This week I will be talking about the benefits of taking creatine supplements for muscle growth. 

Creatine is a supplement that is recommended to be taken slightly before or after a workout. It is a supplement that promotes the production of ATP through increasing your muscles’ phosphocreatine stores. During exercising your body is breaking down ATP. ATP is your body’s energy current, it is the molecule that your cells feed off of for energy and all basic functions to live. ATP does not resynthesize at the same speed that your body uses it; so in order to perform at maximum intensity your body uses the extra creatine to help produce more ATP. This fuels your muscles and prepares them better for high intensity training. So overall, using creatine allows for the potential of increasing muscle growth and strength as you have more energy for more explosive resistance training. 

Not only does creatine then give you more energy for better workouts but is also said that increases muscle mass. This is done through increasing the formation of protein that helps rebuild muscle fibers to make them stronger. Creatine also adds water retention in the muscles to make them appear larger more quickly. This also means you will gain weight. Drinking lots of water while taking creatine is very important. Without water taking excessive amounts of creatine can cause muscle cramping which can be very painful. 

Creatine is something our body produces naturally, it can be found in foods such as salmon, beef and pork. Since it is produced naturally it is not categorized as a steroid!

 

Info taken from https://examine.com/supplements/creatine/