Inferior creatine will increase the burden on the kidneys
As a sports nutritionist, I have the opportunity to go to various places for training, and I am often asked about creatine. In fitness and bodybuilding, the question that everyone is most concerned about is whether creatine has side effects on our body and whether it will damage our kidneys. You will even hear some bodybuilding coaches saying that seniors are using some health products to reduce the damage of creatine to the kidneys.
In fact, some people take creatine to increase the burden on the kidneys and cause damage. But that is not the effect of creatine itself, but the impurities dicyandiamide and dihydrotriazine present in inferior creatine. Among them, dicyandiamide will increase the burden of water excretion on the kidneys; while dihydrotriazine has the effect of dilating blood vessels. If we use creatine with impurities for a long time, it will be very detrimental to our health.
"High-purity" creatine will not be harmful to the body. At present, there is scientific proof that creatine has only one side effect on the human body, and that is rapid weight gain. This is due to the hydration of creatine. For people who just want to increase muscle strength without gaining weight, using creatine may not be a wise choice.
So: Creatine is useful, but you must choose one with guaranteed quality.
How to use creatine
Key points for using creatine: Creatine in the human body is mainly synthesized in the liver and kidneys, and is transported to the muscles through blood circulation to synthesize creatine phosphate to store energy. The role of creatine supplementation has been recognized by the majority of bodybuilding enthusiasts and athletes. Oral administration of creatine can increase the storage of creatine phosphate in muscles by 20%. Creatine supplementation can quickly increase energy, increase muscle explosiveness and endurance, and improve physical fitness and athletic performance. Proper use of creatine can also indirectly increase muscle massThe volume of meat, because with more energy, athletes can perform higher-intensity training, promoting muscle growth through the cycle of "muscles produce force, and force produces muscles". At the same time, when muscle cells absorb creatine, they also bring more water (hydration) to the cells, which increases the cell volume, increases the rate of muscle protein synthesis, and promotes muscle growth. Although many bodybuilders and athletes take creatine, there is still much to unravel about the scientific use of creatine.
1. The dose and time must be reasonably controlled. Excessive consumption of creatine is uneconomical and can increase body water weight, muscle cramps, and metabolic burden. The best solution is: take it at 0.3 g/kg body weight every day for the first 5-6 years, about 5 g each time, and then maintain it at a dose of 0.03 g/kg body weight every day. The dosage is generally between meals, 30-60 minutes before training or competition, and after exercise. This can give full play to the role of creatine: taking it before exercise can quickly replenish energy, and taking it after exercise is to take advantage of the time when muscle cells have strong absorption capacity of creatine for quick replenishment.
2. It must be coordinated with training content such as strength or speed. It cannot be taken throughout the training period, nor should it be overtrained to prevent muscle and ligament strain. At the same time, protein and other nutrients should be supplemented to provide sufficient raw materials for muscle growth, otherwise there will be no ideal weight gain.
3. During the period of taking creatine, you should add enough water to ensure the progress of cell hydration and prevent the side effects of muscle tightness, stiffness or spasm. But do not use hot water; drink creatine ten times to prevent the structure of creatine hydrate from changing. It cannot be taken together with orange juice or caffeinated drinks, because the acidic substances contained in the former will denature the creatine hydrate into salty waste. Caffeine has a dehydrating effect and will affect the hydration of muscle cells.
4. Creatine should be taken together with grape juice or other sugary drinks (except fructose), because the increase in insulin concentration caused by sugar can accelerate the absorption of creatine by muscle cells. Studies have shown that taking creatine and sugar together can increase the reserve of creatine phosphate in muscles by 60%.
5. High-purity creatine monohydrate is an ideal supplement. Studies show that oral administration of creatine phosphate and creatine citrate is ineffective in replenishing creatine phosphate in muscles.
6. Creatine powder is easier to be absorbed and utilized by the body than capsules and tablets.
7. Since taking creatine will cause weight gain, athletes who need to control or lose weight should use it with caution. Currently, most creatine products on the domestic market come from abroad, but 99.9% of high-quality creatine monohydrate is sold domestically, and the price is much cheaper than foreign products. Athletes and bodybuilding enthusiasts who want to improve performance and increase muscle mass should correctly understand the characteristics and functions of creatine in order to make full and effective use of it. I recommend the poster to read this article. I personally feel that the explanation of creatine is more detailed~ In reality, many people are taking creatine, but most of them know little about creatine and have only heard about its effects. I hope that after reading this article you will have a comprehensive understanding of creatine and help you uncover the doubts in your mind.
Many gold medal winners in the 1996 Summer Olympics took creatine. Why? The reason is simple. It helped a lot to improve their athletic ability. In 1832, a French scientist first discovered creatine, but it was not until 1923 that scientists discovered that more than 95% of creatine is stored in muscle tissue. The first article reporting the effects of creatine on bodybuilding training was in 1926. Although we've known about creatine's existence for many years, it was only at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain that the world was made aware of its extraordinary effects.
Scientific research shows that creatine is the most basic supplement for bodybuilders. On the one hand, creatine can significantly increase muscle circumference in a short period of time; on the other hand, creatine can provide a strong guarantee for high-intensity training, improve exercise levels, and accelerate recovery. Creatine can also prolong the retention time of energy produced by protein synthesis in muscles, and at the same time, it can also reduce the breakdown of protein in the body. This is because creatine can store a large amount of water in muscle tissue, which can promote intramuscular growth. Creatine has been proven in many scientific studies to improve energy levels, strength levels, endurance and recovery time.
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Creatine use Q&A
Question: Is creatine a steroid? Answer: Once you understand the concept of what a steroid is, you will be able to distinguish creatine from steroids. Simply put, steroids are synthetic androgenic hormones, and creatine, as you will learn below, is not a steroid. Q: What is creatine and how is it produced? A: First of all, let me tell you that creatine can be produced naturally in our bodies. Crude acid, glycine, and methionine can produce creatine through our liver, pancreas, and kidneys. . When creatine reaches muscle tissue, it is converted into creatine phosphate, a high-energy metabolite that is used as the energy source for muscle movement, ATP (adenosine triphosphate). usAlso know that more than 95% of creatine is stored in muscle tissue, with the remainder stored in the brain, heart, and other parts of the body. Unlike steroids and other drugs, creatine is found in many foods (salmon, tuna, beef, etc.), so international sports organizations have never included creatine in banned substances.
Question: What exactly does creatine do? The main function of creatine is to increase the creatine phosphate system in the body to provide energy for muscle movement. This is a difficult concept to understand. First, I must emphasize that muscle fibers store ATP (adenosine triphosphate). The energy generated by ATP is only enough to cause muscle contraction for three seconds, and even very high-level bodybuilders can extend it to 5-6 seconds. So what does it mean for the body to store so little energy? Of course it does. This is the source of our body's explosive power. Sprinters will deeply understand why explosive power is so important. In current real-life training, three seconds is simply not enough! Therefore, our bodies must find a way to continuously generate energy to complete long-term muscle contraction. Phosphagen: In order to continuously replenish ATP, muscle cells contain a high-energy phosphate compound called creatine phosphate. More specifically, the compound contains phosphate. Enzymes released by your muscle cells cause the phosphate to break away from the creatine phosphate molecule, which is then converted into ADP and finally reformed into the high-energy molecule ATP. Simply put, when your body uses ATP, it separates the phosphates to create the energy needed for movement, and what's left is called ADP. Our muscle fibers contain a lot of creatine phosphate to produce the ATP needed for exercise. Your muscle cells release enzymes to separate creatine from phosphate, which releases energy. The phosphate molecule then combines with ADP to create ATP. Phosphagen can provide 10-20 seconds of energy so bodybuilders can continue training at high intensity.
Question: How are muscles used in exercise? Answer: Very simply, muscles can strengthen your muscle phosphate system, which can be used to accomplish many things. Can enhance your explosive power. The vast majority of athletes experience strong explosive power after taking creatine; it allows you to withstand greater intensity training and extend training time. It not only gives you greater endurance, but also allows your body to withstand heavy weight stimulation, so that your muscles will become bigger and bigger. (Note: Interestingly, muscle has also been found to buffer the formation of lactic acid in some studies.)
Q: Does creatine have side effects? Is it safe? A: As mentioned earlier, muscle is not a hormone. Therefore, it does not have any side effects and is not an illegal steroid. There are many studies showing that creatine is a safe supplement. According to statistics, Americans consumed 500,000 kilograms of creatine in 1999! This statistic alone shows that muscle is a safe and effective supplement. Not only that, but Muscle is the best-selling supplement of the decadeagent, it has never been reported. Who can take creatine? First, anyone who wants to build muscle and improve endurance should give creatine a try; second, anyone who wants to improve muscle mass, recover quickly, and get rid of excess body fat. People should also give creatine a try; finally, anyone who engages in high-intensity physical activity should give creatine a try.
Question: I am a woman and I want to take creatine, but I don’t want to have muscles like men. Answer: If this is the case, I suggest you just not eat like a big man. Creatine will help improve the quality of your training, but only calories will make your muscles develop! Creatine is a good helper for building muscle, but the only way to build muscle is to increase caloric intake. However, creatine will cause your body to store a lot of water, which will make you look bloated. If you don't want to see such an effect, it is recommended that you don't take creatine.
Question: I don’t do exercise. Do you think creatine can help me build muscle and help lose weight? Answer: Of course not. If you don't exercise, I don't know what kind of supplement will work for you! Creatine can provide more energy to the muscles in a short period of time, but if you don't use the energy, it is really a waste. Big waste. If you take creatine, you should make your training intensity higher to give full play to its effects, so as to achieve the effect of building muscle.
Q: Creatine can indirectly increase weight, so can I continue to take it during fat loss? A: Creatine can allow your body to store a lot of water, which is a good thing! But in fact, even when losing weight, During fat loss, your body will still have a lot of water. I don't think there is a necessary connection between taking creatine and body fat. If it helps you, it's that creatine can help you retain more muscle during fat loss. In my opinion, there is absolutely no need to stop taking creatine during fat loss. However, be sure to stop taking creatine 2 weeks before a race so your body doesn't store large amounts of water. Other than that, creatine will only be beneficial for your fat loss efforts.
Q: Can I take creatine and protein powder together? A: If you can't take protein and creatine at the same time, then you may be a vegetarian. If so, then you may need to consume approximately 10% of the daily food intake from food. 40 grams of creatine! Furthermore, if creatine is separated from protein, then creatine will not be very effective. The problem is that we have to constantly put the muscles in a state of maladaptation, which is the key to building muscle. Creatine only works indirectly. What's the point of training if you can't provide the protein needed for muscle growth and recovery? Q: I'm taking creatine now, but I only started taking half the prescribed amount because I felt like it would make me irritated. And sometimes hallucinations occur, what should I do? Answer: I think one is because your creatine contains caffeine or ephedrine, and the other is because the quality of your creatine is very poor. Let me stress again, creatine is not a hormone! It will never make youI feel what you said.
Question: Have you ever felt that creatine doesn’t have much effect? I want to achieve the effect of building muscle through hard training, so I don’t want to take creatine. A: I disagree with you! If you have the condition and don't take creatine, it could be your loss.
Question: Is there any way to maximize the effects of creatine? Answer: This is a very good question. First of all, if you don't drink a lot of water, the effects of creatine will not be realized. If you want to get the best results, you must drink a lot of water! Secondly, if some supplements are properly matched and taken together, they will have complementary effects and achieve the best results. For example, when losing fat, ephedrine and caffeine are taken together; creatine and glutamine; in addition, creatine and high-quality carbohydrates are also a very good combination. They can store a large amount of water in the body. portion, but this method is recommended after training.
Question: How can we take creatine correctly to achieve the best effect, and what is the dosage? Answer: In order to obtain the best effect of creatine, the creatine storage in the body must reach a saturated state. The storage period of creatine is generally 5 days, taking 4-5 times a day, totaling 20-25 grams. This method can make the creatine in the body saturated in the fastest time. Next, just take 5-10 grams every day to keep creatine in a saturated state in the body. After the storage period, if you take more than 10 grams of creatine per day, it will be absolutely wasteful, and the excess creatine will be excreted from the body.
Q: To get better results, do I need to take creatine with carbohydrates? A: When we digest carbohydrates, the pancreas secretes insulin. The simpler the carbohydrate, the higher the insulin levels. Insulin brings nutrients to muscle tissue and plays a large role in muscle recovery. If you take creatine together with simple carbohydrates, it can speed up the absorption of nutrients into muscle tissue. However, insulin can also cause fat to be stored in the body, so it is recommended that you consume a large amount of carbohydrates during breakfast and after training, because a large amount of fat will not accumulate in the body during these two periods. any side effects.
Question: I heard that creatine can be taken at the same time as caffeine. But I have read an article saying that caffeine can hinder the absorption of creatine by muscle tissue. Which one is correct? Answer: It was a very controversial article published in 1996. However, if you read the article carefully, you can see that caffeine has no effect on tissue absorption of creatine. A 1998 study showed that creatine is rapidly absorbed when taken alone or even with caffeine.
Q: I drink creatine in the morning, but it usually takes a few hours before I really feel thirsty. Is this okay? A: Creatine is not very stable when dissolved, so it is recommended that you avoid taking it as long as possible. toolong.
Question: Should the consumption of creatine be cycled? Answer: My suggestion is that the storage period is 5 days, and then 5-10 grams per day, a cycle of 4-6 weeks; you can also use the 1-2 week cycle method. Many athletes think this is a better approach. However, many athletes use a 5-day storage period and 4-6 week cycle method, and this method is now more popular.
Question: Is the storage period of creatine necessary? Answer: The storage period of creatine is not necessary. Research shows that the storage period of creatine can quickly saturate creatine levels in the body, and you can also saturate creatine levels in the body in 1 month instead of 5 days. The problem is that most people don’t have the patience to spend a month doing this.
Q: Creatine can improve muscle strength, so the heart is also a muscle, can it also make people's hearts beat more powerfully? A: Laboratory studies have shown that the hearts of animals do contain creatine, but not as much as in skeletal muscle. . Relevant medical reports have also mentioned that the heart muscles of people with long-term heart disease contain relatively less creatine. It seems that taking creatine is beneficial to the normal work of the heart. Q: There have been many reports in the past that creatine is related to muscle cramps? Are these studies still ongoing? A: In the past few years, many scientific studies have shown that taking creatine will not cause muscle cramps in athletes. In fact, recent research confirms this.
Q: What is the difference between creatine powder and creatine capsules? A: Powdered creatine may be better for absorption than capsule creatine, because there is a layer of covering on the outside of the capsule, and this layer of covering must be digested first; Also, creatine is taken in grams. If you take it a day, you may have to take 20 1-gram creatine capsules, which is particularly inconvenient.
Question: I am losing fat now, am I worried that creatine contains calories? Answer: No. Creatine contains no calories at all.
Summary: Creatine is like a classic novel, it has passed the test of time, but many people have never read it. I hope you can try it when you have the conditions, but you must establish a correct view of supplements and bodybuilding diet! Because bodybuilding is good and supplements are also needed, but the two are not to check and balance, but to complement each other! 100 % Pure Muscle Powder (CREATINE POWDER) Pure creatine is an amino acid. Creatine in muscles exists in the form of creatine phosphate. The human body mainly relies on ATP to provide energy during high-intensity exercise, but the amount of ATP stored in the human body Very little, it needs to be continuously synthesized, and creatine phosphate is depleted in about 5 seconds. Supplementing creatine can increase the content of creatine in skeletal muscles, combine more creatine with phosphate, increase the concentration of creatine phosphate in skeletal muscles, thereby improving the muscle's ability to contract quickly. Improve speed endurance and explosive power
. Another important function of supplementing creatine is to neutralize the acid in the body, which is beneficial to relieve fatigue. ApplicableAudience: Suitable for all athletes and beginners and intermediate bodybuilders. Recommended usage: 5-10g half an hour before and after exercise every day