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 By: Shannon Clark
Almost anyone involved in bodybuilding and fitness has heard of creatine before. Whether they have used it themselves personally or have just heard others in the gym talking about it, there tends to be a great deal of confusion surrounding creatine. When do I take it? How should I take it? Is a loading phase necessary? Is it okay to use while dieting? What about creatine and women? Are they going to see any benefits or is it just a waste of money for female lifters? Let's try and clear up some of that confusion. Creatine Articles:
For every person you have taking creatine the right way, there are probably two who aren't. Unfortunately, creatine is one supplement that must be taken with precision otherwise results likely will not be obtained. Now, that said, there are a few different ways that you can go about incorporating this supplement into your routine.  View Creatine Products Sorted By Top Seller Here.
These people then can use a lower dose of only 10 grams per day, but load this over a period of 10-14 days. The result is likely less bloat, but a longer loading period duration.
  Click Image To Enlarge.Author, Shanon Clark Suggests Taking Creatine With Precision For Optimal Results.
As far as what these dosages equate to, 5 grams of creatine is one teaspoon worth, so multiple this in multiples of five to get whatever dose you are going to use.
Therefore, vegetarians or those who simply don't like red meat, may want to maintain on that 5 gram number instead. Vegetarians Articles: As a note to this point, if you are a very heavy red meat eater, you might even find that you don't benefit all that much from creatine in the first place as your stores are already fully saturated. Once this occurs, then any excess creatine taken in will just be excreted by the body, so theoretically, supplementing will be of no use to you.
 Click Image To Enlarge.If You Are A Heavy Red Meat Eater, Creatine Supplementation Will Be Of Little Use.
Remember though, potentially even better than taking it with juice will be mixing it up with your own dextrose, as juice is part fructose, which will have minimal effects on insulin levels (whereas dextrose will exert maximum effects on insulin).
Taking it with something, be it a post-workout shake comprised of carbs and protein or a full-fledged meal, is a good idea because this will help to reduce the chances that stomach upset is seen in those who are more sensitive to it.
Next, dieters are often questioning themselves as to whether or not creatine would be a good idea for them to be using. Typically creatine is associated with 'bulking' periods since it is designed to help with the muscle building process as it allows you to work harder for longer while you are in the gym. When it comes to dieting, since you're more focused on fat loss rather than strength and muscular gains, it doesn't seem to quite fit. This is not the case though. Creatine still can actually be quite advantageous to the dieter as it can help to keep the intensity of their workout sessions up there. When you go on a low calorie diet, your gym sessions will need to be reduced in volume and you may find strength starting to lag as a result of the diet, so making sure your CP stores are full will really help offset these negative side effects.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Creatine Can Help Increase Your Workout Intensity. Do note though that generally carbs are reduced when dieting which will mean the creatine will take longer to be absorbed and may not be absorbed to the same extent as if a high dose of carbs were fed to the individual, but they will still get into the muscle. In this case, taking the creating straight with water (or protein) in conjunction with a meal (to reduce stomach upset) is the protocol to follow. If you happen to be training for a bodybuilding or fitness competition though, you will want to remove creatine from your supplement intake at a certain point out in order to prevent any water retention you experience while taking it. Talk to your specific coach with regards to when you should be doing this though, as each will have their own preference.
Finally, the last topic to touch on is whether or not creatine is beneficial for women. For most women, yes, creatine is a supplement to consider. A large part of this is because even more so than men, women tend to cut red meat out of their diet quite frequently, thus their natural stores do tend to be more reduced.
Studies have shown though that women may not hold as much creatine in their muscle cells as their male counterparts, thus the effect of creatine on lean muscle mass may be slightly higher in men, but this is not a reason for females to think that the supplement has no benefit to them.
So, if you're currently taking creatine but are not following a correct formula for use, or if you've never taken it before but have been curious, now might be the perfect time to give it a try. It has been proven time and time again that there are no harmful side-effects (apart from the bloating and potential stomach discomfort described above) as long as it is taken in the manner as instructed. View Creatine Products Sorted By Top Seller Here.Recommend this article to a friend by e-mail here! Visitor Reviews Of This Article!
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