise, it is a safe supplement. Side effects are closely related to the beneficial properties and mechanism of creatine, so it is not possible to completely get rid of them.

Taking creatine may affect your heart health. If an athlete practices loading, or simply consumes quite a lot of creatine, his heart may experience increased stress. Lactate buffering helps increase heart rate and strength. This can lead to tachycardia, heart rhythm disturbances, and even muscle microtrauma.

Important: the fast loading scheme has a greater impact on the heart. Sometimes it is recommended that if there is a high degree of risk, simply refrain from loading creatine, and take it exclusively at an even background.

How Creatine Helps Build Muscle

There is a ton of research showing that creatine stimulates muscle growth and helps improve workout performance. But how does he do this? In this article, we will try to explain how creatine works and why it helps increase muscle mass.

If your primary goal was to build muscle, and I could only recommend one supplement to help achieve that goal, I would definitely recommend creatine. An overwhelming amount of research demonstrates that creatine intake predictably increases intramuscular creatine concentrations and that this subsequently translates into improved muscle-building ability. Research has found that when taking creatine in combination with strength training, athletes are able to gain several kilograms more muscle mass than when training without supplements.

However, the mechanism by which creatine helps build muscle is still not fully understood by most bodybuilders. Let's look at the most likely, scientifically based theories.

Creatine and Muscle Growth: Two Main Theories

You probably already know that creatine has a ton of benefits beyond just promoting muscle growth. It is also extremely effective for increasing strength - this is part of the answer. If you're stronger, you'll be able to handle heavier loads in a given rep range and thus generate more mechanical stress—the primary driver of hypertrophy. This is one explanation.

Muscle growth is also further enhanced by creatine's ability to increase muscle size and firmness. Creatine acts as an osmolyte, drawing water into the muscles, which directly affects their size. So the second theory suggests that hypertrophy is largely facilitated by the “swelling” of cells associated with this effect.

Laboratory studies demonstrate that cell swelling stimulates muscle protein synthesis while reducing muscle protein breakdown, which stimulates hypertrophy. It has not been reliably established how this process occurs in practice, but it provides a logical explanation for the potential effectiveness of creatine.

It is worth noting, however, that we do not analyze the reasons for the effectiveness of creatine in the context of “either therefore, or therefore” and do not try to establish the only, most plausible one, but consider them together. Cell swelling, increased mechanical tension, and microtrauma of muscle fibers during training play an important role in muscle growth. It is possible that creatine supplementation has a positive effect on two or even all three of these mechanisms.

Long term benefits of creatine

Another reason creatine is so effective is that this supplement does not need to be taken on a cyclical basis for either medical or economic reasons. On the one hand, constantly replenishing and increasing creatine stores in the muscles only stimulates maximizing muscle growth. On the other hand, creatine monohydrate, the most popular and scientifically approved form, is one of the cheapest supplements on the sports nutrition market per serving.

When I say that creatine should not be cycled for medical reasons, I mean that the safety of creatine, even with long-term use, has indeed been demonstrated repeatedly in research and practice. The only reported side effects of creatine are some occasional complaints of cramps, which, however, have not been confirmed in controlled studies.

By the way, contrary to popular belief, creatine does not cause visual “swelling” of the body; it affects water retention in the muscles, not under the skin. Therefore, the fearful assumption that taking creatine will make you bloat like a water balloon is nothing more than a popular misconception.

It is important to note that there is a relatively small percentage of people (about 20%) who, due to a number of genetic and physiological factors, are resistant (insensitive) to creatine. Athletes in this category will not be able to experience additional benefits from taking creatine, even if they want to.

My advice is to start taking creatine and see if the supplement works for you specifically. If you don't see any results after a couple of months, you're probably part of the unlucky minority.

How to take creatine

There are two main strategies for taking creatine. To quickly achieve noticeable results, start taking approximately 5 grams of creatine four times a day for a week - or for more scientific accuracy and maximum tailoring of the regimen to your individual needs, start with 0.3 grams of creatine per kilogram of body weight. After completing the loading phase, continue to take about 3 grams of creatine per day.

Alternatively, you can simply consume 3-5 grams of creatine per day and eventually, after about a month, you will reach the same muscle creatine levels as during the active loading phase.

Creatine supplements come in a variety of forms. I recommend starting your loading with good old creatine monohydrate. It stimulates muscle growth no worse than alternative modern forms of creatine, and given their higher cost, creatine monohydrate is objectively the most profitable choice.

Take it daily, exercise regularly and don't be surprised if the scale readings start to rise over time - it means you're moving in the right direction!

Choose creatine in the Fizcult catalog.

How to take creatine correctly

There are two options for taking creatine. You can drink it with a load, or you can drink it without it. Proponents of the first format believe that this way the supplement starts working faster, and you can get benefits from using it almost immediately. The second option is milder in terms of side effects and prevents the body from retaining too much water or suffering from excess creatine. But the athlete will only feel the effect of the supplement for 2-3 weeks.

Loading involves consuming 20 g of pure creatine per day. This indicator does not depend on the athlete’s own weight. Loading increases supplement consumption quite significantly and may be too costly for some athletes.

In this case it is accepted as follows:

10 g in the morning, immediately after 1 meal, with sweet juice;
2 hours before training – about 7 g;
In the evening after dinner - the remaining 13 g
In all cases, creatine is drunk with sweet juice or water.

Once the peak is reached, and this becomes visible in muscle fullness and tolerance to training, it will be possible to reduce the dosage to maintenance. This is 5-6 g of creatine per day. The maximum duration of taking the supplement is 8 training weeks, then for a couple of days the dosage is reduced to 2-3 g, and then the creatine is completely “turned off”. How much rest do you need? There is no clear opinion on this matter. Athletes usually adjust the intake of such supplements to their “massing” and “cutting” cycles. Standard cutting lasts about 8 weeks, eliminating creatine for 12 weeks will help achieve the goal of reducing body fat.

The regimen for taking creatine without loading is simple. 5-6 grams before training, with sweet juice or any sweetened drink, 2.5 grams before and after training, no special benefits.

Note: Cre-alkaline has a different loading pattern. You need to follow the manufacturer's instructions, which we see on the packaging.

How to take CREATINE? (Loading efficiency and side effects)

How to Choose the Best Creatine

You can buy creatine either as regular monohydrate (a white powdery substance that is tasteless and insoluble in water) or as microcrystalline creatine in capsules. The advantage of the capsule form is that you do not have to mix the powder with water - monohydrate, as we mentioned, is extremely poorly soluble in liquid. In addition, when taking tablets, it is easier to control the dose of the supplement.

Speaking about “advanced” types of creatine, it is necessary to note Kre-Alkalyn in capsules. Although its effects on muscles are not fundamentally different from the effects of monohydrate, a noticeable benefit from taking it may be a decrease in abdominal swelling, bloating and stomach discomfort - an allergic reaction to taking regular monohydrate in some people.

Creatine monohydrate: disadvantages and harm

Today, monohydrate is one of the most researched sports supplements. Numerous experiments and scientific studies have not revealed any side effects for a healthy person (4). Regular consumption of doses up to 3 g of creatine per day is classified by doctors as “minimal risk of side effects for health” (5).

Despite the safety of the supplement, people suffering from chronic diseases (primarily asthma and various types of food allergies - including allergies to gluten and lactose), as well as pregnant women and people with any kidney disease, are advised to consult their doctor before starting to take creatine.

In addition, the effect on the body with regular and long-term use of creatine is not fully understood. There are studies showing that after 6-8 weeks of continuous use, monohydrate can provoke the formation of toxic compounds in the kidneys (6). In other words, it is safer to alternate a month of taking the supplement with a month of rest.

What is creatine: summary

Creatine monohydrate is a sports supplement based on creatine found in meat that helps increase strength during exercise.
Creatine should not be used for weight loss as it causes weight gain rather than weight loss.
It is necessary to take monohydrate daily, in a dosage of 2-4 g; The time and form of administration are not important.
To minimize possible risk, it is recommended to alternate 1 month of taking the supplement with 1 month of rest.

Scientific sources

Creatine, An Article at Examine.com,
Buford TW, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise, source
Effect of creatine and beta-alanine supplementation on performance and endocrine responses in strength/power athletes, link
Creatine Supplementation, link

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Top Creatine Phosphate Supplements

Creatine can be found in all brands of sports nutrition:

Optimum newtrition;
Ultra;
Biotech, Dimatize, others

Domestic sports nutrition manufacturers are not lagging behind, and each offers us their own versions of creatine.

Types of additives

Manufacturer brands more or less cope with the task of supplying high-quality creatine. This supplement is difficult to spoil, so it makes sense to consider only the types of creatine

Creatine monohydrate . It loads quickly, as you can consume up to 50 g of creatine per day. It is well absorbed by the body, does not contain any impurities or additives, and is easy to use.

Creatine phosphate . This is a cheaper supplement with lower bioavailability. Therefore, you need to exceed the dosage recommended by the manufacturer by about a quarter so that the body absorbs all the creatine provided.

Creatine with transport system . An option for those who don’t want to waste time searching for sweet juices and drink a lot of tea. It is convenient to stir it and drink it before training to satisfy the body's need for creatine. Usually creatine with transport is the most expensive, so for loading they take regular one, and this one they simply drink before training to reduce the time spent on taking supplements.

Creatine hydrochloride . This is an innovative product designed to provide all the benefits of creatine without flooding your body with water. Designed for those who want to maintain a drier, more toned appearance. In fact, creatine hydrochloride does not have any proven advantages over monohydrate, so you should decide for yourself whether to purchase it or not.

Interesting fact : creatine is often added to industrially produced gainers. There are also special products containing caffeine, carnitine and creatine. They are designed to help those who have problems gaining weight gain muscle mass. Creatine promotes the retention of glycogen and water in the muscles, its use helps to quickly gain weight. But as soon as you stop taking the gainer, the “water” will drain away.

The same goes for pre-workout mixtures with amylopectin, creatine, and caffeine. They allow you to work out your workout more efficiently, work as a mild pre-workout complex, increase energy and concentration, promote fluid retention in the tissues, but after taking them, a “rollback” is inevitable.

All types of creatine have approximately the same effect from a physiological point of view. There is no creatine that will help you gain weight without rebound, or otherwise allow you to maintain results on its own. Judging by the reviews, even innovative forms of creatine still provoke “flooding” of the body with water, which is quite natural.

Time of administration, before or after training

Just like medications, sports nutrition for bodybuilding must be taken at a certain time. And if everything is clear about how to take creatine monohydrate, then the opinions of athletes and experts differed regarding when to take the supplement. Some believe that it should be consumed before training, while others believe that it should be consumed after. In addition, the administration time may vary depending on the form of the purchased drug - powder, liquid or capsule. The timing of intake is affected by the supplements included in sports nutrition.

The powder is most often taken before training. If you are loading with creatine, then the drug is divided into 4 parts, 5 g each, and taken throughout the day. During the maintenance phase, the drug is drunk 2 times a day - one part before training, and the second after.

According to experienced athletes, it is not so important when the supplement is taken. After all, performance mainly depends on the level of amino acid content in the muscles.

If it is high enough, then the result will be. Although there is creatine with a transport system, which is taken only before training.

By taking the powder before training, you can ensure its stable level for 1 - 1.5 hours. If training is not carried out during this period, the substance will simply leave the body naturally.

Thus, sports nutrition is best taken before training, approximately 1 hour before. This is how long it takes for the substance to be absorbed by the body. The training usually takes one and a half hours. After which, the remaining unused substance will be removed. For example, the lesson runs from 9 to 10-00 in the morning. In this case, the drug should be taken at 8-00. By the allotted time, the substance will have time to enter the muscles, and they will be ready to accept the load.

At 9-00, when training begins, amino acid reserves in the muscles will gradually begin to be used up and by 10-00 they will completely dry up. After that, the blood will supply creatine to the muscles, and its level will still be high. As you can see, it makes no sense to train longer. And the drug itself, taken before exercise, is active before, after and throughout the entire workout, which is very beneficial. It turns out that taking an amino acid after a workout is useless? This is not entirely true.

Many people are interested in how to take creatine monohydrate on days without training and is it necessary to do it? There is an opinion that the course should not be interrupted for a day and that the powder should be consumed daily. Otherwise, training the next day after rest, when the level of creatine in the body decreases, will be ineffective. There is no scientific basis for this, so everyone decides for themselves whether to take the supplement on rest days while taking a course or not. Some athletes reported faster muscle recovery after training if they also took the supplement on rest days at night.

Creatine with a transport system contains substances that improve its absorption. The components of this supplement promote rapid delivery of the substance to the muscles. You should take creatine with the transport system only on training days.

Thus, knowing how to take creatine correctly, you can avoid troubles in the form of side effects that usually result from the use of chemical drugs. Creatine-based sports nutrition will help significantly improve results, gain muscle mass and eliminate the feeling of fatigue during training. By learning to choose, prepare and consume creatine correctly, you can reach new heights in bodybuilding.

Bottom line

Creatine has been on the market for a long time and has been well studied. It really helps build muscle mass and increase working weights. This supplement promotes recovery after strength training, it helps break through the “plateau” in results and increase both muscle volume and mass. Creatine is suitable for most athletes, it does not contain stimulants and is not addictive. It is used in all strength sports and sometimes in training sprinters and crossfitters. It is enough to choose high-quality creatine and build your training plan so that the activity is truly aimed at increasing muscle mass.

The only “natural” supplement that works to increase mass and strength!

Igor February 1, 2019

Creatine and weight

Content

As you know, to increase weight, it is necessary to increase the daily caloric intake by introducing additional portions of fats and carbohydrates into the diet. If this is done wisely, dry muscle growth occurs. But calories and a general energy boost alone are not enough for this. It is also important to ensure high-quality, improved energy exchange in muscle fibers, which is possible thanks to the introduction of an additional portion of creatine to the menu.

By resynthesizing ATP, the substance enhances energy production, training takes place at a higher level, since the athlete does not experience muscle fatigue for much longer. Strength indicators, endurance, muscle tone increase, load capacity improves. In addition, creatine improves protein synthesis. All this contributes to the effective growth of lean muscle mass. It is dry, since the energy increase in muscles, can also significantly enhance fat burning processes.

When to take the supplement?

Sports nutrition plays an important role in achieving results. When to take creatine during training?

Some believe that it is beneficial to take a dose of creatine an hour before exercise so that it is available in the bloodstream to immediately replace the body's own creatine that it uses during exercise. Others believe that you should take a dose of creatine immediately after exercise, when muscle cells will be most receptive to nutrient absorption. Still others believe that since creatine is a stored substance, it doesn't really matter how you take it. Creatine has not shown significant differences in effectiveness depending on when it was taken in any known studies. Any time of day is suitable. Experiment with your timing and see if you notice a difference.

All that matters when it comes to how much creatine to take is that you take it regularly and for a long period of time (approximately 4-12 weeks).