What it is, how it works and why you need it in your stack!
Creatine is an amino acid derivative made from arginine, glycine and methionine. It’s produced naturally by the body in the liver, kidneys and pancreas and stored primarily in the muscle. This humble amino acid by-product plays an important role in the tissues where energy levels quickly rise and fall, hence its convenience in the muscle.
The energy requirements of short, sharp bursts of movement are met by the phosphagen system, which quickly replenishes ATP and provides energy to the working cells. However, muscles contain only a certain amount of ATP – enough for a few seconds of hard work. Anything outside of this requires more of the phosphates which ATP is made of.
This is where good old creatine comes to the party! Creatine takes one for the team by donating its phosphate - a process which generates more ATP so you can smash out that final rep. Since creatine plays such a vital role in the mechanics of this system, more creatine means higher ATP potential and an improved performance on short-duration high intensity and explosive tasks. Think sprinting, lifting, throwing, jumping and swimming.
Using supplementation to increasing free creatine within skeletal muscle essentially boosts the naturally occurring energy pools that replenish ATP. Alongside performance, boosting muscle creatine has an additional cell volumizing benefit by drawing water into the muscle. Over time, the swelling which results has the potential to both increase both protein synthesis and glycogen storage. Cool, huh?
Want to know more? Come visit us in-store and chat with one of our nutrition experts about where creatine can fit in your stack!