Creatine 101

Everyone has heard about Creatine, but do you know what it is and how it works? Here's the 101 on Creatine.

I started taking creatine in July this year after doing some research into this well-known supplement. I began by taking one scoop (5g) daily and after a few weeks started to see significant changes in my body. 

I tracked my performance and metrics to offer up some reliable data. I am now a creatine evangelist. But first, let's review this supplement in some more detail.

“Creatine allows us to train harder, recover better in the weight room and improves the quality of life because it enhances strength and conditioning" as explained by Dr Eric Rawson (The Proof Podcast , 3)

 

What is Creatine?

Creatine is a nutrient made of the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine. Roughly 1g of creatine per day is (endogenously) produced by the body and the rest (exogenously) obtained from dietary sources (such as meat, poultry and potatoes) or supplements. However, creatine in food sources is often not enough to make an impact on performance, even more so for vegetarian or plant-based diets.

Around 95% of the creatine in our body is found in skeletal muscle, with smaller amounts in the brain, and for men, in the testes. 

There are a few variations of Creatine on the market. This article and the majority of research is referring to Creatine Monohydrate.

How does Creatine Work?

There are generally two ways your body gets the energy to move: Aerobic and Anaerobic.

Aerobic - with oxygen, This would be the type of exercise that is easy to maintain and endure, such as walking and jogging. Movements that you can repeatedly perform for periods of time without much fatigue.

Anaerobic - Oxygen is not enough. You need other energy systems to assist. This includes short bursts of intense work. Such as Sprinting, HIIT, Lifting heavy weights.

Creatine helps with the Anaerobic work especially in the phosphagen system (although some research suggests that there may be case to argue for other systems too).

The phosphagen system is an anaerobic energy system (also called the CrP-ATP system) is the quickest way to resynthesize ATP. Creatine phosphate (CrP), which is stored in skeletal muscles, donates a phosphate to ADP to produce ATP. During rest the ATP will help to restore CrP.

AdenosineTRIphosphate. AdenosineTRIphosphate.(ATP) is a molecule in your body used to create energy. The "tri" is because the molecule has 3 phosphates. 

The body harvests energy to fuel anaerobic activity, by breaking ATP up and using one of the phosphates. The leftover product is AdenosineDIphosphate. DI meaning 2. It had three phosphates, you used one, two are left (ADP).

Creatine is a substance that carries loose phosphates. These phosphates can be pushed into ADP turning it back into ATP, which can be used for more energy. Like extra battery boost packs within your muscle. This usually occurs in the rest periods between your sets. 

Thus, with the presence of creatine stored in your muscle, there are ample phosphates at the site to restore the ADP to ATP for use. Thus, assisting you to train harder, recover better and give more power to your sets. when you're working harder, you are able to recruit more muscle fibre, maximise on contractions and get gains. 

20% of individuals are not creatine responders, meaning that it will simply not make any difference to their body at all. Creatine is not intended for use under the age of 18.

How to take Creatine

There is a maximum amount of creatine your body can hold for your respective body weight. The recommended maintenance dose of creatine to keep that level full is 5 grams per day. However, it does not work immediately. There needs to be a loading or saturation phase:

5- 7 days: The quicker result strategy. Take one scoop (5g) 4 times daily. Ensuring to separate the doses by 4 hour increments. After 5 days continue with maintenance dose of 5g daily.

30 days: The long term strat. Take 5g daily. Saturation usually occurs with in 28 - 30 days where you’ll start to see and feel results. Continue with maintenance dose of 5g daily.

Myths of Creatine

One of the primary reasons I have never taken creatine in the past was the fear of water weight. Which was a dumb reason and is largely unfounded especially in women. Men are more likely to experience this than women. Read source 2 for more information. Personally, I did feel a little bloated and heavy but that quickly subsided. Further to this, if you were to put on any water weight, it would be minimal and the benefits would easily outweigh this. 

If weight gain is experienced it is often due to increased muscle mass rather than water weight.

Creatine can cause renal failure or kidney damage. This is also unfounded as there has been no evidence to suggest that this is true (4). 

Personal Case Study

I started taking creatine in June/ July and started to  reach saturation in August. I need to preface by saying that somewhere around this time I also made changes to my nutrition by omitting refined sugars and wheat products. However, I felt that the creatine supplementing was making a significant change to my body independently of this.

Increased anabolism > less catabolism 

Being a vegetarian and woman often made me feel that I was attempting to build muscle only to break it down a week later. After taking creatine regularly, the thought that popped into my mind was that a switch had flipped in my body and it was to more muscle growth and less muscle breakdown. 

 

 

 

My data reveals that this has been the case. My muscle mass has been increasing. This in part can be attributed to cell volumization but also that creatine supplementation enables more power, increased intensity in my working exercise sets resulting in muscle building. 

I had been struggling with my barbell back Squats. After taking creatine it was the first time I broke the ceiling and was able to load more for increased reps.

 

Increased Weight (Mass)

Initially I thought that my weight was a result of increased water-weight as Creatine monohydrate likes to bind with water. Perhaps this may have been true to some extent in the loading phase. But, my weight stayed at this point and my muscle mass increased. Which to me, indicated that weight increased was due to overall muscle mass increase.

 

 

Decrease in Body Fat mass

My overall body fat lowered, without my muscle decreasing. This should not be the reason you use a supplement. I do not believe it is by any means a weight-loss strategy. But rather another indication of the alterations in energy systems and recovery systems in my body after supplementing.

I have felt so empowered, that it has given me confidence to make better decisions for my body daily. Which is sowing seeds for even greater long term health and performance to flourish.

 

Client Case Study

My client agreed to start supplementing with creatine after I had seen positive results. She has experienced the same results - without changing her nutrition or exercise regimen. Here are her results:

 

Trial Creatine for 3 months and decide if it is a supplement for you.

Sources:

1. Kreider et al. (2017) “International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine”. J Int Soc Sports Nutr; 14: 18. [accessed November 2022 via: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5469049/] 

2. Smith-Ryal et al. (2021) “Creatine Supplementation in Women’s Health: A Lifespan Perspective” Nutrients; 13:3. [Accessed November 2022 via :https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/3/877/htm]

3. “Creatine For Brain Health & Physical Performance” Dr Eric Rawson, The Proof, Simon Hill (Ep 212) https://theproof.com/creatine-for-brain-health-physical-performance-with-dr-eric-rawson/

4. Pline & Smith (2005) “The effect of creatine intake on renal function”. Ann Pharmacother; 39(6):1093-6. [accessed November 2022 via: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15886291/]  

5. https://www.myfooddiary.com/resources/ask_the_expert/aerobic_vs_anaerobic.asp

6. Discussion thread: ELI5  https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6h7bj4/eli5_creatine_what_it_is_what_it_does_the/

Additional Reading

1. Cooper et al. (2012) “Creatine supplementation with specific view to exercise/sports performance: an update”. J Int Soc Sports Nutr; 9: 33. [accessed November 2022 via: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407788/] 

2. Anita Bean (2017). Sports Nutrition, 8th Edition. Bloomsbury Sport, London.

3. Burke et al. (2008) “Effect of creatine supplementation and resistance-exercise training on muscle insulin-like growth factor in young adults”. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab; 18(4):389-98. [accessed November 2022 via: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18708688/]

4. EFSA (2016) “Creatine in combination with resistance training and improvement in muscle strength: evaluation of a health claim pursuant to Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006”. [accessed November 2022 via: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/4400]