Alternative Title: Creatine Benefits, The Benefits of Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine or Creatine Monohydrate is arguably the most popular and basic bodybuilding and exercise supplement after protein powder and caffeine or preworkout. Creatine can come in other forms, but the most affordable and conventional form is creatine monoyhydrate.

During exercise, particularly high-intensity activity like weightlifting, Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) is rapidly burned for energy. When ATP is used for energy, it breaks down to Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP). ADP has two phosphate groups, whilst ATP has three. Creatine monohydrate and other creatine supplements convert to Phosphocreatine in the muscles. Phosphocreatine is a phosphate donor, which donates a phosphate group to ADP, rapidly turning it back into high energy ATP facilitating activity and strength. It can be thought of as a springboard, that ATP bounces back off of to get back into action.

You instinctively know that energy = activity. When you’re tired and ‘have no energy’, you feel and recognize that, that you can’t really do as much as you normally can and you aren’t as focused, strong, spry, and ‘energized’. Then, when you want to do something or have to do something you say to yourself ‘I need more energy’. This might happen when you don’t sleep too well or have an exhausting day the day before. In a broader sense, lots of people have hobbies or goals (including working out consistently), but complain of a lack of energy to actually do the things they want to each day. This all illustrates how, at a fundamental level, energy facilitates activity, or, that whenever you can’t do something it is because of a lack of energy (literally) and that ‘willpower’ or forcing it doesn’t work.

Creatine Monohydrate is typically taken at a dose of 5 grams per day. A loading-phase is sometimes followed, where creatine is taken in doses of 20-25g per day for several days in order to quickly saturate and build up the body’s stores of creatine, to achieve the maximum benefits quickly. After a week or so (5-7 days), the dose is lowered to the typical 5g a day as a maintenance dose, which replaces the amount of creatine lost each day.

Creatine Benefits

ATP & Energy Production

As stated, creatine helps sustain high energy production and increases ATP. This has a myriad of effects, as seen through most of these benefits. Creatine will give you more energy for activity, and more stamina to do whatever you want to do. You will feel less fatigue, and more alert, similar to how a good night’s rest or caffeine feels (without any depleted feeling). More energy means more everything. Your cells run on ATP, and therefore your performance is based on or according to this pathway, system, and resource.

Endurance

Arguably creatine’s most observable benefit, endurance is significantly improved with creatine supplementation. As opposed to increasing energy production above your normal baseline, creatine more so sustains consistent (high) energy level in this regard. Creatine will help you run longer, walk further, workout more, or make it easier to be active, on your feet all day, and work your job. Faster, stronger, farther, smarter and all that. If you have a weak constitution, you can essentially notice overnight improvements or a ‘doubling’ of your stamina and endurance. Sports and athletics also of course express this benefit well. More endurance can also mean better training and results, as you can train your muscles, skills, and more and therefore deeper. This also means mental endurance is improved with creatine, where you can think, study, focus, learn, and practice for longer.

Strength

Creatine can help improve strength performance, or improve your heavy lifting, especially your one-rep max or highest weight reps.

The best example of this is lifting a super heavy weight that you really have to put everything into, or watching powerlifters try to lift a heavy weight that they can just barely lift or really struggle with. Red in the face, tensing every muscle in the body, and finally managing to the lift weight off the ground – but having to drop it back down after a few seconds of trying. If the weight can be picked up off the ground, that means you can lift it. The reason you ‘give up’ or are forced to let go, isn’t because of willpower or strength but (high) energy. The ATP stores in your muscles are responsible for that greatest strength, that diminishes after the first several seconds. If you think about lifting that heavy weight again, you can picture how if you could keep lifting forever, you would manage to lift that weight up after several seconds. This can illustrate how the actual facilitation of your muscles (as energy) dictates strength, and how creatine can improve your strength and weight lifting. You can lift a heavier than normal weight 1 time, and/or you can lift a heavy weight 5 times, as an example.

Enhances Pump

Creatine pulls water into muscles and causes them to retain water. This enhances the ‘pump’ with exercise, and makes your muscles bigger, offering a cosmetic benefit. The enhanced pump also produces a much more fulfilling feel after exercising and with consistent exercise, i.e. harder, fuller feeling and looking muscles which can reciprocate or inspire your effort. You will look stronger and more buff in the mirror, and will feel stronger which has a myriad of positive effects.

Hydration

Since creatine pulls more water into cells, it theoretically improves hydration. It’s difficult to say whether this is true hydration or carries the benefits of hydration in the way of total body, but its easy to say more water = more hydration or the better.

Muscle Growth

One of the effects of improved hydration or increased fluid in the muscles, is creating a more optimal environment for muscle repair and growth; Muscle protein synthesis, recovery, and growth is increased by more water being pulled into muscle cells by creatine, and creatine’s other effects achieve this same benefit of improving muscle growth and its various mechanisms.

Mental Function

The brain runs on energy just like the muscles, and thus benefits from creatine. Anecdotes and some research has shown creatine to improve mental or cognitive function. You will likely notice greatly improved focus, memory, mental clarity, motivation or ease of working, and even learning with creatine monohydrate.

Some research has shown creatine to improve Dementia or Alzheimer’s and help to preserve memory & cognitive function in disease or old age.

Creatine has also been shown to reduce neurofinalmmation, which has a host of applications and benefits for a variety of neurological diseases and metnal illnessess, such as depression.

Sleep

Anecdotally, creatine can improve sleep or insomnia. This relates to improved mental function and improved mental health. Creatine can help calm the mind from ruminating at night with sleep, and help the body wind down into sleep more naturally each night. While it likely will not act as an immediate solution to insomnia, it will likely benefit anyone’s sleep and relaxation in bed as secondary effect.

Depression & Mood

As stated, creatine can improve depression and mood, such as by decreasing neuroinflammation. In fact, some research has shown creatine to be effective at reducing depression or depressive symptoms.