Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid derivative in the human body. It can quickly increase muscle strength, accelerate fatigue recovery, and improve explosive power. The more creatine is stored in the human body, the stronger the strength and athletic ability. It can also be taken from food.
It can not only quickly provide energy (the human body's various activities rely on ATP, that is, adenosine triphosphate, to provide energy, and the storage of ATP in the human body is very small. During exercise, ATP is quickly consumed. At this time, creatine can quickly resynthesize ATP to supply energy). It can also increase strength, grow muscles, and accelerate fatigue recovery. The more creatine is stored in the human body, the more sufficient the energy supply, the faster the fatigue recovery, and the stronger the exercise energy.
The Effect of Creatine
Increase athletic performance
One of the main functions of creatine is to provide the energy required for muscle contraction. A large number of animal and clinical experimental studies have shown that supplementing creatine can increase muscle strength and increase maximum output power, thereby improving overall athletic ability. [In high-intensity exercise or training, creatine releases energy through the process of breaking down creatine phosphate to help regenerate adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is one of the main sources of energy for muscle contraction, and the presence of creatine can increase the available phosphate groups, thereby accelerating the regeneration of ATP and delaying muscle fatigue. By increasing the level of creatine phosphate in muscle cells, creatine supplementation can increase muscle explosiveness, endurance and strength. This is especially important for athletes who perform high-intensity, short-duration exercises such as weightlifting and sprinting.
Reduce the risk of injury
Supplementing with creatine during exercise can reduce the incidence of muscle and bone injuries, dehydration and muscle cramps. In addition, creatine has a neuroprotective effect.
Promote muscle growth
Creatine is widely believed to have a positive effect on muscle growth. It can promote muscle protein synthesis and reduce protein degradation, thereby enhancing muscle volume and quality. This makes creatine one of the commonly used supplements for bodybuilders and sports athletes, especially during muscle growth and recovery stages.
Improve sports recovery
Some studies have shown that creatine supplementation may help improve the recovery process after sports injuries. It can promote the repair and regeneration of damaged muscle tissue, accelerate recovery time, and reduce the risk of muscle atrophy after sports injuries.
Creatine supplementation can help athletes increase glycogen reserves, reduce inflammation after intense exercise and the outflow of enzymes in muscle cells, thereby promoting rapid recovery after high-intensity training. Before an exhausting exercise, combined supplementation of creatine and carbohydrates has greater post-exercise glycogen reserves than carbohydrates alone, and glycogen plays a very important role in promoting recovery and preventing overtraining during intensive training.
The effect of creatine supplementation on post-exercise inflammatory markers and muscle soreness in experienced marathon runners before a 30 Km race was evaluated. The results showed that compared with the control group, creatine supplementation reduced changes in creatine kinase, prostaglandin E2, and tumor necrosis factor α, and lactate dehydrogenase did not increase.
Other studies have shown that during the recovery process of sports muscle injuries, participants who supplemented with creatine had significantly greater isokinetic and isometric knee extension strength. In addition, the plasma creatine kinase level of the creatine supplementation group was significantly lower than that of the control group after 2-7 days of recovery.
