You can't even say the word supplement without Creatine coming to your mind. Creatine is really the foundation of the whole supplement industry, and it's also the most well-researched supplement out there. Taken at the right dosage, its effects are clear: it'll help with muscle growth, recovery, stamina, and strength. (1,2)
How does this magical powder work? Creatine helps to produce energy when required; like when you start to sprint, begin a lift, or attempt a jump. And it's already inside your body right now. Most of it's in your muscle cells, and the rest is in your brain and various organs. The magic works when you increase these Creatine stores in your body by supplementation to provide more energy for a longer period of time.
Want more science? Creatine is stored in your body as phosphocreatine, which helps produce your body's energy-producing compound ATP. When you increase your phosphocreatine stores, you can produce more ATP, and have more energy to increase your workload or volume during your workout. Being able to perform more sets and reps than you would have been able to before will obviously lead to more muscle growth and strength over time.
Creatine behaves as an osmolyte in your body as well, meaning it stores more water in your muscle cells. This causes cell volumization and leads to you having a larger appearing physique. Your muscles will look much fuller when you are taking Creatine, compared to when you are not. This increased cell hydration can in turn lead to even more muscle growth and strength, because larger muscle cells can lift more weight than smaller muscle cells.
Creatine does not just improve athletic performance though. It's also been shown to improve cognitive performance. Your muscles are not the the only thing that require phosphocreatine and ATP, your brain does as well. Increasing your Creatine stores has been shown to improve cognitive parameters like reasoning, intelligence, short and long-term memory. (3,4)
How much Creatine do you need? The main principle to remember is that you will be getting the benefits of Creatine by increasing the stores of it in your body. Some might recommend you start with a loading phase, where you take 20 grams per day for a week, followed by a 5 gram daily maintenance dose thereafter. Others would say the loading phase isn't necessary. Studies have shown Creatine has beneficial effects with or without the loading phase, so the choice is yours. (5,6) Either way. 5 grams per day over a consistent amount of time will be enough to build up those Creatine stores and get results.
When should you take Creatine? It can really be taken anytime. This is again because we are simply trying to increase the stores of it in our body. And taking Creatine after a workout has indeed been shown to be just as effective as taking it before a workout. (7) However, the traditional time has always been before your workout. Which makes sense since you want to increase those stores before a workout. So taking it then and pairing it with our Pinnacle Pre-Workout is a solid plan of attack.
What form of Creatine do you want? The only form you want is Micronized Creatine Monohydrate. There are many forms of Creatine out there nowadays, but zero have ever been shown to be more effective than Creatine Monohydrate. (8) It's supported by literally hundreds of studies, whereas the other Creatine forms are just marketing hype. Creatine Monohydrate on its own may sometimes have an issue with water solubility, but having it micronized eliminates this issue.
Which is why it is the only Creatine we offer our customers. Micronized Creatine Monohydrate Powder. Check it out to see what kind of gains it can bring you :)
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14636102/
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17828627/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC
6. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s