Creatine is a metabolite and it’s produced by the body naturally. It is found in several places in the body, including the brain and heart, but its highest levels is found in red muscle tissue. The main dietary source of this metabolite is found in fish and meat, but it can also be formed by particular amino acids. These amino acids are methionine, arginine, and glycine and they exist in the kidneys, liver and pancreas.

So you may be asking yourself how this information can assist your athletic performance. In fact, creatine supplements are a favourite of athletes, body builders, and weight lifters because it plays an important role in how the body’s muscles release energy and for increasing muscle mass by attracting water molecules to muscle cells and improving muscle protein synthesis.

Bursting With Energy

Creatine is undergoing vigorous study by researchers because it supplies the body with energy molecules. In a nutshell, when a muscle contracts it uses ATP (adenosine triphosphate) for energy and there is a very small amount stored naturally in a muscle. So the body supplies a revised version of the ATP energy molecule by accessing creatine phosphate molecules and creates ADP to replace ATP.

Obviously the more creatine phosphate in the body, the more energy can be supplied to the muscles during an athletic performance or workout. But creatine is often used by athletes to both increase energy and to increase muscle mass. Creatine increases muscles mass in two ways.

First, the creatine promotes the growth of new muscle protein. Second, the creatine increases water retention in the muscle. Both results will lead to an observed enlargement in muscle mass.

Creatine can also increase the amount of force in muscle contractions during a workout which means you see more results from your efforts. Since your muscles have more energy, you can workout longer and with less fatigue. As a result, you can increase muscle mass through enhanced strength training.

In fact, when ADP is depleted in the muscle, lactic acid is produced as a by-product. Lactic acid creates muscle burning which leads to shorter sets. When a build-up of lactic acid becomes too high, the muscle will actually stop contracting making it impossible to continue working out. By taking creatine supplements, you are able to increase the production of ADP and thus your ability to expand your volume and efforts.

When you can work out longer and more efficiently, the result will be more muscle mass.

Lean Mean Vigorous Workout Machine

Creatine is frequently used by athletes who want to see an increase in lean muscle mass. Since the creatine enables the athlete to better handle intense periods of exertion and can lead to more muscle mass in body builders, it is a popular supplement for serious competitors. But it is also used by the average exerciser who is more interested in improving muscle tone for general appearance and not competitive purposes.

In addition, creatine leads to faster body fat reduction through aerobic exercise. When the body has less fat, the lean muscle is revealed giving the body more definition.

There are many ways that creatine can increase both real and perceived muscle mass.