Creatine Supplementation in Sports and Exercise Performance
Creatine has become one of the most popular and widely used natural supplements with a vast research background as of today. Majority of these studies have focused on the creatine monohydrate effects on performance and health.The supplement has many different forms and has become increasingly accessible for consumers to purchase in the sports and exercise market. With more creatine use and intake, there have been more studies that have aimed to understand the short and long term effects of creatine. Those who intake creatine generally experience benefits when it comes to heavy resistance training, high interval training, high intensity sprints, and even endurance training. The benefits of creatine for consumers include: increased strength, fat free mass, and muscle morphology. These benefits have shown to increase performance as well as recovery. This article aims to analyze the latest findings and mechanisms of creatine consumption in the context of sports and health.
The body naturally creates the organic compound creatine. It helps facilitate recycling of adenosine triphosphate, mainly in skeletal muscles and the brain. Creatine synthesis occurs predominantly in the liver and kidneys, however it can be created in the pancreas to a lesser degree. In addition, most people gain creatine through their diets that contain seafood and red meats. Those who are vegetarian or vegan tend to have a lower resting creatine concentration. The average 70 kg male has a creatine pool of 120-140 grams, which can vary depending on: age, muscle fiber type, and quantity of muscle mass. External creatine supplementation requires CREAT1 for transport into cells , and it also requires phosphorylation and glycosylation mechanisms.
Through external supplementation, studies have shown users to have a higher creatine pool. In addition, the research has shown that there is a positive relationship between muscle creatine uptake and exercise performance. A trial was done with users on a 12 week creatine supplementation program with a concurrent heavy resistance training protocol. After the 12 weeks, the users had an increased total creatine pool, which resulted in more rapid adenosine triphosphate regeneration between training sets and muscle recovery. This trial was also done with a variety of different exercises aside from intensity weight training. The study has shown improved performance in speed, aerobic, and anaerobic training as well. Along with physical enhancements, creatine supplementation has also shown to help improve cognitive hindrance due sleep deprivation and impairment. In terms of side effects, users reported to have a higher consumption of water when taking external creatine supplementation. This can be explained by creatine’s polar hydrophilic characteristics due to its structure that contains a negatively charged carboxyl group and a positively charged functional group. Creatine’s chemical nature requires water to get transported into cells. As a result, users have to intake more water and go to the bathroom more often. Other than increased water consumption and urination, there are no reported negative side effects.
Overall, external creatine supplementation has shown to have enhancing effects on energy recovery and performance in a variety of different training sessions. Creatine can provide physical improvements along with mental by recycling ATP on a faster rate. It is interesting to see how much research has been done on this supplement and hopefully more will come in the future. If one is unconvinced to take creatine, the research has shown that the supplement will only benefit physical performance.
Posted by: Will Nguyen (2)
This is really interesting! I have personally taken creatine and know a lot of people that take it. I had pretty limited knowledge on it, other than people take it to gain muscle mass. It was really cool to actual understand the chemistry behind it. When I took creatine I saw a substantial increase in acne which I did not have before. I wonder if anything has linked creatine and acne or if it was just a coincidence.
ReplyDelete-Payton Carroll
Hi Payton, that is cool that you take creatine. The research article goes into depth on the chemistry of how the supplement works in the body. I find it interesting that you have had an increase in acne when taking creatine. I do not if creatine is the cause for that. I found an article that states that there is no proven connection between creatine and acne according to health line: https://www.healthline.com/health/does-creatine-cause-acne#can-creatine-cause-acne
Delete-Will
Hey Will, I really enjoyed reading your blog regarding creatine consumption. I personally take creatine and I have noticed an increase of strength while weight training. One side effect that you did not mention but I have learned about when researching this naturally occurring compound is that kidney stones and painful urination might occur. I would recommend you look into that if you are interested in taking it.
ReplyDelete-Matthew Rosen
Hi Matthew, that is cool that you take creatine supplementation. It is interesting to see how the research compares how it affects you on an individual, and it seems the effects described in the research are similar to what you have experienced. I did not know that potential side effects for creatine supplementation were kidney stones and painful urination. It does makes sense since one of the side effects of creatine is frequent urination and dehydration. Greater water intake is required for the increase in creatine concentration In the body. When there is a less water, kidney stones are more likely to develop, which also leads to painful urination.
Delete-Will
DeleteHi Will!
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting to understand how and why creatine is really popular among athletes because it helps improve exercise performance, enhance recovery after intense exercise, muscle mass, prevent severe muscle injuries, and even improve brain function and nerve cell protection with barely any risks or negative effects (at least from what we know until now). I think the chemistry of creatine is very interesting and how its hydrophilicity and polarity helps draw more water into muscle cells to reduce dehydration and cramping. I also understand more why creatine is more effective with increased hydration. I was wondering if creatine can affect blood pressure since it increases blood flow. I was also interested in how it affects patients with diabetes since it increases insulin levels.
-Carla Botros
Hi Will. I have heard about creatine and how it helps body builders, but I didn't know much about it. I didn't know creatine could also improve cognitive hinderance. I thought creatine only improved physical appearance. I'm interested in understanding more about creatine in terms of it mechanism. What happens to the cells once creatine is transported into them? Can anyone take creatine or is there a certain criteria one must meet?
ReplyDelete-Lorena Soldevilla
Hi Lorena, our body naturally produces creatine and consuming external creatine only changes the concentration within our body. In the mitochondria once creatine is transported into the cell, ATP levels are, whereas creatine phosphate levels are low. This makes the conversion of creatine to phosphocreatine a highly favorable reaction. As ATP is broken down to ADP, it releases energy and creates phosphocreatine. This compound is very high in energy and it diffuses from the mitochondria to myofibrils, which gives muscle cells the energy to contract. Also there are no criteria for one to take creatine.
Delete-Will
Will, awesome job! I have been hearing so much about creatine use over the past couple of years. I have seen nothing but positive results in the people I know that consistently use creatine! I have not heard many negative side effects, but I did know that apart of the muscle growth process includes easier dehydration since it uses/changes a lot of the body's held water content. It is definitely important for people to use creation properly to see these awesome results that you wrote about!
ReplyDelete