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Creatine monohydrate (or Creatine for short) is a popular supplement used by bodybuilders. It is also used by both amateur and professional athletes, bodybuilders, even just “casual” fitness enthusiasts.And you can even find creatine in popular soft drinks and energy drinks nowadays! But what is Creatine, exactly?

Creatine is a metabolite which occurs naturally in the human body and is composed of three amino acids - Arginine, Glycine and Methionine. Creatine is found in muscle tissues, where it plays the important role of energizing muscles. In technical terms, Creatine is an ergogen.

“What is an Ergogen?” You may be asking… basically an ergogen boosts your body’s ability to do work and Creatine helps in that respect. You see, Creatine helps your body produce ATP (which is short for adenosine triphosphate). Basically this substance is the best possible source of energy for working muscles. ATP makes the proteins which cause your muscles to contract (or flex). So when your muscles are doing something, ie. at work, ATP breaks down into ADP (adenosine diphosphate) and energy is released. All this happens in just a few seconds.

So how can you replenish the levels of ATP that get broken down? You guessed it, Creatine does this for you (Good for you! You were paying attention!). Creatine is sort of like a reserve for ATP. In the most basic terms, the more creatine you have , the more ATP is available to you - simple as that. Which means, the more ATP that you have, the more endurance you’ll have - which in a nutshell is why so many bodybuilders use this supplement — because it keeps their muscles working harder — longer.

So What are some good sources of creatine? Of course there are the nutritional supplements sold at health food stores and specialty shops both online and off catering to bodybuilders, additionally, there are two other sources of creatine. One is the many popular soft drinks containing this metabolite (I don’t recommend this - because they usually contain large amounts of sugar and other crap you don’t want along with your creatine).

The other good source of creatine is red meat. A large serving of red meat (make sure it’s lean meat if you’re bodybuilding) contains about a gram of creatine. All in all though, a creatine supplement is more efficient.

There are other benefits of creatine too. Like a higher threshold of fatigue and the promotion of muscle tissue building! Creatine is a supplement which thus far is proven totally safe and really does perform as advertised - a rarity when the marketing for most products these days is overpromises and the product underdelivers.

Last 5 posts by Caleb Lee

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Tags: Exercise and Fitness