Creatine And Running – All Information About Creatine And Running

Athletes or bodybuilders know what’s the relationship between creatine and running. Since the 1970s, creatine has been used as a well-known supplement. This organic acid is found in the human body. As a supplement, creatine could help in building muscles and improving stamina by offering the cells present in our bodies a boost full of energy.

Creatine is being synthesized in our kidneys and liver for delivering power and strength by filling up the body’s requirement of creatine phosphate, which is the building block of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). This is an energy store that comes in play throughout high-intensity workouts. That’s the reason creatine is added as a supplement to the healthy regime and a good diet. Also, creatine can help in various fitness areas, ranging from dieting and strength training to creatine running.

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What is Creatine? Why Does It Have an Effect?

Creatine has a glorious and pretty long history in comparison to other supplements. Creatine monohydrate in the supplemental form was taken up first by Sally Gunnell and Linford Christie in the 90s. Now, it has become the most widely used and heavily researched ergogenic supplement after caffeine on the market.

This organic substance is formed from amino acids, glycine and arginine. A human body manufactures around one gram per day. Also, it can be obtained from an omnivorous diet. Also, it is nothing like a steroid. The job of creatine is to act as a storehouse of the energy currency ‘phosphate’. This creatine phosphate is used for restoring energy molecule ATP in the cell after it runs down as the cells consume energy.

Creatine is an organic acid that our body naturally produces. Our bodies can even obtain this acid from the diet like fish and meat. The primary use of creatine is the energy transfer in cells. The main idea is that more intake of creatine helps in the quick energy turnover during exercise. The reason why creatine is so popular among athletes or runners is that it is a readymade supply of ATP, which provides all the energy required for high-intensity workouts like weight lifting. It even holds relevance to runners. Its use is not restricted by the FIFA, NCAA, IOC, or USOC. However, several sports organizations do not endorse using it and are closely looking at this problem.

How Does Creatine Work?

Intermittent, high-intensity exercise like running requires a quick energy transfer and that’s what creatine does best. This organic substance is quite significant for energy transfer. Most studies have stated that high-intensity workouts and recovery between and after bouts of workouts could be enhanced using creatine. These studies use limited sprinting repeats or weight training in laboratories. Long-duration, low-intensity exercise needs steady energy production at slower rates.

Using creatine supplements, recovery from aggressive workouts could be enhanced. If an athlete recovers faster, then they could start the next workout session sooner or could even train at a higher intensity. In that way, they could increase the training quality. The usage of creatine has been taken up in most sports as a training aid as opposed to a performance aid on the game day.

How Creatine Could Help Runners

As the advantages of creatine are shown throughout the high-intensity exercise, long-distance runners who are in search of an endurance, energy boost might assume they have to look somewhere else. However, the creatine supplements could boost the quality of high-intensity workout, a significant augmentation of workout routines, and importantly when training towards a particular goal, for instance, a marathon.

How to Take Creatine

Usually, creatine is supplied in the powder form and like any fitness augmentation or diet. You can incorporate it best into the lifestyle as a part of the consistent routine. You should try taking creatine every day at the same time. Creatine is easily available in the liquid form, for purity, effectiveness, and ease of storage. However, it is advisable to take it in the powder form. This is because creatine stays in your body for more than an hour, runners need to take it immediately before workouts for maximum results.

To begin with, take five grams of creatine powder, four times a day. The recommended creatine dosage is to spread out over the course of five days for the beginning phase. After you have mixed it with a liquid, you should immediately drink creatine. This is because it is going to degrade if you leave it pre-mixed for any period of time.

How to Maintain your Results

After you have loaded your body effectively with creatine over a period of five days, you have to take very little for sustaining results. Now, you need to just take five grams a day. A very popular method to take creatine is to mix it with fruit juice. The reason being creatine gets into the muscles rapidly in the presence of insulin. You can follow this advanced phase for as long as you require for achieving results.

If you are thinking about whether you should take creatine on cardio days or not, watch this video to get your answers.

Learn More about Creatine and Running

Here are a few more things that you should need to know about creatine and running!

Creatine doesn’t work for everybody. Some people are known as non-responders, where there is no method for determining who will respond or who will not.
Some athletes report about gastrointestinal and muscle cramping, but there’s little to no scientific evidence regarding it.
After you have taken a supplement, the body’s own making of that substance could be lessened. Thus, it reduces creatine’s energy-boosting effects.
With any dietary supplements, it is quite normal to concern about the purity. As you know, the control is not rigid when it comes to the commercial supplements. Appeals made by athletes are denied summarily when they tested positive after consuming a supplement having a substance banned by IOC, FIFA, USOC, NCAA, etc.
Lastly, there involves the possibility of side effects. The most common side effect is the rapid gain in weight. There are reports regarding the effect of high creatine doses on the kidneys. However, there is no long-term study that could tell the potential side effects of chronic usage. Also, some unpublished, ongoing research states that the usage of creatine might lead to the growth of chronic compartment syndromes in legs.

So, Is Creatine Safe?

Even after stories about muscle cramps, upset stomach, and kidney damage persist, the good news is that creatine is safe by far the most ergogenic supplement available out there. Most studies, both long and short term, run on this supplement clearly states this fact based on a number of evidence. So, there is no need to think more about whether this supplement is safe or not to consume. However, the only caution here is for people who have pre-existing conditions like kidney diseases to confirm with their doctor before they begin supplementing.

Conclusion

So, this is all about creatine and running. This organic substance is one of the most scientifically valid supplements available out there. While taking this supplement, you need to follow the proper usage. Go with a typical dose of about 3-5 grams a day or 20 grams for 5 days for rapidly elevating the creatine stores of your muscles.

For high-intensity exercise, creatine could enhance performance by around 15%, while helping you to gain strength. It is important to consider that creatine offers no benefits for lower-intensity workouts. Additionally, it is quite safe to use creatine for a longer time. Now, boost your creatine running sessions like never before with this organic supplement!

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