Creatine Monohydrate

What is creatine and where does it come from?

Creatine monohydrate is talked about very often in gyms all around the world. You can't really spend time in a gym and not hear about creatine at some point. Creatine is a nutrient that is made up of 3 amino acids in the muscle called arginine, glycine, and mathionine.

Creatine was discovered in 1832 when Michel Eugène Chevreul realized that it was a major component of skeletal muscle, which he later named creatine after the Greek word for flesh, Kreas. It wasn't until 1992 when creatine supplements were really recognized for their athletic benefits. During the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona Linford Christie, who was the gold medal winner in the 100 meters, reported that she had been taking creatine in an article in The Times.

Why do I need creatine?

An average person will have around 120 grams of creatine in their body and only use about 2 grams a day. This doesn't mean that you will run out after 60 days because you will be getting creatine through your diet. Unfortunately, it is expensive and difficult to do this because the goal is to keep your body saturated with creatine.

Since creatine is a normally occurring nutrient in your body, you can find it in foods. It can be found most commonly in meat and fish. The only problem is the most creatine is found in red meats which tend to be high in saturated fat and cholesterol. This is why the creatine supplement form is so nice.

Are there any side effects?

There are no documented side effects to creatine monohydrate. Creatine has been extensively tested on humans and no poor side effects have been noticed. According to Dr. Paul Balsom, the leading expert on creatine stated, "to the best of our knowledge, the only documented side effect of creatine supplementation is an increase in body mass." I bet most of you won't mind that side effect! ;-)

Really from my personal experience I have only seen good things from creatine. Everyone I have ever talked to has always seen really nice gains in strength and size. It is definitely worth a try if you haven't already tried supplementing it.

How do you take creatine?

Creatine is different from some supplements in that you need to do what is called a loading phase. This means that for the first week you will need roughly 20g a day. This super saturates your muscles with creatine. For weeks 2 to 4 you need to take around 5-10g. Then in weeks 5-8 you won't take any creatine. Typically you only need 4 weeks on the cycle!

DRINK WATER! Creatine works by increasing muscle hydration. So make sure to drink lots of water. I would recommend drinking an extra 80 ounces during the loading phase. Staying hydrated will help you lifts greatly!