When someone has fitness goals, there are many important steps to take in order to maximize their efforts and help their process. Diet is the most important part of the plan and should be emphasized over anything else. Beyond diet, people should focus on an exercise regimen that is best suited for their individual fitness goals. Everyone's goals are not the same therefore there is no one right way to do this! Weight training or resistance training is a great way to build lean muscle mass, to burn calories, and to burn actual body fat.
One important step to take if you want to optimize your workouts and the results is to add supplements into your routine. There are many supplements available that can improve your health and increase your energy. Some supplements are intended to be taken pre-workout, while others are taken as part of a regular diet to naturally increase the amount of them you have in your body. Others are taken post workout to boost each workout's effect and improve the recovery process.
One performance boosting supplement that anyone serious about getting fit should consider is Creatine. This supplement is known to boost energy, improve mental function, enhance workouts, and be a generally smart choice for anyone that wants to workout harder and see better results.
If you are curious about Creatine, read the following guide. It will help you understand what Creatine is, how it works in the body, where you can find it, and how to choose the best creatine supplement for you.
What is Creatine?
Before you decide that you want to take a creatine supplement, it's important for you to understand what it is and what it can do to and for your body.
Creatine is an amino acid that is stored in your body's skeletal muscles and brain. There are many sources of Creatine in a regular human diet. For example, you can ingest creatine via seafood or red meat. Additionally, your body naturally creates creatine for itself, and creatine production happens in the liver, pancreas, and kidneys.
What Does Creatine Do?
When your body encounters creatine, it turns it into phosphocreatine. This specific substance is what is stored in your muscles, and it is used to power your body and supply your muscle cells with energy.
Creatine creates energy by using the phosphocreatine in your muscles to produce a molecule called ATP. ATP is often considered to be the body's energy currency, which means that supplementing with creatine will ensure that your muscles have optimal cellular energy.
Creatine has other uses in the human body. Creatine supplements have been used for a range of conditions, including brain disorders, congestive heart failure, and wrinkling or sagging skin. However, you're hear to learn how it can help you make gains!
What are the Benefits of Taking Creatine?
As mentioned above, if you supplement your body's natural creatine levels with a creatine supplement, then you can expect to experience a significant boost in cellular energy. You can also experience a slew of other benefits that will relate both to your fitness journey and to your overall health and vitality. Here are the best creatine supplemenet benefits.
- Less protein breakdown: Experts believe that supplementing creatine levels will reduce the amount of protein breakdown that happens in your body every day. This can lead to increased muscle mass and help muscles grow.
- Increased amount of work possible: When you supplement the level of creatine in your body, you can do more physical work. Creatine naturally increases the size of the work load your body can handle. So, you'll be able to do more when you work out, and you'll experience the benefits of longer, harder workouts.
- Increased level of anabolic hormones in your body: Creatine supplementation has been shown to increase the level of anabolic hormones in your body.
- Better, More Powerful Energy Bursts: If you are an athlete who needs short, intense bursts of energy, then you should try Creatine. The substance has been shown to help athletes from weight lifters to sprinters.
- Reversed skin aging: Studies have shown that creatine may have some health benefits for people's skin. If you are a man who experiences wrinkling, sagging or other signs of aging in your skin, then applying a topical creatine supplement can help firm up your skin, reverse sun damage, reduce wrinkles, and more. Probably not why you're interested in it but cool fact!
- Improved recovery and less fatigue: Creatine works on lactic acid as a buffer. This means that you can experience delayed muscle fatigue so you can workout harder. You can also experience less muscle soreness in the days following your workout.
Who is a Good Candidate for Taking a Creatine Supplement?
If you're serious about working out but you're not sure about supplements, you may be wondering if a creatine supplement is right for you. Creatine supplements can benefit many people, from serious competitive athletes to amateur body builders to your everyday person looking to get in shape. Here are some of the people who may be able to benefit from all of the positive effects that creatine can have.
- Bodybuilders: If you are trying to increase your muscle mass, creatine can help. It improves the size and shape of muscles and allows you to lift for longer.
- Regular fitness buffs: If you like to work out regularly, consider incorporating a creatine supplement into your daily routine. You can experience the benefits of having increased muscular energy and less fatigue.
- People trying to lose weight: if you're trying to change the size, shape, or composition of your body, creatine may be right for you. It may help you burn more calories when you work out and having more muscle mass can boost your metabolism, which means your body will naturally burn more calories on its own.
- Athletes training for competitions: are you a competitive athlete who is in training to compete? Creatine supplementation can help ensure that you get the most from your practices and perform at your peak during the same.
- Vegans and Vegetarians, or people with a seafood allergy: Creatine comes from foods like red meat, pork, fish and seafood. It can also be found in many dairy products. If you do not have these things in your diet, it's possible that your body is lacking in creatine. You can take a creatine supplement to make sure that your body has the amino acid that you need to effectively increase muscle mass (no ladies it's not going to 'bulk' you up... that's a myth). Even if you do consume meat or dairy, you still may be able to benefit from a creatine supplement since it's difficult to get sufficient creatine levels from what you eat.
How You Can Supplement Creatine
Creatine is naturally produced in your body. You can also get it in the food you eat. However, you can supplement your creatine levels to get the maximum athletic and energy benefits.
In order to supplement creatine levels, you can take a supplement that purely contains creatine. Experts recommend starting with a small dose, which will ultimately build up in your muscles to take effect. If you've taken creatine before, you may want to consider starting with a larger dose. You can load up on creatine for several days to ensure that the cells in your muscles are sufficiently saturated and then reduce to a smaller maintenance dosage. This process ensures that you get to experience the benefits of creatine right away.
As always, you should consult your doctor before you decide to take any nutritional supplement. Make sure that creatine is safe for your body to handle, and also that it won't interfere with any medications you're currently taking. You can also discuss your health and fitness goals with your doctor to see if there are any other important steps you should be taking in order to reach what you're hoping to accomplish.
Choosing the Best Creatine Supplement for You
Now that you understand what creatine is and how it works in your body, you may be ready to experience all of its benefits. If so, you should consider adding a creatine supplement into your routine like this one.
Looking for the best creatine supplement can be tough. After all, many companies have discovered the fitness benefits of it, and they have created products that can help people orally supplement their creatine levels. However, you can take a few steps to understand what creatine supplements are available and which are best for you. Some things to consider are their form, flavor, combination, and more. It will help to keep the following considerations in mind you can follow if you are ready to start the process of figuring out what creatine supplement is best for you.
Consider the Type of Creatine You Want to Ingest
There are multiple types of Creatine that exist: creatine monohydrate, creatine ethyl ester, creatine anhydrous, creatine citrate, creatine phosphate, and more. Consider what type of creatine you want your supplement to contain before you choose the one that's right for you. The most recommended form of creatine for fitness enthusiasts is creatine monohydrate. It has thousands of studies and has stood the test of time. It is also considered safe and effective.
Pick a flavor that appeals
You have a to ingest a creatine supplement orally. One of the best choices for any person who wants to take Creatine but is picky about flavor and taste is to buy an unflavored creatine product. Creatine XS is unflavored and it can be bought individually or in a daily essentials stack. It has zero taste and can be added to your favorite beverage or water.
Creatine Supplement FAQs
You may have questions about choosing the right creatine supplement or whether you should take creatine at all. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions so you can decide how to best enhance your workout routine and fitness levels.
What should I add my Creatine powder into?
For flavorless creatine powder, consider mixing creatine into juice. Because juice is sugary it quickly elevates insulin levels, which helps improve the uptake of creatine into your muscles.
What foods can I eat to boost my creatine level alongside a supplement?
Some great natural sources of creatine include tuna, red meat, pork, salmon, cranberries, or milk.
Is a creatine supplement safe?
Yes. Creatine is one of the muscle building supplements that has been studied extensively. No studies have shown that it is unsafe even studies having test subjects take upwards of 20G per day. No other supplement has been studied as much as creatine monohydrate.
Is there anyone who should specifically avoid trying a creatine supplement?
A creatine supplement is generally safe for most people and a good bet for anyone hoping to improve the look and feel of their body. However, there are a few types of people who should be especially careful about what supplements they ingest and avoid supplementing creatine. These people include those who have kidney disease, those who have liver disease, people with diabetes, and people who are pregnant. Other people who may want to avoid creatine are those with blood sugar issues, mothers who are nursing, and anyone who is taking medicine (or other supplements) that also affect your blood sugar.
How can I optimize my creatine supplementation?
Taking creatine isn't going to make you fit and strong. You must pair your creatine supplement with hard workouts, heavy lifting, a healthy diet, and a dedication to improving your health.
The Best Creatine Supplement Can Improve Your Workouts and Change Your Life
If you want to be the healthiest and fittest version of yourself that you can be, consider adding supplements into your routine. Pre workout supplements like Creatine can improve the amount of effort you're able to put into your exercise, and it can increase the effects that each workout has. By taking creatine, you can burn more fat while increasing muscle mass, and you can enjoy the experience of having a lean, healthy body that you worked for.
If you're interested in more pre-workout supplements, check out the selection available from Ronnie Coleman. You can also look into supplements to take after your workout, if you're looking to burn fat, or if you're looking to gain muscle, and decide which combination of supplements is right for you and your goals.