If muscle-building is one of your workout goals, then it's likely your at least a little familiar with creatine supplements. If you don't know about them, now is the time!

First and foremost, know this: Creatine and steroids aren't the same thing. Creatine is a natural substance already made by the body to give energy to your muscles. It can also be taken in through diet or dietary supplements. How is it that creatine supports muscle development? While you participate in intense activity, like bodybuilding, the human body generates something called Adenosine Triphosphate, or ATP, to give your muscles the energy they need to complete the tasks. ATP is used up rapidly, but the body can convert creatine into more ATP.

How Can Creatine Supplements Help Me?

Bodybuilding supplements like creatine will help you to boost your workouts' effectiveness but are not a replacement for working hard. The body's conversion of creatine into extra energy can translate into a few things for your workout regimen:

· A boost in the intensity of your workouts

· Ability to train more frequently

Adding to the amount of creatine in your body adds a power boost to your exercises and decreases the time it takes to see results.

Why Should I "Load" Creatine?

When you hear someone mentioning "loading" creatine, that just means inundating the body with creatine supplements for a limited amount of time, then using a smaller dosage to maintain. Like many bodybuilding supplements, creatine should be used in phases -- a loading phase, then a maintenance phase, and finishing with an off phase where no supplement is taken.

The reasoning for using these phases is to allow the body get back to a normal production of creatine and not start to depend entirely on supplements. It's always important to keep in mind that bodybuilding supplements are meant to give a boost to a normal bodily function, not take the place of it.

The recommended timeframe for loading and maintenance phases has wide variation. However, a general starting point for your cycles is: Loading phase -- 5 days; Maintenance - 6 weeks; Off - 4 weeks.

What Is The Recommended Creatine Dose?

Recommendations differ in accordance with the different forms of creatine supplements you can choose from, and attention should be paid to what the recommendations are for whichever form you choose. For an example of a daily dose, based on a 5-day loading phase then a maintenance phase, is:

· Female, 140 pounds: 6 grams (loading); 1.5 grams (maintenance)

· Male, 160 pounds: 18 grams (loading); 4.5 grams (maintenance)

During a loading phase especially, spread your doses throughout the day. If possible, take your supplement before and after a workout to increase creatine levels prior to your workout, and recouping the levels afterward.

How Do I Take Creatine?

Creatine supplements come in several forms, including powder, which can be added to liquid, pills, and chewies for people who are always on the go. Although the powder creatine is the most popular form to take, pills and chewies are gaining popularity for their portability.

No matter which form of the bodybuilding supplement you decide works best for you, here are a few tips to increase how effectively it works for you:

· Drink more water

· Limit caffeine

· Take with protein