There’s nothing like the feeling a sweat soaked workout can give you.
Whether you love to lift weights, run around a track, or play a sport, moving and testing the limits of your body makes you feel more alive than ever.
That’s why you’re proud to call yourself an athlete. No matter if you’re hustling in the gym or getting active outdoors, you’re always trying to improve your physique and performance.
To reach your goals, you don’t need to rely on the exertion of your body alone. There are a wide variety of supplements out there that athletes all over the world use to increase their gains and endurance.
One of the most popular supplements ever used to improve performance is creatine. It contains massive benefits for any athlete and can take your gains to a whole new level.
Here at Bear Balanced, we’ll break down the basics of what creatine can do to empower your athletic level.
What is creatine?
Creatine is essentially a substance that is already naturally found in your body in small amounts. It works within your muscle cells as phosphocreatine to help you produce even more energy while you’re doing some heavy-intensity workouts.
To keep up with a highly athletic lifestyle, plenty of athletes and bodybuilders take creatine as a supplement to gain more muscle and strength. It’s so widely used not just for its impact on exercise, but also because it's one of the most researched supplements with a high safety profile. [1]
Let’s take a closer look at the specific benefits of this substance to see how it can enhance your performance as well.
How creatine works for athletes
Creatine works in more ways than one to increase your athletic output. Here are the most significant benefits that you can expect from taking a supplement.
Increase your phosphocreatine supply
When you begin your high intensity workouts, your body relies on your phosphocreatine stores in your muscles to produce more ATP, which is the key energy source you need. If you simply don’t have enough stores, then you usually can’t go as long in your workouts without getting tired quickly. By taking a creatine supplement however, you can boost your phosphocreatine levels in your muscles from anywhere between 10-40%. [2] This means you can enjoy a longer and harder workout.
Increases muscle mass
Like most athletes, you probably want to see more lean muscle mass gains. They not only make your physique look fantastic, but also help you move better as you go about your day.
Thanks to a creatine supplement, you’ll be able to see noticeable results. That’s because this supplement is known for its powerful increases in muscle mass, both for untrained and elite athletes. How so?
Well, it works at the cellular level as you’re exercising to do a variety of things all at once. For instance, it’s known to increase satellite cell signaling, which promotes muscle repair and growth. [3] It also brings much needed hydration to each of your muscle cells and increases their volume for bigger muscles. [4] Your existing muscle mass is also preserved thanks to creatine’s ability to reduce protein breakdown. [5]
Among plenty of other benefits, the research shows that consistent use of creatine as a supplement can produce those gains you want.
In one study that took place over 14 weeks, it was found that older adults who took creatine alongside their weight-training program significantly increased leg strength and muscle mass. [6]
Another 12-week study conducted around weightlifters also showed that creatine supplement usage increased their muscle fiber growth 2-3 times more than training alone. [7]
If you’re looking for similar results, then creatine is a supplement that get you from where you are today to where you want to be in the future.
Increases your ATP capacity
Creatine doesn’t only increase your ATP levels during your high-intensity exercises, but also expands the capacity of your ATP production.
Under normal conditions where you don’t take any creatine, your ATP levels usually dip after just 8-10 short seconds of high-intensity activity. However, because creatine can empower your body to produce even more than before, you’ll be able to perform at your highest level for a few seconds longer. [8]
Works as a nootropic
Your phosphocreatine stores aren’t just located in your muscular cells. They’re also found in your brain.
Luckily, a creatine supplement doesn’t discriminate over one store of phosphocreatine over the other. It can work as a nootropic to improve the cognitive function of your brain so that you can experience better memory, creativity, and mental endurance. Plus, a lot of research has also shown that a regular intake of creatine supplements can help you build protection against several neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, strokes, epilepsy, and more. [9]
Final Thoughts
No matter what kind of physical activity you engage in, your muscles can benefit from a powerful creatine supplement. To aid the athlete within you, we’ve created the world’s first superfood creatine gummy supplement of its kind. It not only increases your energy stores for those high-intensity workouts, but also helps you increase muscle mass and develop a healthier brain. If you’re excited to go beyond your boundaries as a top performing athlete, then don’t hesitate to try our delicious Bear Balanced creatine supplement gummies today!
References
- Buford, Thomas W, et al. “International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Creatine Supplementation and Exercise.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 4, no. 1, 2007, https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-4-6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2048496/
- Kreider RB. Effects of creatine supplementation on performance and training adaptations. Mol Cell Biochem. 2003 Feb;244(1-2):89-94. PMID: 12701815. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12701815/
- Dangott B, Schultz E, Mozdziak PE. Dietary creatine monohydrate supplementation increases satellite cell mitotic activity during compensatory hypertrophy. Int J Sports Med. 2000 Jan;21(1):13-6. doi: 10.1055/s-2000-8848. PMID: 10683092. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10683092/
- Häussinger D, Roth E, Lang F, Gerok W. Cellular hydration state: an important determinant of protein catabolism in health and disease. Lancet. 1993 May 22;341(8856):1330-2. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(93)90828-5. PMID: 8098459. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8098459
- Parise G, Mihic S, MacLennan D, Yarasheski KE, Tarnopolsky MA. Effects of acute creatine monohydrate supplementation on leucine kinetics and mixed-muscle protein synthesis. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2001 Sep;91(3):1041-7. doi: 10.1152/jappl.2001.91.3.1041. PMID: 11509496. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11509496
- Brose A, Parise G, Tarnopolsky MA. Creatine supplementation enhances isometric strength and body composition improvements following strength exercise training in older adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2003 Jan;58(1):11-9. doi: 10.1093/gerona/58.1.b11. PMID: 12560406. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12560406
- Volek JS, Duncan ND, Mazzetti SA, Staron RS, Putukian M, Gómez AL, Pearson DR, Fink WJ, Kraemer WJ. Performance and muscle fiber adaptations to creatine supplementation and heavy resistance training. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999 Aug;31(8):1147-56. doi: 10.1097/00005768-199908000-00011. PMID: 10449017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10449017
- Terjung RL, Clarkson P, Eichner ER, Greenhaff PL, Hespel PJ, Israel RG, Kraemer WJ, Meyer RA, Spriet LL, Tarnopolsky MA, Wagenmakers AJ, Williams MH. American College of Sports Medicine roundtable. The physiological and health effects of oral creatine supplementation. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000 Mar;32(3):706-17. doi: 10.1097/00005768-200003000-00024. PMID: 10731017. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10731017/
- Smith RN, Agharkar AS, Gonzales EB. A review of creatine supplementation in age-related diseases: more than a supplement for athletes. F1000Res. 2014;3:222. Published 2014 Sep 15. doi:10.12688/f1000research.5218.1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4304302/