Hey Reader,

​

Creatine is getting a lot of attention

again due to some new research,

so let me give you a quick summary.

​

SAFETY

– Creatine has been around more

than 30 years and shown to be well

tolerated in probably hundreds of trials

by this point.

There's little reason to be concerned

about safety. It works well

for both men and women.

​

– It exists naturally in meats, but you'd

have to eat pounds of them every day

to get a performance-supporting dose.

​

EFFECT

– Creatine works by restocking your

muscles' ATP. ATP is the chemical

that gives muscles the energy to perform.

When you do anything physical, ATP gets

used and breaks down into ADP.

When you take creatine, the

creatine supplies a phosphate molecule

to make ADP into ATP again.

Essentially, it refuels

your muscles.

​

– Creatine is great for lifting and other

short-burst activity, but it won't do much

if you're into endurance/aerobic sports.

They use a different energy system to

supply ATP.

​

– Creatine can help you get a few more

reps on a set, and maintain your jump height

or your top sprinting speed. It also draws

water into muscle cells, which is good for

performance and also helps the muscles

look fuller (bigger). It can make you retain

water, however, which is why some people

notice a sudden weight gain after they

start taking it. (But it's NOT fat.)

​

TIMING AND DOSE

– Some research has found that

it's best to take creatine after workouts

(you can add it to your protein shake).

That may promote muscle gains and

body recomposition, but there aren't

a lot of studies on this and it probably

doesn't make too big a difference

when you take it.

​

See my post about the oft-overlooked

benefits of protein shakes.

----> CLICK HERE for The Argument

for Protein Shakes that NO ONE Makes

​

– Scientists used to think you needed

to "load" creatine by taking large doses

every day until your muscles were

saturated. This works but it isn't

necessary. A teaspoon worth is about

5g, and taking that daily will

charge up your muscles within a

few days.

​

If you're old like me, you may remember

how muscleheads used to say you had

to mix creatine with grape juice to

get it into your muscles. This may be

true for some people to get the greatest

effect but there is plenty of research

showing that it works fine on its own.

Again, the easiest thing is to add it

to a post-workout shake. Mix it with

protein and water, or juice or milk,

or drink it and eat a piece of

fruit at the same

time and you're covered.

​

CREATINE FOR

BRAIN HEALTH

– Research is mounting that creatine

is good for your thinking, too, with

the most recent trial coming out just

a few weeks ago.

​

What they mainly found was that

subjects had a slight improvement

in reaction time vs. a placebo group,

which actually saw a decline in

performance.

​

CREATINE TYPES

– Creatine is sold in a few different

forms. Creatine monohydrate is the one

with the most research behind it, so that's

the one you should buy. Creatine hydrochloride

(HCL) has also been shown to work—including

for cognition in this recent study—but it's

more expensive than monohydrate

and doesn't seem to offer any added advantage.

Creatine ethyl-ester is yet another version,

but it doesn't work as well as the two others.

​

LET'S BE REAL...

I believe in creatine and have used it

for years, but I would never try to argue

that it's a magic pill or akin to a wonder drug.

It helps with strength and muscle gain. A little.

And it seems to help you think a little faster.

There's also some research showing it can

help with blood lipids and injury prevention

by way of hydration, but that's still very

speculative.

​

If you can afford it and you want an extra

boost, go ahead and take it. But you can

make great gains without it.

Taking creatine won't suddenly make

you a chess master or the biggest dude

in the gym, and if you miss workouts,

it's not going to help you make up

the difference, so keep some perspective.

​

Hope that helps.

– Sean