These are different questions with different answers. First lets look at why creatine makes you stronger.

Creatine helps to provide energy for our muscles. When a muscle contracts the first 10 seconds or so is fueled by adenosine-triphosphate (ATP). ATP is very efficient at fueling the muscles for quick and explosive movements, such as weight lifting. After 10 seconds the muscle has exhausted its supply of ATP and more is needed. That is where creatine comes in.

The body stores its creatine as creatine phosphate. The creatine phosphate is able to give up its phosphate molecule to adenosine-diphosphate (ADP) to create more ATP. If you have more creatine phosphate available then you can increase the rate of ATP synthesis as well as the amount of ATP synthesized. Studies have shown that supplementing with creatine can increase the amount of creatine phosphate in the muscles up to 20%. It allows you muscles to do a greater amount of work for a longer time. For you and me this means heavier weights and more reps. And that means increased muscle hypertrophy, which brings us to why creatine makes us bigger.

Actually, creatine increases the bodies size and weight through two ways. The first I have already mentioned. Because creatine allows us to lift heavier and longer we stimulate more muscle fibers and thus gain muscle mass from that route. But there is more.

Creatine also causes the muscles to hold water. Not like the water retention that makes you look smooth, but instead it pulls water into the spaces between your muscles cells. This makes the muscles fuller and bigger and also increases muscle mass and weight. Over the longer term studies indicate that the increase in muscle mass is more than just water. One possibility that seems to have merit is that the increased pressure in the muscle stimulates protein synthesis. That’s how our muscles grow. There are also studies that show an increase in the positive nitrogen balance which would also lead to increased protein synthesis and a decrease in protein breakdown.

There is no need to worry about side effects with creatine.

There is also no need to cycle creatine or stop using it. Nor does it become necessary to increase your dose. If you do choose to stop you will likely experience a small drop in weight as some water leaves you muscles. You may also lose some strength, but there is no reason to expect that you will lose any of your muscle mass.

In closing let me remind you that it is not the creatine that causes your increase in strength and size. The creatine just makes that possible. It is your hard work, intensity and dedication to your workouts that will cause you to grow. There is no replacement for this so just get out there, lift big and grow!

Without creatine no muscular contraction would be possible as it is part of the cells energy path. The muscles energy in the first 10 seconds of intense work comes from adenosine triphosphate. It gives up one of the high energy phosphates to the cells for energy and becomes adenosine diphosphate. Creatine is stored in the muscles as phosphocreatine. Once all the ATP is exhausted phosphocreatine reacts with creatine kinase to give its phosphate group back to the ADP and form more ATP. This reaction also prevents the use of glycogen as an energy source and also stops the formation of lactic acid (that is what makes your muscles burn when you lift). So, the more creatine and phosphocreatine stored in your body the longer the cells can continue to function on ATP and the more work your muscles can do. In other words you lift heavier for more reps. Creatine supplementation has been shown to increase the level of phosphocreatine by up to 20%.

Because of the way that creatine works in the body it has three main effects

1. Increased strength
2. Increased capacity for work
3. Increased size or muscle mass

Creatine comes in several forms, but the most popular by far is creatine monohydrate. This is just creatine with a water molecule added. It works ok, but the absorbtion is not great so more needs to be taken. Absorbtion can be increased by creating an insulin spike using a simple sugar, but there is some question if this is good since insulin is also responsible for fat storage.

A second form of creatine is rapidly becoming popular and this is creatine ethyl ester. This is creatine monohydrate that has been esterified to promote better absorbtion. Reports indicate that it increases absorbtion 30-40 fold!

You take in about 1 gram of creatine a day, mostly from meat and fish. Your body also produces another 1 gram a day. Only 2 grams, but you can store many times more than that. And the more creatine you can hold in your muscles the greater the benefit you get from creatine. That is why we use creatine to raise the level of creatine in our bodies.

But don’t take my word for it alone. If you look at all of the professional bodybuilders and athletes you’ll find that a majority of them use creatine too. In fact, 75% of the competitors at the 1996 olympic games used creatine. It should be noted as well that if you already have a diet high in red meat you may not experience as many benefits from creatine. Remember red meat has high levels of creatine so you are already getting increased amounts.

Creatine Articles:
Creatine Facts & Creatine Side Effects Exposed

Creatine Facts & Creatine Side Effects Exposed 01-25-2006 4:29 pm

Learn the true creatine facts! There is a lot of misinformation concerning creatine and more specifically the benefits of creatine, reported creatine side effects, creatine dangers, etc.

If you’ve ever wondered if this controversial supplement will work for you, just read this article on the true and unbiased creatine facts and you’ll finally know. We’ll go over both sides of the creatine debate and look at just how accurate the information is.

Creatine is one of the very few supplements that actually has years of extensive research conducted on it by countless university and medical centers world-wide.

Here are three proven creatine facts to get started; Creatine can help you increase your strength, it can make you leaner and it can improve your speed.

Possibly the biggest reason for using it as a part of your over-all exercise program, is of course to significantly improve muscle strength, size and endurance.

Before getting into any more creatine facts and discussing any potential creatine dangers or creatine side effects you have to understand what it really is.

Your muscles need something known as Adenosine Triphosphate or ATP as fuel. In most individuals, muscles only have a supply of ATP that will allow for a short duration of work lasting about 6 seconds.

Unfortunately, most exercises and activities require more than 6 seconds to complete. One of the main benefits of creatine is that it acts as ATP fuel in your muscles to allow your muscles to continue working at maximum capacity for another 12 seconds or so.

Look at it this way; think of your muscles as a car engine. The Adenosine Triphosphate is the fuel and creatine is an octane booster that allows for a much improved level of performance.

Most people find the greatest benefits from using creatine is during high intensity, muscle contraction work such as; all forms of weight lifting and sprinting.

That doesn’t mean that people who jog, compete in marathons, bike races, etc. won’t see an improvement. It’s just that high intensity activities have more pronounced results.

During endurance activities it appears that creatine will only help your ATP system as much as it needs to and no more.

Here are a couple more fitness related creatine facts: Creatine has been proven to reduce what’s known as “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness”. This is the extreme sore & stiff feeling you have in your muscles 2 days after lifting weights.

Another of the benefits of creatine is that it drastically reduces recovery time. This means you can work out harder without the risk of overtraining.

Here are some creatine facts that will save you a bunch of money; Plain discount creatine is all you need to achieve noticeable results. There’s no need to waste money on the numerous “designer creatine” brands and products that are much more expensive and don’t offer any additional benefits.

Creatine facts about naturally occurring creatine in your body; Creatine is found naturally in everyone’s body. Your body can manufacture it’s own but not enough for improvements in health and fitness.

Creatine is also found in foods such as beef, pork, salmon, cod, herring and tuna.

You may be asking yourself this question right about now: If creatine occurs naturally in the above listed meats why not just get it that way?

Actually there are a few good reasons why this will not work.

First, vegetarians need creatine too. If you don’t like eating meat you can’t get creatine from a food source.

Next, no one can eat the required amount of meat each day that it takes to get enough creatine in your system to make a difference. Even if you could eat enough it still wouldn’t do you any good because you would be very overweight and unhealthy.

By getting your creatine from a quality supplement you can make sure you are getting the proper amount in the easiest way.

Creatine facts concerning how much you should be supplementing with; Most companies producing and selling it suggest a dose of about 2 – 5 grams each day. This would equal approximately ½ to 1 full teaspoon.

If you have a larger frame and more muscle mass you should stick with the 5 grams per day to see the best results.

Some reports have suggested certain creatine side effects such as extreme dehydration. Here are the creatine facts; It actually “super-hydrates” your muscles making dehydration almost impossible.

Now, the only proven negative creatine side effects occur in people with pre-existing kidney problems. Creatine is excreted through the kidneys and because of the “super-hydration” will cause your kidneys to work harder.

Hopefully these creatine facts will help you make an informed decision on using it to help you reach your health & fitness goals. Patrick Mckeeman has very quick, easy & effective health & fitness solutions for you. For extensive creatine facts & creatine side effects please go to: http://www.man-health-fitness-solutions.com/creatine-side-effects.html