Benefits of Supplementing Your Diet With Creatine

September 19 2013

Benefits of Supplementing Your Diet With Creatine

If you’ve done any research into natural supplements to help you achieve your health and physical fitness goals, you’ve probably heard of something called creatine. Bodybuilders, professional athletes, gymnists and even ordinary people who only work out once or twice a week are using it. But how exactly does it work? And is creating really worth taking? To learn the answers to these questions and more, keep reading.

You might be surprised to learn that creatine is a naturally occurring compound that’s found in nearly all vertebrates, humans included. When amino acids reach the kidney and liver, they are synthesized into creatine before making their way to the muscles. However, supplementing your diet with additional creatine will prove to be highly useful in building bigger, stronger muscles; here’s why:

The Link Between Creatine and Muscle Gain

It’s no secret that pushing your muscles to their limit translates into more muscle growth. By constantly adding more weights and performing a greater number of reps, you’ll encourage the growth of bigger muscles. If you only lift the same 150-pound barbell day after day in the gym, your progress will slow down significantly.

The body’s ability to lift heavier weights is directly directly related to a compound known as Adenosine Triphosphate (ADM). The more ADM stored in the body, the more energy you’ll have to lift heavier weights; thus, resulting in bigger muscles. So, where does creatine come into play? Well, creatine encourages the production of ADM, which in turn gives you more energy to lift heavier weights. The more creatine you consume, the more energy you’ll have at the gym.

Muscle Volume

Studies have also shown that creatine plays a direct role in muscle volume. This is due in part to the increased water retention caused by creatine consumption. Most people who take a creatine supplement report minor weight gain in the following weeks.

A recent survey found that nearly half of all active professional football players take creatine supplements on a regular basis. Of course, a large portion of baseball players, hockey players, basketball players and soccer players take it as well.

The bottom line is that you should supplement your diet with creatine to build bigger, stronger muscles. Although it’s a naturally occurring compound, adding more of it to your diet will yield better results in the gym. The presence of more ADM in your body will give you the energy required to lift heavier weights at more reps, and this is essentially what leads to stronger muscles.