What Is Creatine And Can It Help With Fitness?

Nutrition is essential for fitness success, and supplementing your exercise with a trip to our cafe barn can help solidify your workout and help you meet your fitness goals.

Most of the time, the best advice for building muscle mass is not too dissimilar to the Eatwell Guide, focusing on fruits, vegetables and protein-rich meat and legumes.

One substance that is often discussed in fitness circles is creatine, a substance found in muscle cells that provides them with the energy to continue working during exercise.

It is credited amongst some athletes and bodybuilders, as well as the International Society of Sports Nutrition, with improved performance during exercise, leading to increased strength, greater muscle mass and more efficient recovery.

It has become a popular supplement, taking in a wide variety of forms, which has been credited alongside high-intensity workout regimes for producing short and long-term muscle growth.

This is primarily the result of increased levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the high-energy molecule that phosphocreatine helps the body produce during exercises.

Creatine supplements have historically been particularly popular with vegetarian and vegan bodybuilders, as the greatest natural sources of creatine come from red meat, oily fish and animal-based milk.

Ultimately, as far as the current studies and position statements from sports nutrition organisations have suggested, creatine in small doses can help people to increase their muscle mass and boost performance.

If those are part of your fitness goals, adding a small amount of creatine is, studies suggest, useful for adding muscle mass, particularly for vegetarians and older people exercising to maintain their muscle mass.

However, whilst it can help, it is also not a necessary supplement and most people who have a healthy diet filled with lean meat and seafood will have enough creatine to enjoy the athletic benefits without the need for additional supplementation.