Creatine - when to take and how much? Optimum reception scheme

Those who seriously engage in weightlifting or other sports in which it is necessary to build muscle mass, a supplement such as creatine is well known. Also, it is often used by vegetarians who have ruled out fish and meat from their diets - foods rich in creatine.

At the same time, knowing about the indispensability of this substance, not everyone, unfortunately, fully understands how to properly take creatine, what it is needed for, and what effect it has on the body. In all this it is worth investigating.

Creatine - what is it?

Creatine is methyl guanido acetic acid, contained in muscle tissue. It is really indispensable for human health and for its sporting activities, since it plays a crucial role in energy exchange.

Approximately 40% of creatine in the body is the so-called free creatine, the remaining 60% of the substance is in the form of creatine phosphate. An average person consumes about 2 grams during the day, but in professional athletes these figures are much higher. Loss can be replenished with food, by natural production of the substance by the body and with the help of special additives.

Creatine is extremely necessary for athletes, because the human body produces it in a fairly small amount, sufficient only to ensure normal life. However, those who are engaged in active sports activity, this substance is needed in a much larger amount, because its indicators in the muscles have a direct effect on the endurance and strength of the organism, filling it with energy. This gives a general idea of why sports creatine is needed. But still it's worth talking about everything in more detail.

Creatine was discovered in 1835 by a French chemist. He found this ingredient in meat juice, so he gave it the name "creatine", which in Greek means "meat". Since then, many scientists have devoted their time to the study of dangongo and its functions. This allowed us to determine how much it should be in the body of a healthy person, and also to understand more deeply what creatine is, when it is necessary to take it, and what side effects may occur.

The main functions of creatine

So, creatine: what is it for? First of all, this substance improves the following important characteristics and processes:

• Indirectly stimulates the fat burning process;
• Promotes the increase of muscle mass;
• Greatly enhances energy and physical ability;
• Stimulates a good growth of power indicators.

Deciding that the body needs creatine, when to take it and with what purpose, you need to fully understand. It is a common misconception that this substance directly participates in muscle building. Although this statement is close to reality, it is still untrue. After all, creatine for the mass of muscles does not play such a role, as, for example, amino acids or protein. It does participate in important metabolic processes, but first of all it improves the strength of the body, rather than directly increases the muscles.

For this reason, after a couple of weeks of taking the supplement, the athlete feels that the old workouts and loads are given to him much easier, and such a terrible enemy, like fast fatigue, recedes. Creatine helps to increase muscle mass by increasing energy and increasing strength. Thanks to an understanding of this, it becomes clear what the golden rule of power sports implies: "The volume of muscles is directly proportional to their strength."

Being subjected to physical exertion, the muscle first uses its own energy reserve, and when it ends, it starts by using the processes of acidification, to consume energy from other cells of the body. For this reason, it can not be made to be under constant physical exertion, but it is very realistic at the expense of creatine to increase the total amount of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in the body, thereby providing the muscles with new energy reserves.

To better understand this, we can imagine that initially the muscles have 10 units of energy. With creatine, this figure can increase to 12 or even 15 units, and this, in turn, has a direct effect on the intensity of training and endurance of the body. It is not surprising that taking creatine before training is mandatory for all sportsmen involved in heavy sports.

How to apply this tool correctly?

If you decide to drink creatine, when to take it and how, it is very important to know. After all, using this additive, as, indeed, any others, can not be thoughtless. Careful studies of this substance have helped to develop two basic and most appropriate schemes for its administration. Having considered their main features, it is possible to determine the mistakes often made by inexperienced athletes.

Scheme №1

The first scheme of creatine intake is mainly in the original creatine load, which significantly increases the amount of this substance in the muscles. This period often lasts about 5-7 days, during which the concentration of creatine in the body increases by approximately 3-4 times. After this, use the drug every day only in maintenance doses.

Scheme №2

The second option of how to take creatine in capsules, in the form of a powder or a liquid solution, is somewhat simpler. In it the phase of loading is absent, and the daily dose of reception of a preparation is invariable. At first, it may seem that this approach largely loses the first, but after a couple of weeks, both schemes are completely equal in their effectiveness.

How to calculate the necessary dose of creatine?

It is clear that for athletes, as well as for vegetarians, an additive such as creatine is needed. When to take it - not all that you need to know. Naturally, it is equally important to understand what is the correct daily dosage of this additive.

The standard portion at the time of loading is twenty grams per day. During the maintenance period, the daily dose decreases fourfold - up to five grams.

An individual approach to taking creatine involves determining the dose of the drug on the basis of dry (without fat) muscle mass of the body. You can use this scientific formula: 0.3 grams per kilogram during the loading period and 0.03 grams per kilogram during the maintenance period.

Thus, for a person weighing 90 kilograms, of which 10% fat, the amount of creatine is calculated as follows: 81 kilograms (dry weight) is multiplied by 0.3 or by 0.03. In this case, the daily dose of the drug during the loading period is 24.3, and during the maintenance period - 2.43 grams. At the same time, for correct calculations, it is very important to exclude fat from the total mass, since creatine concentrates in bone and muscle tissues, but not fat. Still it is necessary to consider that a large dose of creatine during loading is important during the day divided into four or five receptions of about 5 grams each.

Forms of a creatine supplement

As already mentioned, there are several forms in which a creatine supplement is produced: in capsules, in powder and in a liquid solution.

The most convenient for taking is creatine in capsules, because it is enough to simply drink the necessary amount of water. Creatine in powder can be stirred not only in water, but in any other drink. When using creatine with fast carbohydrates, it gives a more effective result, so it is best to dissolve the drug in grape or apple juice or in a glass of water with a spoon of honey.

What is the best creatine supplement?

In fact, in most world manufacturers of creatine, its quality is almost the same, so one of the decisive factors in choosing a particular drug is, of course, its price. Numerous studies have convincingly proved that the most effective of these supplements is still creatine monohydrate. And the list of the most worthy brands that produce quality creatine includes the following: Optimum Nutrition, Gaspari Nutrition, BSN, Ultimate Nutrition and Dymatize.

Can creatine cause harm?

This additive has a natural basis, and therefore there are no contraindications to its use. Also, since creatine is found in some foods, you can do without additives, if you consume, for example, not less than a kilogram of meat per day.

However, if it is wrong to calculate the daily dose of the drug and greatly exceed it, the side effect may be an excessive load on the liver and problems associated with digestion.