Creatine is widely regarded as one of the most popular supplements in the sports nutrition marketplace. It is mainly used by bodybuilders, and athletes, as well as by casual users and sportspeople in a variety of disciplines.
Inevitably, there will be residual controversies regarding the use of creatine, mainly related to a bunch of myths and misconceptions that have been long debunked by science. However, the unbeatable evidence provided by over thirty years of research and investigation leaves little room for doubt about its efficiency.
In this article we will deal with the positive effects of creatine supplementation on athletic performance in a range of disciplines.
Ready? Enter A RUNDOWN ON CREATINE AND ATHLETICS!
sorry... what is creatine again?
In the unlikely case that you are lost on the basics of creatine supplementation, here’s a few tips.
Creatine is a natural substance produced by the body which plays an essential role in muscle performance by rapidly regenerating adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that provides cells with the energy they need to function.
This way, creatine gives our muscles on-demand energy when it’s required. The more creatine stored in our muscles, the more energy we can draw during physical activity, resulting in better quality workouts.
Some other perks come along with creatine supplementation, such as positive effects on muscle mass growth, lower fatigue levels, and quicker recovery times after workout.
Once this is clear, we are ready for our rundown on creatine and athletics.
the basics of creatine and athletic performance
The effects of creatine are felt on a variety of levels, but for purposes of our article regarding athletic performance we will narrow them down to three.
First of all – are you familiar with the concept of “lactate threshold”? It is the limit of exercise intensity that you can maintain for a prolonged period of time without feeling the effects of fatigue. Creatine helps your body increase this threshold, facilitating the duration of peak body performance during exercise.
Secondly, glycogen stores (essentially, sugar-based fuel for your cells) deplete faster during intense exercise. Creatine works towards increasing these stores, boosting performance while also increasing recovery times by restoring cell health.
Last but not least, intense exercise demands higher levels of oxygen from your body. Creatine will help you lower your demand for oxygen by using phosphocreatine in your body, which translates into an enhancement in your performance – typically during running and cycling.
As a consequence, the effects of creatine can be perceived in the following ways:
– Boost of high-intensity exercise performance, particularly in HIIT workouts.
– Increase in muscular strength and power.
– Increase in muscle mass.
– Promotion of the effects of resistance training on strength and muscle mass.
sprinting with creatine
Creatine supplementation helps your body increase a series of markers, such as muscular strength and endurance, and lean tissue mass. Research on the Wingate test – which measures both muscular power and anaerobic capacity in 30-second periods – also shows a boost in power output after supplementation. Other studies have proven that creatine helps reducing recovery times between short bouts of intense exercise through its impact on muscle damage.
creatine for resistance runners
Runners involved in resistance activities, such as long distance running and marathon cycles, can also benefit from the aforementioned glycogen synthesis effects of creatine when performing these high intensity exercise, particularly regarding recovery. Moreover, the higher need for oxygen required by resistance running can also be mitigated through creatine supplementation by lowering these demands from your body.
bulking & heavylifting with creatine
Creatine has proven to be an efficient form of supplementation for muscle growth when combined with adequate training due to its effect on muscle mass and muscle strength. Bulking requires high levels of energy, which rapidly depletes during exercise. Creatine can help saturate your muscle creatine stores to support your exercise performance through its role in ATP regeneration.
Additionally, studies show it helps increase the production of IGF-1, a key hormone for muscle growth, which triggers several processes that lead to the formation of new proteins, thus creating new muscle mass while reducing muscle breakdown during exercise. This may result in a greater amount of muscle in the long-term, which allows us to perform more exercises and repetitions and lift heavier weights per training session.
... and intermittent sports?
The data for intermittent sports, be it endurance, court, or power-based has also revealed the benefits of creatine supplementation. In other words: soccer, rugby, tennis, baseball, or hockey players – we have good news for you all.
According to research, creatine provides a boost in muscular endurance associated to an increase in lean tissue mass and muscle mass. It also works towards improved speed performance and post-workout recovery times for the player. An improvement in overall speed and agility also comes as a consequence of this.
In addition to this, creatine helps the body enhance performance in a series of associated moves, such as intense and explosive reps, faster short burst sprints, and vertical jump.
In you wish to read a more detailed analysis of the effect of creatine on intermittent sports, feel free you check this article and this one too.
JUST TO SUMMARIZE...
As a conclusion to this rundown on creatine and athletics, we can safely state that athletic performance is one of the aspects of physical activity that takes the most advantage of the beneficial properties of creatine. It allows your body to endure peak performance for longer periods of time without feeling fatigue by increasing your lactate threshold. It also helps boost performance and restore cell health through the increase of glycogen stores. Moreover, creatine can enhance your exercise execution by lowering your body’s oxygen demand during resistance workout.
To optimize all of its properties, it is recommended to use a supplement that contains its actual active form. For instance, Clonapure® contains a unique formula that combines Creatine Monohydrate + Phosphocreatine + Phosphate to keep the phosphagen system running for a longer time.
Clonapure® is the only product in the market that gives you immediate energy for your muscles, which translates into more strength, shorter recovery times and overall better performance. Clonapure® is manufactured in a GMP site and has been submitted to continuous testing (HPLC) to have its purity and quality properly verified. If you wish to try Clonapure®, you can check this link.
