Benefits of Creatine for Muscle Growth | How to Use for Results?

Explore how to use creatine for muscle growth the right way for maximum results!!

Creatine is well-established for its muscle-building effects because of its highly powerful action on muscle fibers.

Though naturally present in the muscles as an energy source, taking it as a supplement amplifies:

• Harder muscle gains,
• more strength, and
• better performance.

In terms of molecules and chemical nature, creatin is almost like amino acids and is mainly synthesized in the muscles from amino acids.

One of the main reasons to pick creatine supplements is to increase the energy in the muscles.

So, how does creatine work, and do you need it?

Creatine for Muscle Growth – Effects and Benefits!

Creatine mainly affects the athletic performance on supplementation.

While the main function is still boosting energy by increasing the creatine stores of the muscles, it could work in other ways too.

For example, the effects of creatine on muscle growth are due to the following pathways that creatine follows:

• Increases the amount of work done – The creatine growth of muscles could be a long-term growth as the growth occurs because of more work done in just one session.
• Signals from the cells – It can stimulate the transmission of messages between cells to call for muscle cell repairs. This is why creatine for muscle recovery is a popular choice.
• Hormonal balance – Creatine helps muscle growth by stimulating the release of growth-stimulating hormones. This was reported by many studies.
• Reduced protein metabolism – Proteins are building blocks of muscles and reduced breakdown of proteins can help in better muscle growth.
• Reduces the amount of myostatin your body contains – Myostatin is a hormone that prevents the differentiation and growth of muscles. But creatine can inhibit the hormones and hence contribute to muscle growth.

Altogether these actions of creatine on the muscles not only promote muscle growth but also help out with many benefits for the muscles.

Benefits of Creatine for Muscle Growth [Explained]

Following are some of the research-backed and proven benefits of creatine for lean muscle growth.

#1. Huge Muscle Gains

There is either a short-term or a long-term creatine effect on muscle growth as many studies found that creatine can:

• Improve strength 
• Enhances muscle mass
• Increases the growth of muscle fibers
• Can double up the total body mass

One such study that found creatine effective in muscle growth was conducted for 12 weeks where creatine supplements and weightlifting programs were combined.

According to the results, creatine was found to increase muscle growth by 2 to 3 times more than just taking weight resistance. Considering this, it’s no wonder creatine happens to be among one of the best superfoods for bodybuilding and muscle growth.

#2. Improvements in Muscle Strength

Creatine can improve phosphocreatine levels to increase the amount of energy produced.

Since energy works for high-strength training programs, continuing with creatine can help you boost up the strength as well as the power of muscles.

According to studies, creatine can:

• Can increase strength by 8%
• Weighlifting power increases by 14%
• Bench press power can go up to 43%

And all these changes are just because of an increase in the energy levels.

Usually, without creatine supplements, the energy load lasts for 8-10 seconds in high-intensity workouts but because of the supplements, you get extra performance and extra time.

#3. Enhanced Energy Levels

Naturally, your muscles have the capacity of holding enough energy for 8 to 10 seconds of high-intensity workouts.

This energy is formed by the phosphocreatine present in the muscles.

As you take creatine supplements, the phosphocreatine increases, and hence the energy production increases.

According to a study taking 2 grams of creatine a day for 6 days can have an impactful increase in your energy stores.

#4. Other Benefits for Muscles

• Creatine can volumize your muscle cells by increasing water content
• It can stimulate the formation of new proteins for more muscle synthesis
• Creatine helps in faster muscle recovery and also preserves lean muscles

Despite the many benefits of creatine for muscle growth, sometimes there could be possible side effects of the supplements.

Creatine for Muscle Growth: Side Effects

Creatine has gone through a lot of research ranging from a few months to a few years.

None of these research pieces pointed out any negative feedback on the effects of creatine on muscle growth when taken in the right amount.

But when the dosage exceeds the healthy limit, there could be some possible side effects.

These side effects of creatine can include:

1. Water retention – Creatine can pull fluid into the cells through osmosis causing water retention and leading to increased weight. But that weight is not in the form of fat but form of edema.
2. Anxiety and restlessness – Lots of creatine in the body can suppress the amount of serotonin produced by your brain leading to anxiety.
3. Difficulty in breathing – It’s usually an allergic reaction to creatine.
4. Upset stomach – Creatine in excess can cause the water to pull in the intestine leading to diarrhea.
5. Tiredness – Creatine, along with your weight-loss strategies like not eating right, can land you in a calorie deficient state which could make your feel tired.
6. Headache – The other effects of creatine in the body could cause direct headaches.
7. Rashes – Allergic effect
8. Vomiting – This can happen because of the intestinal effects of creatine.

In rare cases, excess creatine can cause kidney complications.

Other than overdosing there could also be possibilities of interactions of creatine with other compounds that you take.

For example, combining creatine with caffeine amplifies the risks of negative effects of the former.

Some sections of people are often at higher risk of developing such side effects:

• Children below the age of 18
• Lactating women
• Pregnant women
• Patients with blood sugar

Other than these people, anyone above the age of 18 can take creatine in the right way to enjoy the benefits.

But since youngsters are more inclined towards creatine and often exceed the limit, here is how you can take creatine for best results.

How to Use Creatine for Muscle Growth?

There are three steps to taking creatine for muscle growth,

• Determining the type of creatine 
• Marking the dosage
• Timing the dosage

First off, choosing the right creatine supplement for you is of extreme importance in order to get any measurable result.

Best Creatine for Muscle Growth

Creatine is available in various forms that are easily accessible like:

• Creatine phosphate
• Creatine ethyl ester
• Creatine Monohydrate

However, not all forms of creatine work at the same level, some are more beneficial than others.

Till now, researchers have found, that creatine monophosphate is the most effective form of creatine.

What also makes creatine monophosphate a popular choice is that it’s not expensive and is quite a cheaper option than other forms.

However, you have to have a proper dosage of creatine to let the benefits kick in.

How Much Creatine Should I Take to Build Muscle?

Generally, creatine dosage is marked as loading as in most of the studies the dosage starts with a large dosage which increases creatine stores quickly.

But this increase depends on how much creatine your muscles already had before you started the supplement.

For example, people with low creatine stores or people who eat less fish or chicken usually notice an increase in stores by 20 to 40%.

Moving on with the loading rules of creatine:

• The creatine dosage for muscle growth starts with 0.3 grams per kg of your body weight for 7 days, this would be around 5 grams of creatine 4 times a day.
• Then decrease the load to just 3-5 grams of creatine a day.

But sometimes, the daily dosage might seem tiring for youngsters raising questions about the importance of taking creatine daily.

Should I Take Creatine Every Day?

There hasn’t been direct research that talks about whether taking creatine daily is important.

But yes, there is research that suggests even cycling techniques can yield a good amount of creatine growth.

According to the cycling and creatine loading strategy, the dosage depends on what benefits you want from creatine:

Start with three grams of creatine for 28 days.

For the size and strength of your muscles make it 6 grams of creatine for 12 weeks.

This strategy helps increase the muscle stores gradually!

Hence, you can even go for loading where you have to take a continuous daily dosage of the supplement or make it cyclic.

The latter involves taking a break from the regular dosage.

While this was all about creatine for the growth of muscles, there are also some of the other benefits that make people inclined towards it.

Other Health Benefits of Creatine

Other than increasing muscle size, energy, and strength, creatine supplementation is also helpful in:

#1. Blood Sugar

Creatine can help regulate healthy blood sugar levels by reducing sugar levels when combined with a good workout.

This is because creatine can increase the functioning of the glucose transporter type 4 which transports the glucose to the muscles.

#2. Neurological Disorders

Creatine can help relieve some of the symptoms of neurological disorders as creatine increases the levels of phosphocreatine.

However, we still need more research on the same as these results came from animal pieces of evidence.

#3. Cognitive Functions

According to science, the brain requires energy for complex decisions and functioning.

Since creatine supplementation increases the levels of phosphocreatine it can also help in producing more energy levels.

They can also help in the release of serotonin.

Conclusion

Creatine is a famous muscle growth supplement these days with more and more youngsters getting to know it closely.

With some great health benefits and strong results for your muscles, creatine is not just a muscle growth enhancer.

Rather it’s a complete supplement for your muscle’s strength, size, and even recovery.

But with benefits come the negatives, and so even creatine carries some negative effects when taken in excess!

Thus, with creatine, you need to be conscious about the dosage too!

Hopefully, now you know how to include creatine in your muscle-building routine. If you still have more questions, do leave them in the comments below.