Creatine Monohydrate Supplements

Creatine monohydrate has been around for decades now. It has been used to assist in restoring muscle phosphocreatine and free creatine levels that become depleted during exercise, particularly power-based or high-intensity training. Phosphocreatine is the body's natural anaerobic energy resource, meaning that oxygen is not required for the generation of ATP (energy) via this pathway.

Phosphocreatine simply donates a phosphorus molecule to ADP, rebuilding the energy molecule backup to ATP (adenosine triphosphate). However, we only have a limited supply of phosphocreatine inside the muscle cell, which is where supplementation can come in handy. Our own natural reserves become depleted within ten seconds of any explosive training. After this, aerobic energy pathways are more heavily relied upon, such as glycolysis and beta-oxidation, which burn glucose and fat, respectively. 

Creatine is normally synthesized in the body from 3 amino acids, which are arginine, methionine, in the form of s-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) and glycine. We normally produce around 1 gram per day, and typically eat about 1 gram through food sources, unless we follow a vegan or vegetarian diet. Dosages are typically 5 grams daily, and it can be consumed with a substantial amount of carbohydrate or sugar to create an insulin surge, which facilitates its uptake into muscle tissue. 

Creatine monohydrate entered the sports supplement market way back in the early 1900s, and was extracted from meat by Michel Eugene Chevreul in 1832 (fish is also an excellent source). Countless research has been published touting the benefits of this tripeptide. A review article published in 2017 by Sports Medicine which examined 53 studies, assessing performance with creatine supplementation versus placebo.

They concluded that creatine supplementation is effective for upper-limb strength performance, where it was used for exercises that lasted up to 3 minutes. This is interesting, given that the phosphocreatine energy pathway is only put into significant use for intense exercises lasting around 10 seconds. However, Sometimes a noticeable competitive advantage can be obtained from a solid performance at the start of a short to medium duration event, such as an 800m run or 2 km sculling race. 

Given that creatine plays such an important role in ATP synthesis, it is no surprise that other areas of the body respond favourably from supplementation. Research has indicates that creatine can also assist with improving mood, intelligence and working memory.