What is creatine monohydrate and how to take it

Considering sports nutrition, which has a positive effect on the performance of an athlete, one cannot fail to mention creatine monohydrate. This supplement increases endurance, improves heart muscle performance and even increases mass.

Consider how effective creatine actually is, what its features are, and whether there are negative aspects to this supplement.

General information

Creatine is an amino acid found in red meat and fish. At one time, he made a breakthrough in the field of sports nutrition - expanded the ability of straight bodybuilders to gain lean muscle mass. Today, it is widely used in all strength sports.

What is creatine monohydrate made from? It is made by extracting protein from fish. Extraction increases the bioavailability of the product by an order of magnitude. Compared with other forms, monohydrate has an optimal balance between price, product consumption and availability.

Effect on the body

What is CrossFit creatine monohydrate for an athlete:

1. Reduces injuries. It does this by increasing body fluids.
2. Increases strength endurance. Increases the sensitivity of muscles to oxygen, which allows the foreman
3. Increases muscle mass by pouring water and increasing the volume of work in training.
4. Increases glycogen levels.
5. Improves the body's ability for anaerobic glycolysis.
6. Improves pumping. By increasing the force of the heart contractions during intense work, the heart pumps blood into the muscles faster.

The action of creatine monohydrate is to maximize the saturation of the muscles with the essential amino acid. With strong saturation, the following processes occur in the body:

1. Binding of water molecules in muscle tissue.
2. Improving the contractility of the heart muscle. When a sufficient amount of the amino acid accumulates in the muscles, it dilates the vessels leading to the heart valve. As a result, the saturation of the heart with blood increases, the strength of contractions increases without increasing the heart rate. Cells and tissues receive oxygen in fewer strokes.
3. Improving strength endurance by increasing the amount of oxygen in the muscles.

All this leads to an improvement in the athlete's performance. But it is not creatine itself that increases muscle mass, but the ability of an athlete to make a sharp jump in the progression of loads without getting overtrained.

Important: Unlike other nutrients, creatine is advisable to use exclusively in the form of a sports supplement, since the concentration of the substance in natural food is very low. For example, red fish contains only 0.1 g of creatine per 100 g of product. And for the normal maintenance of performance, the athlete's body needs about 10 g per day.

What does creatine monohydrate give the modern athlete? On average, this is an increase in dry mass by 1-2%, an increase in weight due to liquid by 5-7% and an increase in strength indicators by 10%. Is there a rollback effect? Yes! In the case of a decrease in the concentration of creatine, the rollback reaches 40-60% of the peak performance.

How to use

To reap the benefits of your supplement, you need to know how to take creatine monohydrate for best performance.

There are two reception methods:

1. Loading and maintaining. Provides faster results.
2. With a gradual build-up of concentration. Provides the same result with less raw material consumption.

Is it better to drink Creatine Monohydrate: Loaded or Smoothly? It all depends on what result you are aiming for. When consumed with a load, it is important to observe the correct diet and divide the intake of creatine several times a day (the daily dose when loading is 20 g, it must be divided into 3-4 doses for better absorption). After 7-10 days of loading, there is a maintenance phase, when the amount of creatine consumed is reduced to 3-5 g per day. In the case of a uniform course, take in an amount of 1 teaspoon (3-5 g) per day throughout the course.

Note: There is actually little difference in efficiency. Therefore, the editors recommend sticking to the no-load technique - this way you can better control your strength indicators.

When is the best time to take creatine monohydrate: morning or evening? As a rule, it is taken regardless of the daily routine. The only important point is taking creatine with the first serving of carbs. It is logical to assume that the best time to eat will be morning breakfast and the time of closing the carbohydrate window.

Regardless of whether you drink it in a course or gradually increase concentration, you need to understand how much creatine monohydrate to drink. On average, 1 course is approximately 8 weeks. After that, the body's susceptibility to monohydrate crystals decreases, which leads to a senseless consumption of sports nutrition.

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Let's take a closer look at how to take creatine with and without a load:

Which manufacturer to choose

Unlike other forms of creatine, it is important to select the correct manufacturer when choosing a monohydrate. Why?

1. Manufacturer's pricing policy. With the same characteristics of sports nutrition, the price can be completely different only because of the brand.
2. Expiration date and delivery. In the case of purchasing BSN creatine, this does not arise, but if you want to take creatine from Ostrovit, remember that the shelf life of their raw materials is much lower. For this reason, you should not take large amounts of creatine.
3. The presence of a transport system. To reduce the cost of a manufacturer's product, a transport system (glucose molecules) is often added to it. Such creatine is more bioavailable, but less effective due to the concentration of crystals in relation to the total weight of the product.
4. Crystal purity. Recently, more and more manufacturers have entered the market who cannot provide sufficient crystal cleaning. The bioavailability of their product is significantly lower, which increases consumption and reduces the effectiveness of taking the monohydrate.
5. Solubility. This parameter can only be verified empirically. Despite the claims of all manufacturers that their creatine is ideally soluble in water, practice shows that some of the creatine remains in the form of sediment.

Consider the best manufacturers that offer creatine on the market - and complexes containing it.

Outcome

Now you know how creatine monohydrate works and how to take it correctly for optimal performance. Of course, you can take creatine with a ready-made transport system and improve performance, or take more advanced forms that do not flood the athlete with water. But remember, the side effect of being flooded with liquid is not only extra pounds, but also shock-absorbing fluid on the joints and ligaments, which protects you from injury.

The best results are given by creatine monohydrate in combination with cheap maltose gainers. The carbohydrates in these foods increase the rate of absorption of the product and accelerate the growth of muscle mass.

Watch the video: STEROIDS vs. CREATINE: For Fast Muscle Gains (November 2024).