Your body contains creatine in the liver, kidneys and pancreas. Food sources like red meat and fish also have this naturally occurring amino acid. Creatine supplements achieved popularity among bodybuilders and competitive athletes with American creatine sales totaling $14 million per year, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Understanding how creatine assists in performance will uncover whether creatine use improves your cardiovascular ability.
Function
Muscle tissue stores the majority of your body's total creatine content, according to MedlinePlus. Your body converts creatine into creatine phosphate, which further changes into ATP and is used for energy during activity. This energy conversion has been associated with increased muscular recovery, increased strength and overall athletic performance.
Supplementation
Creatine supplements come in a variety of forms including powders, liquids and capsule form. The recommended creatine dosage to improve athletic performance consists of 20 g during a five day loading period followed by 2 g daily for maintenance. Anaerobic testing has also proved that a daily loading dose of 9 g improves performance. Read the specific product dosage instructions and, more importantly, speak with your doctor before taking creatine supplements to ensure your safety.
Benefits
Benefits from taking creatine supplements include increases in muscular strength and size only during high intensity, short duration exercises. Brief, high intensity activities include weightlifting and sprinting. These facts prove that creatine only enhances anaerobic performance in humans.
Research
If you're seeking improvements in cardiovascular performance through creatine you may be disappointed. A study covered in a 2005 issue of the "Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research" reported creatine supplementation fails to improve performance in aerobic and endurance activities. Increases in performance are experienced only in sprinters and weightlifting athletes because of the anaerobic nature of these brief and intense activities.
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