The best creatine: description, producers and rating. Which is better: creatine or protein

To date, creatine is the second most popular after the whey protein among athletes and all who lead an active lifestyle. And this means that this product does its work on building muscle mass. Different creatine manufacturers in their commercials claim that their product is the best in the world market. Let's take a closer look at each manufacturer and type of products, discuss them and choose the best brand and type that is suitable for improving your muscles. After all, we are worthy of using only the best creatine!

General Product Description

Creatine in small amounts is synthesized in the human body. Plus, a lot of it is contained in red meat, especially beef. This is quite enough for the normal functioning of the body. Nevertheless, a person who is actively involved in sports and plans to increase his muscle mass, this is not enough. It's clear, in this case it is necessary to receive additional creatine. And the optimal solution will be the use of powdered creatine.

The action of creatine

By itself, creatine is a carrier of phosphate groups in muscles, thereby providing them with additional energy. Accordingly, it is able to rapidly increase muscle energy and make the muscles stronger and more enduring. In addition, creatine retains water in the muscles, which greatly accelerates their metabolism and recovery. Accordingly, the muscles grow faster, but due to the fluid they look more relief and full.

The best creatine for lean muscle mass

It is quite difficult to answer this question unambiguously, since each type of creatine has advantages and disadvantages, which makes the choice of the best impossible for all parameters of the representative. Here, the main role is played by such parameters as the purity of the product, its chemical formula and form of release, as well as the rate of assimilation. An important factor is also the cost of creatine, especially in the current conditions. And, of course, the quality of the product. Accordingly, its effectiveness depends on the manufacturer.

The best producers of creatine

To date, the best creatine is produced by such eminent manufacturers as Weider, Ultimate Nutrition, Scifit, Dymatize, Universal Nutrition, Optimum Nutrition, Gaspari Nutrition and many others. These manufacturers can be completely trusted, since they have long established themselves in the world market of sports nutrition, and therefore value their reputation and do not allow the poor quality of the product. Often the question is, what is the best company - the creatine producer? Each has certain nuances in production, so it's impossible to decide exactly which is better. Below is an approximate list of these nuances, and you yourself can choose for yourself the best creatine. The rating will also be given in the second half of the article.

Existing forms of creatine

To date, quite a lot of forms of creatine production are known. In physical terms, it can be divided into powder and capsules. Differences between themselves in the chemical nature they do not have, but each of these forms can identify the pros and cons.

Powdered creatine is cheaper, at the same time it is not inferior in quality to analogs.

Creatine in capsules is more convenient, because it allows you to more accurately calculate the dose, it does not need to be dissolved in water. The main disadvantage of this form is its rather high cost.

According to the chemical formula, the following basic types of this compound are distinguished:

• Creatine monohydrate is the most common and cheapest form.
• Creatine malate.
• Creatine Tartrate.
• Creatine succinate.
• Mixed - contains all the above.

Decide what will be the best creatine among the provided, best of all by yourself, based on the advantages and disadvantages provided by different chemical and physical forms. In fact, usually the main criterion in this choice are personal preferences and, of course, price.

Creatine Rating

As already mentioned above, choosing the best creatine for weight gain is difficult. Nevertheless, there are popularity ratings that are worth believing. This, of course, will help you select the best creatine for yourself. Rating usually make up the number of purchases of a product. The most popular in the world bodybuilding community are the ratings of the American site Bodybuilding.com. That is why the article provides a rating of the top 10 creatines according to the version of this resource as of October 2016:

1. Platinum 100% Creatine by MuscleTech
2. Micronized Creatine Powder by Optimum Nutrition
3. Muscle C-HCl Patented Creatine HCL from Kaged
4. Sports CON-CRET from ProMera
5. Sports Best Creatine from BPI
6. Creactor by MuscleTech
7. Creatine + by EVLUTION NUTRITION
8. Micronized Creatine by Bodybuilding.com Foundation Series
9. Creatine Monohydrate by RSP Nutrition
10. CELL-TECH by MuscleTech

How to use creatine?

Professional athletes usually use two basic schemes of taking creatine - with or without preloading. To consume, creatine is mixed in sweetened water or juice, and there must be a lot of liquid, and it must necessarily be sweet, since insulin, which is released in large quantities precisely in response to sweet intake, plays an important role in carrying creatine to the muscles.

If you decide to load, the first you should eat 20 g of product per day, dividing by 4 daily portions. After a week, use 2-3 grams per day. Use creatine for a month, and then give muscle receptors a rest for 3-4 weeks so that they can rest.

Without loading, consume 5 grams of creatine daily. On the day of training, drink it immediately after it. On a day off from school, drink it in the morning, as soon as you wake up. In this case, the course is approximately 2 months. Then it's worth giving the body a break for 3-4 weeks.

Possible contraindications

There are no side effects in creatine, but there are some diseases in which the use of this product is undesirable. So, in asthmatics, this substance can cause allergic reactions, so people who have this disease, should not use it. Similarly, it is not necessary to consume creatine to minors, as well as individuals who have any serious diseases of the liver and kidneys. Very rarely, creatine can cause diarrhea, but it quickly passes with time and does not return. It is also undesirable to use creatine for pregnant women and during breastfeeding, as its effect on the fetus is unknown to date. Do not forget that during the intake of creatine is not recommended to drink alcohol and caffeine, because they dehydrate the body and do not allow it to work normally.

Creatine and protein - a comparative characteristic

Asking the question, which is better - creatine or protein, is like asking who is stronger - Batman or Terminator, because these products have completely different nature and are necessary for achieving different goals. That's why choosing the type of sports nutrition is necessary solely for your purposes. If you want to gain a dry muscle mass, it is advisable to consume protein and creatine together. Professional bodybuilders usually do not consume protein during drying because it contains a certain amount of carbohydrates that can affect the competitive shape in the future. Therefore, at the drying stage it is recommended to use only creatine, and replace the protein with amino acids. Also at the drying stage, it is possible to use a high quality hydrolyzate if the protein in your diet is not enough. Such protein does not contain carbohydrates and is absorbed quickly enough. Its only disadvantage is a rather high cost.