Many athletes and bodybuilders turn to creatine to enhance their training performance. Forms of creatine supplements include liquid, powder and pill forms that require a one week loading phase to increase creatine levels in the body. Understanding how creatine affects your body will assist you in designing an effective workout that supports creatine use. Consult with your doctor before taking creatine supplements to ensure your safety.
Creatine
Creatine converts into creatine phosphate which muscles absorb for energy during activity. Although the human body produces creatine for energy, many body builders and athletes turn to creatine supplements to enhance their performance. In fact, the University of Maryland Medical Center website informs that Americans spend approximately 14 million dollars a year on creatine supplements.
Loading Phase
The initial week of creatine supplementation use begins with a loading phase. This phase requires consuming 5 g of creatine four times daily. A loading phase increases the level of creatine in the body. Next, a maintenance phase sustains creatine levels throughout your usage cycle. Dosage instructions may vary in certain creatine supplement brands. For safety, read the instructions before taking creatine supplements.
Anaerobic Exercises
Creatine enhances the performance in high intensity, short duration exercise. This brief and high demand type of activity is called anaerobic exercise. Anaerobic simply means exercise without oxygen. During anaerobic exercise, the intensity of movement places such a high demand on the body that the supply of oxygenated blood cannot keep up. Instead your body turns to glycogen stores to fuel muscles during activity. Creatine enhances muscle energy during anaerobic movements.
Weight Lifting
Weight lifting provides a method for anaerobic activity. A weight-training routine should consist of compound movements to maximize training time and results. Compound movements refer to the involvement of multiple muscle groups to perform a movement. Examples of compound exercises include the bench press, squat, shoulder press and deadlift.
Sprints
Sprinting offers a form of anaerobic exercise that involves running at an all-out effort for short distances. A typical sprint workout includes 50 to 100 meter sprints for 10 repetitions. ShapeFit.com suggests beginners should perform five repetitions to start and then gradually progress in volume. To allow for muscular recovery, sprint workouts should be performed only twice a week with at least one recovery day in between workouts.
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