What Does Creatine Do?

A good pre-workout should get you fired up for battle. When it’s you against the weights room, there’ll be only one winner.

And if you’re looking to boost athletic performance and improve the quality of your workouts then look no further than creatine monohydrate.

This powerhouse organic compound is made up of the amino acids glycine, arginine and methionine.

It is produced naturally and primarily by the liver but can also be obtained in small amounts through meats such as tuna, beef and salmon.

In this article we take a look at why creatine should be in your pre-workout stack.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What is creatine?
• The benefits
• The solution – how to optimize performance

What is Creatine?

Creatine helps you produce adenosine triphosphate or ATP. This is the only source of energy that the body uses.

Although found in your liver, brain and kidneys, 95% of creatine is stored in your muscles.

Supplementing it gives you the ability to increase skeletal muscle storage capacity, which therefore increases your ability to increase ATP re-synthesis [1].

How does that help you?

It means, bigger, stronger workouts.

The Benefits of Creatine

As one of the most widely researched supplements on the market, creatine has been shown to boost energy production during high-intensity exercise thus improving performance.

It also increases your power, agility, speed and force too.

If you want to reduce fatigue and makes your workouts much more focused then this is the compound to do it

How?

By targeting brain power and performance.

Intense Training

During heavy weightlifting, maximal sprinting or anything else explosive, creatine is the primary fuel source used. The problem is though that without supplementing it, your body only stores a small amount.

At high-intensity, you’ll quickly run out of the limited amount in your body, and this can bring your workout intensity down with a bang. Your strength will plummet and you’ll feel like you’ve been hit by a truck.

Adding it to your pre-workout allows your muscles to store more creatine, ready for exercise.

Not only that, but this power house compound has also been found to help buffer the build up of pyruvic acid and the highly acidic hydrogen.

Both of these acids inhibit muscular contractions at high workloads, so by taking it in your pre-workout you’ll be able to work harder, for longer without suffering the effects of these by-products.

Creatine helps you build muscle

Another benefit of this compound is in its ability to add muscle volume by drawing water into your muscle cells.

How does this build muscle?

Firstly, it gives you the appearance of a fuller and more muscular physique.

Secondly, this cell volumizing effect can also trigger anabolic signalling processes that increase protein synthesis and muscle growth as well [2].

And creatine has also been shown to decrease levels of the muscle growth inhibitor myostatin – a molecule that works like a muscle growth off-switch [3]. Both of these factors together means more muscle cells and a more athletic physique.

Creatine isn’t just for bodybuilders though. Whether you’re a hard core lifter or more of a weekend warrior who want to look and feel better, then this pre-workout ingredient is for you.

Not only has it been found play a key role in athletic performance, it has also been found to improve daily function in the elderly. And it has also been shown to improve symptoms in those with neurological diseases and sarcopenia too.

Key Point: Creatine monohydrate improves high-intensity exercise, power output, speed and force. It also volumizes muscle tissue and sparks anabolic signalling pathways that increase muscle cells and protein synthesis.

The Solution

Whilst there are many different types of creatine available, monohydrate has been proven to be the best at increasing serum creatine levels [1]. Not only that but it is also the most effective at boosting body composition, strength and power too. It really is the gold standard.

We’ve added 1000 mg of creatine monohydrate to 4 Gauge. Fused with citrulline malate, this potent combination has been found to drastically increase your power and strength output by increasing ATP production by a staggering 34% [4].

Why in a pre-workout though?

Well, by taking this powerhouse compound prior to your workouts you’ll be able to push you through your PRs. You’ll also and make some drastic changes to your physique. If you want productivity, this is the compound to use.

References

1. Spillane, M et al. The effects of creatine ethyl ester supplementation combined with heavy resistance training on body composition, muscle performance, and serum and muscle creatine levels. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2009; 6:6
2. Deldicque, L et al. Creatine enhances differentiation of myogenic C2C12 cells by activating both p38 and Akt/PKB pathways. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2007; 293(4): C1263-71
3. Saremi, A et al. Effects of oral creatine and resistance training on serum myostatin and GASP-1. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2010; 317(1-2): 25-30
4. Bendahan D, Mattei JP, Ghattas B, Confort-Gouny S, Le Guern ME, Cozzone PJ. (2002). Citrulline/malate promotes aerobic energy production in human exercising muscle. Br J Sports Med. Aug; 36(4):282-9