If I could put my finger on one thing, one question, one supplement, that I have been asked about and spoken about at length over my time as a Trainer and Coach, it would be Creatine. It is at once elusive and yet vital to our performance not only as Athletes but as Humans. This Naturally occurring chemical in the body has been studied in labs for years, argued over, and tested in athletes of all different levels. Yet we are still in wonder; will it help me? Will it hurt Me? How Much Should I take? What does it actually do? Today we will Q &A this mystical substance and hopefully bring some clarity to some, if not all, your burning questions.
What is Creatine?
Creatine Is a Naturally forming chemical that is primarily found in your muscle cells. Your muscles cells store about 90% of the Creatine in the body because it is where the synthesis of amino acids produce the stuff.
Creatine also plays a vital role in WORK. When you body expends energy through the use of ATP, Phosphocreatine gives up its phosphate to help produce the reactions necessary.
Additionally, Creatine has a profound effect on your Endocrine (Hormone) system. Naturally occurring anabolic (muscle benefitting) hormones are turned on by the presence of Creatine in the cells and plasma of your blood. This helps in recovery, oxygen consumption and yes muscle growth.
How do I naturally get Creatine?
Creatine works just like amino acids in the body. In fact, it actually binds with the amino acids, glycine and arginine inside the cells. Meat is the best way to consume foods in your diet to ensure proper Creatine synthesis. Meat, especially grass fed and organic varieties have the best Amino Acid Profiles and therefore are able to provide the cells the building blocks of Creatine and ATP.
Exercise and Muscle Mass play a role in Natural Creatine Production. The more exercise you do, the better your body is at producing the necessary chemicals in the body to produce work. Muscle Mass, the result of exercise, is able to store more Creatine which has a reciprocal relations hip with Testosterone. They grow symbiotically which has broader benefits on your overall health as well.
What type of Creatine do I take?
Like all things in the supplement world, there are flashy packaging and catchy language to help sell products. For many consumers and athletes, we are fined ourselves standing in a Supplement store or Online scratching our heads… So Lets break this stuff down for you shall we?
-Creatine Monohydrate. This is the most common form of Creatine sold. This compound is formed by combining one Creatine Molecule and one Water molecule. The combination is the most studied form of Creatine on the market. With the Copious amounts of studies done deeming it safe for any fitness level, this is the type of Creatine that I recommend taking. Naked Nutrition supplements are clean and less processed than others which has a beneficial effect on the body during absorption.
-Buffered Creatine. Because Creatine downfalls including bloating and cramping, there is a version of Creatine called “Buffered”. Buffering the substance means adding a alkaline powder to the mix which may help the digestion of the creatine but the performance benefits are not proven.
-Creatine Magnesium Chelate. This is similar to the buffered form but instead of an alkaline, the manufacturer has attached a Magnesium mineral to complete the compound. Both are water soluble and this is meant to improve the chemical performance inside the cells but the evidence does not support these claims yet.
So go Monohydrate.. its tested and it works.
What is the best type of Exercise for Creatine Supplementation?
This question goes to the core of why we supplement with creatine for Performance. And you are in luck! This is what the science community has been frothing over for some time. And I will revert back to what Creatine actually does in the interchange of cells in the body. Creatine is used to produce energy during ATP exchange. This means that if you have a heavy or intense bout of work to do, Creatine is your Guy. Endurance Sport Testing has revealed that there is no overall benefit except when bouts of intense intervals must be performed (1). So if you are a power athlete or training at maximal strength, then Creatine concentrations can have an impact on your performance(2).
Will Creatine Make me bloated and puffy?
Ahh yes. The old High School Football myth. One day you see Johnny and he is 130 lbs and then 6 months of hitting the Creatine and the weight room and all of a sudden he sits at 150lbs. He looks puffy and won’t wear a shirt.. Yes i’ve both seen and heard of this story all too often.
The short answer is, yes. Creatine can make you retain water in the muscle and therefore make you look puffy or bloated. The Job of Creatine is to Ensure that your muscles have the right amount of phosphocreatine necessary to perform the chemical reactions needed for work. Creatine is also a water soluble substance that binds and moves through muscle cells in such a way. This may also be the reason why stomach issues like nausea and diarrhea occur during the loading phase of Creatine supplementation. Because Creatine is pulling water into muscles and away from other areas, like your stomach, unease can occur.
… But let me get back to Johnny real quick. In my experience, what makes Johnny so puffy is not always just the Creatine supplementation. Chances are, when an athlete try to get bigger their diet changes. Often that means gobbling up all that is in front of them with abandon.. SO Johnny is a victim of overeating the wrong foods not supplementing Creatine.
I recommend starting slow with any supplement, especially Creatine. As you figure out how much extra water to consume during loading, try 3-6 grams per day.
As I close out our Q&A I want to leave you with the latest and greatest from the Science community. Remember when I said that Creatine is one of the most studied supplements? Well the studying is still happening. But now the science community is looking much broader than just athletic performance, they are looking to recovery and prevention of disease. Specifically the brain; Creatine supplementation is showing huge promise in 1) Creating a hedge against nuerodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers and Dementia (3) 2) Aiding in the Recovery of Brain injury, spinal cord injury and Stroke (4).
So from one athlete to another, I encourage you to keep your Creatine Levels high and perform your best. Ill be here to support you all the way!.
Love E
Programming Notes 11/4-11/8 **Alright everyone here we go . Officially the start of the Strength Building progression. Lots of Squatting, heavier bars and an ease up on the volume of Intensity.
Monday and Thursday we cruise, Tuesday and Wednesday we crush and Friday we Grind. This will be the routine for the next 8 weeks.
11/4
Baseline:
3:00 Biking
10 Banded Pass Thru
10 banded Pull Apart
2:00 Biking
10 Banded Trunk Twist
10 Banded Press and Rip
1:00 Biking
10 Banded Good Mornings
10 banded Bent Rows
Shoulder Prep W/ 5# Plates:
-Bent Scarecrow + External Rotation
-Bent Reverse Flys
-Bent Scarecrow + Press
-Bent Supermans
-Standing Corkscrews
-standing front Raises
-Standing Lateral Raises
-Standing Y Press
-Standing Cross Over Presses
Gymnastic Strength:
3X
:30 Free Standing Handstand Hold
:20 L Sit on Parallettes
Aerobic Conditioning:
30 Min AMRAP
7 Cal Bike
7 Chin Ups
9 Cal Bike
9 Barbell Press 95/65
11 Cal Bike
11 Barbell bent Row 95/65
11/5
Baseline:
500m Row
2X
8 Burpee Tuck Jump
8 DiveBomber Push Up
Clean Warm Up
7 @ Each
-Clean Deadlift
-Muscle Clean
-Front Squat
-Hang Muscle Clean
-Hang Squat Clean
Strength:
Clean Complex
Every 2 Mins X 5 Rounds
1X Clean Deadlift
2X Hang Power Clean
1 X Squat Clean
**Building Each Round
Then,
Deficit Deadlift @ 3”
4X5 *Building Each Set
WOD:
10 Minute AMRAP
9 Dumbbell Snatch 50/35
12 Dumbbell Overhead Lunges
30 Double Unders
11/6
Baseline:
800m Run
2X
8 Elbow To instep Lunge
8 Boot Straps
400m Run
2X
8 Side Lunge
8 Jump Lunges
Squat Flow: Squat Flow: Kang Squat, Internal Rotation, Ankle Roll Out, Bootstraps, PNF Stretch, Squat W/ T Spine Stretch
Strength:
Box Squat to Parallel
4X5
*Building Each Set
*Remember to allow for wider stance and chest to fall forward (Low back squat)
Then,
Bulgarian Split Squat (Front Rack W/ KB’s)
3X6 @ Each Leg
Anaerobic Conditioning:
6X
200m Sprint
12 Toes To Bar
*Rest 1:1
11/7
Baseline:
3X
10 Bow bend
10 Ice Skaters
10 Bushwacker Arm Swings
10 Hip Touches
Aerobic Conditioning:
Row 10 K
*If at all possible, perform in silence.
11/8
Baseline:
3X
200m Run
10 Scapula Pull Ups
10 Hollow Rocks
10 Single Leg Lateral Hops @ Each Leg
10 Wall Squats
Shoulder Prep:
10 @
Banded Pull Aparts
Banded Pass Thru
Banded Bench Press
Banded Press and Rip
Banded Reverse Flys
Strength:
EMOM 10
Push Press
4X Reps Per Minute
*No Cycling*
Conditioning:
AMRAP 5
600m On Air Runner
2X 10 Chest TO Bar Pull Up/ 10 box Jump 24/20
Then Max Rep Thruster (135/95)
-Rest 5 Minutes-
AMRAP 5
400m on Runner
2X 12 Chest to Bar/ 12 Box Jumps
Then Max Rep Thruster (155/105)
-Rest 5 Mins-
AMRAP 5
200m on Runner
2X 15 Chest to bar/ 15 Box Jumps
AMRAP Thruster (185/115)
