Is creatine for men only?

Hundreds of studies have shown time and time again that creatine monohydrate enhances strength, increases lean body mass and improves your exercise performance – regardless of gender. This is what you need to know.

Just two decades ago, there were very clear differences in how men and women exercised. The former stuck to the weight room, while the latter did aerobics, but as science advanced, exercise recommendations became unisex, because the prescription for a healthy body and mind is universal.

So, if you’re a woman who enjoys regular strength training to gain muscle and burn fat, than you eat, rest and supplement to reach your goals faster. This might also mean shunning a supplement such as creatine monohydrate because you think it will make you big, bulky and bloated.

Keep reading to find out why this myth could be costing you your dream physique and seriously shortchanging your ability to hit your goals.

HOW IT WORKS

Aside from whey protein, creatine is arguably the most widely researched sports supplement on earth.

Adults have 80-130g of creatine in their body, with 1-2% being naturally degraded and excreted each day. So your levels need to be replenished regularly. To a certain degree, this is achieved by the body’s own creatine synthesis and through the food you consume.

However, getting significant amounts of creatine from food is only possible by eating plenty of fish and meat. Moreover, cooking and food preparation can result in creatine loss. That’s why it’s beneficial to supplement creatine.

Creatine monohydrate is a molecule produced from amino acids in the body and mainly stored in the form of energy-rich phosphocreatine. Phosphocreatine, created by your body from creatine, is a vital energy source for activities which involve short bursts of power and muscular contraction – such as weight training or sports.

Maximally filled creatine stores lead to optimal results which is why a creatine supplement may be the right choice for you. Supplementing it will give you significantly greater reserves compared to what you can get from food alone.

WHY WOMEN SHOULD USE IT

Whether you want to get leaner or not, the simple science is that more muscle burns more body fat because muscle mass needs more energy than adipose (fat) tissue, even in a resting state. Therefore, if you want to lose weight or just maintain your current body weight while improving your athletic performance, it is smart to take the best possible care of your muscle health.

To help you achieve this, creatine allows you to train harder for longer – especially in high intensity settings. And this will help you achieve all your fitness goals faster, no matter what they might be. It also assists with your ability to recover from exercise by making sure your muscles have a continuous supply of energy for high-intensity efforts.

What about the side-effects you might have heard about, such as water retention and bloating? This is not how you’d feel with your once a month bloat or after indulging in pizza and champagne. While creatine will slightly increase water weight, this retention will be distributed across all your muscles and will be barely noticeable. But it’s important to understand this extra water is actually very beneficial in helping you to perform at higher levels, recover stronger and gain muscle mass.

Always remember that when you weight train or exercise intensely, you will naturally add body mass, so it’s perfectly natural to see the scale tip a little heavier. However, it’s the lowered body fat percentage creatine helps you achieve that really counts towards improving your look and performance.

WHAT HAPPENS?

If you’ve never taken it before, you might be wondering what to expect. A paper in the Journal of Applied Physiology may have the answers. They gave untrained women creatine for 10 weeks and had them do resistance training which resulted in a 20-25% greater increase in one-rep maximum strength for moves like the leg press, leg extension and back squats, compared to the women who took a placebo.

So, you’ll gain muscle and strength, but also improve your athleticism thanks to these improvements. If you play sports of any kind, be it tennis, swimming, cycling or soccer, you are likely to enjoy an increase in performance that will unquestionably improve your game in every way, particularly in sports that require strength, speed and power. And if you’re doing speed work or lactate threshold interval training, creatine monohydrate will also improve the quality of these sessions while reducing muscle damage after your training, allowing for faster recovery.

CHOOSING WISELY

Creatine is found in many forms, but the most studied type is creatine monohydrate. All forms of creatine originate in just two places: Germany and China.

The German version is called Creapure® and is the purest form of creatine on the market. Other types can’t compare in quality. Manufactured to strict German and European standards, Creapure® is continually monitored to ensure the purest and most consistent creatine monohydrate so that you always get maximum quality.

When tested against generic creatine monohydrates, Creapure® consistently delivers a purer product that gives your muscles more creatine per serving. It’s tested for banned substances regularly and is IFS Food-certified which makes it the only established creatine brand with a high reputation within the global scientific community.

It’s so powerful that you only need to take 3-5g per day, at the same time each day, without a loading phase. This makes it a health supplement everyone should be taking, because not only will it improve your performance, but it may help to stop age-related loss of muscle mass, heighten brain function, enhance sleep and improve bone health.

Don’t go for the cheap alternatives – make sure you use the most trusted and researched brand in the industry. Look for the Creapure® quality seal on the packaging of your product.