Creatine: Are You Ready For It?

Through my fitness journey I have had many questions surrounding Creatine. I know that some of my friends take it, and that I've heard it's one of the best supplements to take for gaining muscle mass. With that being said, though, what exactly is Creatine and how does it work?

I did some research and discovered that (according to bodybuilding.com) Creatine is a nitrogenous organic derived from the amino acids glycerine, arginine, and methionine. What Creatine does is it allows you to have a longer and larger work volume and theoretically it allows you to "get one more rep." Basically, Creatine serves as a rapid fuel source for the muscles during a workout, which allows you lifter harder for longer. 

Creatine helps produce fat-free muscle mass, improves maximum strength and endurance, and increases anaerobic power and performance in activities such as sprinting, jumping, etc. The reason so much skepticism surrounds Creatine use is because not everyone agrees that it actually does this for your body, but it does not seem to have any adverse effects. So the question is, should you drop some extra bucks on this product? 

Well this depends where you might be in your workout progress. I recently order Creatine for the first time because I feel like I have "hit a wall" in my mass gaining. Now I'm sure I haven't really stopped gaining mass altogether, I just don't feel like I am making the same type of progress I was a few weeks ago. In the weight-lifting world they call these "plateaus," or times when the muscles are no longer shocked into growth and repair they way they used to be. 

There are a few ways to solve this problem. One is to do what I am, adding a new supplement to your regimen. I feel that Creatine will give my body an extra edge so I can start making more noticeable mass gains like before. If you aren't ready to take the leap to new supplements, however, you can try just varying your workouts to better shock and stimulate the muscle groups. Check back to my previous post about CrossFit training if you want to try this type of method. 

Like I said above, there are different ways to handle plateaus and the decision to use Creatine is your own. The advice I would give you is if you feel like you are ready to take the next step in lifting, I think Creatine or similar product would be the right fit for you.