Benefits:
Increased Muscle Mass: Creatine helps increase water retention in muscles, leading to a fuller, more volumized look and supporting muscle growth through improved performance.
Enhanced Performance: It can improve strength, power, and endurance during high-intensity workouts or sports.
Faster Recovery: Some research suggests creatine supplementation can help reduce muscle damage and inflammation after intense exercise, aiding in faster recovery.
Cognitive Benefits: Emerging studies indicate that creatine may support cognitive function, particularly in tasks requiring short-term memory or quick thinking.
Dosage:
Loading Phase (optional): 20 grams/day (split into 4 doses of 5g each) for 5–7 days to saturate muscle stores quickly.
Maintenance Phase: 3–5 grams/day, taken after the loading phase or as a daily dose if skipping the loading phase.
Safety:
Creatine is generally considered safe for most people when taken as directed. There’s no substantial evidence suggesting it causes dehydration or kidney damage in healthy individuals.
Performance Benefits for Bodybuilding
Increased Strength and Power:
Creatine enhances the availability of phosphocreatine in muscles, which replenishes ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the primary energy currency for muscle contractions.
This results in better performance during high-intensity activities like heavy lifting and explosive movements.
Enhanced Training Volume:
By delaying fatigue, creatine allows bodybuilders to perform more reps and sets, leading to greater muscle stimulation and growth over time.
Improved Recovery:
It aids in reducing muscle damage and inflammation post-workout, enabling quicker recovery and more consistent training frequency.
Greater Muscle Pumps:
Creatine draws water into muscle cells, leading to increased cell volume and a more pronounced "pump," which many bodybuilders find motivating.