This is an organic compound and is one of the most popular supplements people take when they workout. It is a substance that is found naturally in muscle cells, it can help muscles produce energy during heavy lifting or high intensity exercise. The most common form is creatine monohydrate. 

Several fators affect your body’s creatine stores, including meat intake, exercise, amount of muscle mass and levels of hormones such as testosterone and IGF-1. Around 95% of your body’s creatine is stored in muscles in the form of phosphocreatine, the other 5% is stored in your brain, kidneys and liver.

When you take creatine as a supplementation, you increase your stores of phosphocreatine- this is a form of stored energy in the cells, as it helps your body produce more of a high-energy molecule called ATP. When you have more ATP, your body can perform betterd durig exercise. Creatine also alters several cellar processes than can result to increased muscle mass, strength and recovery. 

Benefits of creatine 

• Boosted Workload– it allows more total work/volume in a session which is a key factor to help with progressive overload. Normally ATP becomes depleted after 8-10 seconds however taking creatine allows you to work for a few seconds longer. 
• Improved cell signalling– an increase in satellite cell signalling can aid muscle repair and new muscle growth 
• Raised anabolic hormones– studies have shown that a rise in hormones such as IGF-1 after taking creatine. 
• Reduced protein breakdown– this can help increase total muscle mass by reducing muscle breakdown. 
• Increased cell hydration– raises water content within muscular cells which can cause an increase in cell volume that can play a role in muscle growth. 
• Lower myostatin levels– high levels of myostatin can slow or prevent new muscle growth- taking creatine can reduce these levels. 

Dosage and Timing 

Start with a loading phase of 20g per day for 5-7 days. After this take 1g/10kg of bodyweight a day to maintain high levels within the muscle. Try to keep water intake high as creatine pulls water into your muscles resulting in you become dehydrated. 

The best time to take creatine is 30 minutes before your session (pre-workout) to allow your muscles to load up on energy. It is also good to take post-workout when your muscles are growing and rebuilding.