Despite being one of the most well-researched sports nutrition supplements around, there still seems to be a lot of misunderstanding surrounding Creatine. In this video I will attempt to clear up some of this confusion, explain exactly what creatine is, introduce Five Big Benefits of Creatine, and provide a few links to some of the relevant research.
Creatine is a completely safe, natural food supplement. It is already present in our bodies and in many of the foods we eat (especially meat). Here is a great interview with Examine.com that covers most of the basics about supplementing with creatine:
www.schwarzenegger.com/common-creatine-questions-and-answers
Now let's take a look at a few of the impressive benefits of creatine.
1. Quick Energy & Faster Recovery during Intense Exercise:
Creatine will help you lift more weight and recovery more quickly, which can lead to greater strength gains.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15707376
2. Creatine Leads to Greater Muscle Mass:
Research demonstrates that as part of a strength training program, prolonged creatine supplementation is met with an increased muscle growth rate as well as cell volumnization. So you get stronger AND bigger... what more can you ask for?
www.examine.com/supplements/Creatine/
3. Creatine Inhibits Myostatin:
Myostatin is a protein synthesized in our skeletal muscle that basically governs how much muscle we can potentially gain. This will determine our genetic potential to gain muscle mass.
When myostatin is decreased or removed, muscle cells are allowed to freely grow or multiply more quickly, leading to massive gains! Well, during my research for creatine I came across a study that demonstrated how oral administration of creatine has a myostatin-inhibiting effect.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20026378
www.ergo-log.com/creatinemyostatin.html
4. Creatine Increases IGF-1:
Did you know that creatine has also been proven to increase IGF-1 in your muscles post-workout? IGF-1 is responsible for tissue growth and repair (including muscle).
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18708688
5. Creatine Enhances Brain Function:
A study published in the prestigious Neuroscience, showed that supplementing with creatine will enhance brain function. Also check out this study below:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691485/pdf/14561278.pdf
I hope this video helps clear up some of the confusion around this awesome supplement.
