Why Use Creatine Monohydrate?

Creatine Monohydrate is widely ingested supplement by many bodybuilders, and for many reasons. This is mainly because it is one of the few dietary supplements proven to increase performance. First we will go ahead and review what creatine is, and how it is used in our bodies. Creatine is created in our bodies from the amino acids methionine, glycine, and arginine. Furthermore, it’s stored in our bodies as either creatine phosphate, or phosphocreatine (1). Now during high intense short amounts of exercise adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the main energy source, the problem is that it quickly used. For ATP to release energy, it releases a phosphate to create energy and then is now adenosine diphosphate (ADP). However, it needs an additional phosphate to produce more energy, and that is where creatine comes into play. Creatine phosphate gives a phosphate to ADP so it can then become ATP and again produce energy. So, in theory increased creatine phosphate stores can increase the amount of exercise you can perform during short intervals (1).

Research shows creatine monohydrate increases performance!
Now that we have gone over the basics of creatine lets now look at scientific research to see if it lives up to its hype. One study conducted had two groups, one added creatine to supplement their diet, and the other a placebo for 28 days. The end results portrayed that the creatine group had total weight increase of 2.42 kg, while the placebo only gained .85 kg, additionally they pointed out the water weight of both groups was similar showing that this increase would not be due to water-retention during the use of creatine. Additionally increases in bench press, squat, and power clean were all much higher. This study obviously shows that creatine aided in performance for people doing resistance training, and also those who are looking to add weight (2). Furthermore another study conducted found that when compared to the placebo maximal strength of the muscle groups trained increased 20-25%, and fat-free mass increased 60% more. Furthermore the group taking creatine had a higher muscle phosphocreatine stores (3). There are numerous other studies showing creatine’s effectiveness, however I believed the ones I highlighted show that it does work. 

Creatine is it toxic for our kidneys?
There is some concern about it being bad for the kidneys, however these statements are not true. One study performed had people who had used creatine 10 months to 5 years compared to a control group. They found that there was no statistical difference between for plasma contents and urine excretion rates of creatinine, urea, and albumin (4). In conclusion, research shows that creatine is an safe and effective supplement to use for enhanced performance.