So there’s a lot of hype out there about creatine supplements.
You may have heard it.
Some say it’s the greatest over the counter legal performance enhancer known to man.
Others say its worthless and overhyped.
This is usually the case with anything supplemental and fitness related.
And usually the truth is somewhere in the middle.
In this article we’ll give the straight shoot on creatine supplements and how they can be used for women.
Like all supplements, it is only as good as the fitness and nutritional regime that you have.
Don’t bother with it if you don’t have your exercise and food foundation in line.
Let’s start by answering the straight question…
Can Women Use Creatine? Will It Work? Is It Safe?
The short answer is yes.
It can be used effectively for women who want to get more out of the exercise regime.
Creatine supplements are primarily used to build lean muscle and enhance strength, power, and endurance of your muscles.
So you can think of it as a tool to help you get more toned lean muscle on your very feminine body, but also as a tool to make your workouts more intense in a good way.
A word about who should consider using creatine supplements.
Creatine is generally recommended to the type of gal who is serious and pretty intense about her workouts. This is not the supplement/tool for you if you are the more casual fitness gal who is just looking to shape up a bit and get healthy.
Creatine is more for the gal who is trying to maximize her performance. So think soccer player. Or figure model. Or gymnast. Or if you’re a pretty competitive/hardcore swimmer. A gal who wants to make the most out of her ability to perform her craft and is looking for that extra boost to her muscles.
Now whenever there is a discussion about putting on muscle and women, there is always a disclaimer.
Creatine supplements, just like any other legal supplement, is not going to make you look like the incredible Hulk or Superman.
Women simply do not have the hormonal levels or physiological engineering to put on muscle like men do.
You won’t wake up one morning and have 22 inch biceps.
The muscle you put on will be feminine muscle. No doubt.
Summary:
Yes creatine supplements can be used by women
It is used to enhance your strength and lean muscle
It is generally for women who are very serious about their fitness regime
It will not make you look like masculine jacked pumped up bodybuilder
What Is Creatine?
Creatine is an awesome little nutrient that provides energy by helping your muscles maximize the use of its natural energy source throughout your workout.
Your body in fact produces a certain amount of creatine naturally, you’ll get a certain amount if you eat certain kinds of fish or red meat.
Your body stores creatine in your muscles naturally but all by itself your body won’t use up all of the storage space it actually has for creatine.
To maximize your bodies use of creatine you could technically grub out on steak all day. But most ladies are not ready to feast like a lioness just for the sake of creatine.
If you’re interested in maximizing your efforts in the gym you can take a creatine supplementation. It usually comes in powder form.
Summary:
Creatine supplementation gives energy to your muscles
Your body produces creatine naturally, and you can get creatine from foods like red meat and fish
You can increase creatine intake through supplementation and keep more in your muscles
What Does Creatine Do?
In a nutshell, creatine supplementation will help improve your workout performance by fueling your muscles with more energy. It’s different from pre-workout supplement, although some pre-workout supplements do contain creatine. Pre-workouts usually have a blend of ingredients to really make you FEEL more energized. So they usually contain caffeine and other stimulants like it.
Creatine alone won’t give you the high that caffeine or a standard pre-workout does. If used properly you’ll notice more output from the volume of your workout itself. It’s supplying more energy directly to your actual muscles.
How Does Creatine Work In My Body?
If you want to know how creatine actually works, lets get a bit nerdy for a moment.
Creatine gives your muscles sustained energy by replenishing ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate), the energy currency of your muscle cells. In your muscles, creatine combines with a phosphate (Pi) particle to create a substance called phosphocreatine (PCr). In this new kind, PCr plays an key role in energy metabolism within your muscle cells, especially in activities that require shorts bursts of extreme energy, like weight-lifting and sprinting.
So if you want your muscles to contract so you can move or raise a weight, you have to use up ATP. When your muscles contract, ATP is broken down to adenosine di-phosphate (ADP) and a phosphate molecule, with the help of the enzyme ATPase, producing the preferred final product: energy to permit your muscles to move.
In your muscles, there’s only a limited supply of ATP. So, if you utilize all your ATP without renewing it, your muscles will run out of energy and you will fatigue rapidly. In order to renew ATP, you need another Pi particle, which is mostly supplied from the creatine molecule, PCr. The Pi is separated from PCr in the creatine kinase response and contributed to ADP to reform ATP. This response enables you to work harder for a longer time period, which means you can develop more muscle and burn more fat without tiring out too rapidly.
Summary:
The ATP particle is stored in your muscles.
Your muscles use ATP as fuel.
ATP ends up being diminished throughout training and tiredness sets in.
Creatine helps your body renew the depleted ATP quickly, providing more fuel to your muscles. This means your workouts are more productive and can increase in intensity.
That means by extension that your performance is enhanced.
The Benefits of Creatine for Women.
Better Training Sessions
Increased Muscle Endurance
Helps Muscle Cells Produce More Energy
Improves High-Intensity Exercise Performance
Speeds Up Muscle Growth
Creatine will make you feel more powerful by increasing the blood circulation to your muscles. This leads to higher intensity in your workouts and increased workout intensity will undoubtedly result in increased muscle mass. It’s crucial to bear in mind that it is very challenging for females to develop lots of muscle mass as ladies don’t have sufficient testosterone to naturally accomplish a Superman body. Instead of bulking up, your additional muscle mass will allow for a tighter, leaner body, which will speed up your metabolism (see also ‘A Guide To Cutting And Bulking For Women‘). Creatine has actually also been revealed to lower tiredness, advantage endurance, boost strength and power during resistance training and improve the recovery process.
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