The benefits of creatine for muscle building

By taking creatine, athletes hope to achieve positive effects on their training and their bodies. The muscle strength and the formation of new muscle cells should be promoted. In addition, creatine ensures a more voluminous appearance and a defined body by storing water.

These positive characteristics are highly appreciated by athletes and provide a very good price-performance ratio due to a comparatively low price. A further advantage is the tastelessness of creatine, which means that it can be taken by everyone without any problems. In the right dosage and when properly produced, creatine is a suitable means for athletes to keep their strength performance at a high level for longer and thus improve muscle building.

However, it should only be used after a certain performance level has been reached in order to avoid “overtraining“. Special care should also be taken with adolescents who wish to take creatine. However, creatine is not absorbed equally well by every organism and is not equally effective in everyone. Taking creatine alone without specific training does not create muscle growth. The benefits of creatine are summarized here once again in five points:

Rapid strength growth is promoted
The regeneration phase is shortened
The performance is increased
Creatine is easy to take
Creatine has a relatively low selling price

The disadvantages of creatine

Obvious disadvantages of creatine supplementation are the more or less strong bloating of the body. Creatine is able to bind water, which leads to a bulging but barely defined appearance. Whether this is perceived as a disadvantage, however, is up to the eye of the respective observer.

However, there is a definite disadvantage in the processed forms of creatine that are offered as food supplements. Here, there is the danger that a not inconsiderable portion has been broken down into ineffective creatinine before it can be absorbed. Creatinine is simply excreted in the urine as a non-functional protein. It is therefore advisable to take creatine in unprocessed form (usually as a powder) directly with a glass of liquid to ensure a sufficient fluid intake at the same time.

What is the recommended dosage/daily dose?

When taking creatine, there are different views on the optimal daily dose and the dosage at the beginning of the intake. For an amateur athlete who trains intensively 3-4 times a week, a creatine intake of 2-3 g creatine per day is recommended. According to recent studies, a higher dosage at the beginning is not necessary or sensible.

This so-called loading phase is not decisive for a long-term increase in performance through creatine. Nevertheless, athletes who have reached a performance plateau, for example, can undergo a so-called creatine cure, during which up to 20 g of creatine is taken daily. After one week this amount is reduced and in the next 8-11 weeks the creatine intake is reduced to 3-5 g creatine. After that, the creatine can be discontinued to observe to what extent the management has improved during exercise.