Ask the Experts - Nutrition
Answers from Andrew Hamilton:
Q. I’m a rugby player and am trying to build muscle and lose some body fat. I’m considering using a creatine supplement and was wondering how effective it would be in helping me achieve my goals? Also, what’s the best way to use it?
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Answer:Creatine is a potentially effective and safe supplement for building muscle mass, but it’s important to realise how it works in order to get the best from it. In itself, creatine doesn’t exert any direct metabolic effect on muscle growth; what it does is to bolster your body’s reserves of a high-energy compound called phosphocreatine, which is stored in muscle tissue. Phosphocreatine provides your muscles with the energy required for very high intensity, short duration activities such as weight training or sprinting. Increased muscle stores of phosphocreatine from creatine supplementation enables your muscles to work a bit harder for bit longer; for example to get a couple more repetitions out at the end of set of bench presses, leading to an increased growth stimulus to the muscles involved. Coupled with enough post exercise carbohydrate, protein and rest, this can produce greater gains in muscle mass. And although creatine exerts no fat-burning effect, by increasing your lean muscle mass, you will be increasing your basal metabolic rate (how quickly you burn calories at rest), which can be useful for those trying to lose excess body fat. So yes, unlike many other sports supplements, creatine really can work if you combine it with the appropriate training! As for using creatine, it’s best taken in two phases:
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A loading phase in order to saturate the muscles with creatine;
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A maintenance phase to maintain saturation.
To promote creatine loading, you need to ingest in excess of 2 grams per day. Most studies on creatine loading have used a dosage of 20 grams per day (divided in four doses of 5 grams) for a period of 5-6 days. Once you’ve achieved saturation, you can reduce your creatine intake to around 2-3 grams per day, which will maintain saturation for up to 28 days. The efficacy of the maintenance dose in sustaining muscle creatine concentration beyond this period is unknown, which is why many athletes take a complete break and then begin new loading and maintenance phases.