Creatine, as a sports nutritional supplement, can be very effective in improving muscle strength and endurance and improving sports performance. Although some people have some criticisms about it, as long as its mechanism, properties and precautions when taking it are analyzed, discussed and studied, some useful conclusions will be drawn.
First of all, we should make it clear that creatine is not a hormone. It is essentially different from steroids, growth hormone, and testosterone. Since it realizes its function through the human liver, it does not cause any interference or damage to the human body's endocrine system, while hormonal drugs realize its function through forced induction or blockage of the pituitary gland. The human body does not have drug dependence or physiological side effects on creatine, but hormone drugs are different. Once people take hormone drugs, certain parts of the body's functions will be maintained at a higher level under the action of these drugs. , generally after stopping taking it, these functions will immediately decrease to the original level or even lower than the original level. This is the so-called physiological side reaction. For example, some weight-loss drugs containing hormones do have immediate effects during the period of taking them. But once the medication is stopped, the weight will exceed the level without taking the medication. Another example is some drugs containing hormones to treat male diseases. During the period of taking the drug, the symptoms immediately improve or disappear. However, once the drug is stopped, the condition becomes more serious. This is where hormones are harmful. Creatine does not produce such an effect. It can help the human body reach and stabilize a higher level within an appropriate and effective period of time. In other words, it can help the human body shorten the process from quantitative change to qualitative change. After the human body breaks through the threshold platform at a certain stage, it will be in a stable state.
Scientific experiments show that among athletes who take creatine for the first time, the average daily weight gain is 15-20 grams in the first week, and then the weight gain will be maintained for a month, at which time the average daily weight gain is 5-10 grams. Then the weight gain becomes less noticeable. This process varies from person to person, and the resulting weight gain ranges from 0.9 to 3 kilograms. The stimulation of muscle growth by creatine is cyclical and has a stable period. After the stable period, it heralds the arrival of the next growth period, which is a spiral process.
Creatine is mainly found in the liver. When the body exercises, it can first automatically adjust the water entering the muscle tissue to expand the cross-sectional muscles of the muscles. We know that according to the principles of sports physiology and mechanics, muscle strength is directly proportional to the cross-sectional area of the muscle, which means that creatine increases the explosive power of the muscle in this way. Second, creatine can make the sugar stored in the liver and blood supply energy to muscle tissue at high intensity and for a long time, thereby increasing muscle endurance.
Knowing why creatine can increase explosive power and endurance, it is not difficult to figure out why creatine can increase muscle size. We know that one of the most basic principles of biomechanics is the principle of supercompensation. In layman's terms, it means that the damage to the muscle tissue itself due to muscle work will lead to rest and eating after training.It was repaired in the process, and this kind of repair was overcompensated. In other words, the compensated muscle tissue will exceed the destroyed tissue, and creatine only strengthens and deepens this compensatory effect. Because the intensity of destruction after taking creatine exceeds the intensity without taking it, the compensation after taking creatine also far exceeds the compensation without taking creatine. So I can loudly say to bodybuilders and bodybuilders, rest assured, creatine is good for you if you want to get twice the result with half the effort, if you want to become a real bodybuilder.
So, can I just take creatine and sit back and relax, just waiting for muscle growth? If you did understand creatine, you wouldn't be asking this question. Without damage to muscle tissue, there will be no compensation. Without training properly, it is very foolish to just think of other ways to improve. Progress can only be achieved through rigorous training and supplementation with creatine. It should be clear at all times that training is the internal cause of muscle changes, and creatine is the external cause. Creatine can aggravate changes, but cannot cause changes. Creatine is the surface, and training is the foundation.
Now let’s talk about the water accumulation problem of creatine. Many people think that this is caused by creatine itself, and use “it’s a medicine and it’s a poison” as an excuse not to take creatine. But what I want to say is that creatine is not a drug, it is a training nutritional supplement. Of course, I am not opposed to mastering the issue of dosage. This brings up another topic, that is, you must buy high-purity creatine from regular channels (at least 99% purity, preferably 99.99%), and take it strictly in accordance with the requirements of experts or instructions. It is also illegal in the United States to sell unregistered creatine products at any pharmacy. Why emphasize the purity of creatine? Because creatine is manufactured using chemical methods, it is inevitable that the two derivatives dicyandiamide and dihydrotriazine will also be produced. Dicyandiamide will increase the burden of water excretion on the kidneys, which means that the electrolyte ion concentration in the body cannot be maintained within the normal range, causing the electrolyte ion concentration to decrease, thereby accumulating a large amount of water, which is often referred to as water accumulation. But that's not creatine's fault. In addition, dihydrotriphosphate has the effect of dilating arteries and blood vessels. If you contain a large amount of dihydrotrimethane and take creatine for a long time, you will eventually die due to burst blood vessels in the lungs during training. This is by no means a sensational threat, but a true fact. Due to improvements in the production process, the purity of creatine has increased from 85%-90% at the beginning to 99% to 99.99% today. Today's bodybuilding masters have basically solved the problem of water accumulation caused by taking creatine. In fact, it should be said that biological scientists have helped these masters solve the problem. Because they have reduced the content of dicyandiamide and dicyandiamide to an unprecedented level, today's players have achieved unprecedented physiques that their predecessors could not have dreamed of, and they have also expanded the unprecedented understanding of human body proportions by enthusiasts. imagination.
After taking creatine properly, be careful not to train to exhaustion, as this can easily cause rupture of injured muscles and ligaments. Therefore, after taking creatine, you must adjust your training enthusiasm and avoid overtraining.
Don’t forget, people with liver or kidney dysfunction should not take creatine with a content lower than 99.9% for the time being. Your health is in serious need.