I wanna know how taking creatine helps in building muscle. I recently made the decision to add food supplements to my diet and I’m still debating whether I should take creatine.
I work out 2-3 times per week. I can’t add more frequency due to work schedule.
Comments
In short
More ATP. Means more fuel for muscle to push with. More force applied = more gains.
Also helps recover faster. Faster recovery means you can apply more force at the next workout.
Muscles need ATP (form of cellular energy) to function. Creatine is a molecule that can bind and hold onto ATP, giving your muscles a small ATP/energy reserve when working out.
We get small amounts of creatine from our diet (mainly meat) and we synthesize a bit of it, but supplementing a lot of creatine just maxes out this ATP reserve capacity and gives a ~10% strength boost for most people. It also has neurological and mood benefits that exist to some extent but aren’t understood as extensively. Creatine is one of the most studied supplements on the planet and is extremely safe.
Creatine it’s a fundamental supplement in the bodybuilding and fitness communities.
ATP energy is the main fuel source for high intensity exercise. Because creatine can increase phosphocreatine levels and therefore increase ATP energy production.