Creatine - The Michael Jordan Of Supplements
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t expect not trying.”
Key Takeaways
Creatine is the GOAT fitness supplement, no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it.
You should take creatine because it…
a. Increases strength
b. Increases power
c. Boosts athletic performance
d. Improves endurance
e. Reduces fatigue
f. Improves recovery
g. Increases muscle mass
h. Reduces muscle loss
i. May reduce oxidative stress
j. Boosts brain function
k. Reduces cognitive decline
l. May slow neurological disease progression
m. Might lower blood sugar levels
n. It’s safe
o. It’s cheap
p. It’s the most researched sport supplement
q. It’s the best legal muscle building supplement
Nearly every purported side effect of creatine is a myth, baseless claims perpetuated by pseudo-science and fearmongering.
The verdict is in and it’s clear - for 99% of people creatine is safe, harmless, and beneficial.
To reap all the benefits, take 5g of creatine monohydrate/day, every day.
Full Story
In every endeavor, there can only be one greatest of all time. Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, and Michael Scott all come to mind. In the fitness supplement world, creatine is the undisputed GOAT. No if’s, and’s or but’s about it.
Just as you may argue that LeBron has the edge, you may go to your grave claiming that fish oil or vitamin D is king. You’d be wrong.
Creatine would take every other supplement to school every day of the week and twice on Sunday, just like M.J. would to “King” James.
Creatine is the most researched and best supported supplement in the fitness world. Whether you’re…
· Young or old
· Male or female
· Have a monthly supplement budget of $10 or $1000
· Want to gain muscle or lose fat
· Human or canine (just kidding, do NOT give it to your pup)
…creatine deserves a front row spot in your kitchen cabinet.
I don’t just have one or two supporting arguments why creatine is #1. I have 17. Here are the 17 evidence-based reasons creatine is the Michael Jordan of supplements.
17 Reasons Creatine Is The Top Supplement
I could list 50 reasons why you should take creatine, but you don’t have all day. Instead, I hand-picked the 17 most important and interesting ones. If you don’t already, you should supplement with creatine because it…
1. Increases Strength
There aren’t many facts in fitness nutrition. Vegetables and exercise are good, eating too many calories and gluing your butt to the couch all day, every day is bad.
You can add “taking creatine makes you stronger” to that short list.
You can find a plethora (I don’t break out “plethora” often, so you should trust me on this) of studies that the link between creatine and strength. Just google “creatine and strength, pubmed” if you’d like to see for yourself.
Go ahead and question reality, free will, and religion, but not creatine. You can rest assured that creatine makes you stronger.*
*A small, unlucky subset of the population are “creatine non-responders.” If you’re one of them, you will not experience much of a performance-enhancing benefit from creatine.
2. Increases Power
If you want to be as powerful as possible and you’re not supplementing with creatine, you’re making a humongous mistake. Taking it will boost your performance and help you squeeze out every ounce of muscle-building potential.
Studies consistently show that creatine increases rate of force production and results in higher power output (1, 2). If you’re training for sport, practicing Olympic lifts, or just want to jump out of the gym like Jordan, you’ll want to include it in your supplement regimen.
3. Boosts Athletic Performance
Michael Jordan didn’t make his high school basketball team his freshman year. After he started taking creatine, he transformed into the legend that we all know today.
I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that taking creatine enhances sport performance. Researchers have found that it improves performance in nearly every sport you can imagine (3, 4). If you play a sport that requires strength and power, creatine supplementation may take your game to the next level.
4. Improves Endurance
Going the distance? Creatine will help you cross the finish line.
It’s been shown to improve participant work capacity and reduce feelings of fatigue (5-7). Whether you’re a hardcore ultra-marathoner or a weekend warrior, creatine is sure to help you go faster and longer.
5. Improves Energy
Not only does creatine improve strength, power, and endurance, it also increases energy. Taking it has been shown to reduce time to exhaustion and improve energy (on a cellular level!) (8-11). Unless you enjoy feeling tired and performing worse, you should be supplementing with creatine.
6. Improves Recovery
Did you know that you don’t get stronger in the gym? You get stronger outside of it, when you’re eating, sleeping, and relaxing.
Quicker recovery + less soreness = more muscle and strength. Creatine improves recovery and helps you get the most out of your hard work in the gym (12, 13).
7. Increases Muscle Mass
Unsurprisingly, when you’re able to lift heavier weights for more reps, you gain more muscle! Interestingly, though, it appears that taking creatine also improves body composition indirectly through stimulating muscle protein synthesis, inhibiting myostatin, and facilitating other anabolic cellular effects (14-17).
8. Reduces Muscle Loss
If you’re injured or forced to take time off from training, don’t ditch your creatine! It has been shown to reduce rates of muscle breakdown and may help you preserve muscle mass during extended periods of inactivity (18, 19).
9. May Reduce Oxidative Stress
You’ve heard that blueberries, acai, and even coffee are chock full of antioxidants, but I’d bet a pretty penny that you didn’t know creatine also has antioxidant properties (20, 21, 22). Antioxidants play an important role in health because they fight excessive amounts of oxidative stress, which accelerates aging and are linked to numerous adverse health conditions.
Creatine has been shown to reduce free radical production and decrease oxidative stress in animal models and it’s plausible that similar effects are seen in humans.
10. Boosts Brain Function
The stereotype of the dumb jock is way off base. Creatine is an important nutrient for the brain and supplementation has been shown to improve markers of cognitive performance (23, 24, 25).
As animal products are the best sources of creatine, this brain-boosting effect is even more pronounced in vegans.
With the cognitive enhancing effects of creatine, you get the brawn and the brains.
11. Reduces Cognitive Decline
In addition to improving cognitive performance, creatine also reduces rates of cognitive decline with age (26, 27).
The thought of my parents losing their minds makes me lose my mind. Creatine’s ability to protect against cognitive decline is strong enough that I’ve had them start taking it daily.
12. May Slow Neurological Disease Progression
Researchers have found that creatine supplementation may be effective for reducing severity of many progressive and neurological conditions including:
Alzheimer’s Disease
Parkinson’s Disease
Muscular Dystrophy
Huntington’s Disease
Stroke
Traumatic Brain Injury
Spinal Cord Injury (28-31).
This benefit may not apply directly to you, but even a small improvement in function or reduction in rate of disease progression is critically important for those that live with neurological conditions.
13. Might Lower Blood Sugar
Chronically elevated blood sugar levels is your ticket to type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases, heart disease, and many types of cancer. The more tightly you can control your blood glucose, the better it is for your health and longevity.
Creatine supplementation has been shown to improve blood sugar response in those with and without diabetes. The significance of this effect is still in question, but even small effects can amount to significant positive change (32-35).
14. It’s Safe
If you’re older than 5, creatine supplementation, even for extended periods, has been shown to be completely safe. If you’re under 5, congratulations on your amazingly advanced reading level, and creatine is probably still safe for you – it just hasn’t been studied in young children (36, 37).
15. It’s Cheap
Taking 5g (the recommended dose) of creatine/day for the entire year will run you about $30-$50 – probably the price of your bar tab last Saturday night.
Pound per pound, dollar for dollar, creatine is the best bang-for-your-buck supplement. Hands down.
16. It’s The Most Researched Sport Supplement
Creatine was discovered in 1832 and has been studied for nearly 200 years (38). Researchers around the world and across decades of scientific study have conducted over 500 studies on it and are all in agreement that creatine is safe and effective (39). And you know what? It always will be.
17. It’s The Best (Legal) Muscle-Building Supplement
Beta-alanine, HMB, BCAA’s, or any other muscle building supplement pales in comparison to creatine. There is no doubt that it stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Creatine is cheaper, more reliable, and more effective. If you ever find yourself considering replacing creatine with the flashy flavor-of-the-month supplement you saw in a Men’s Health ad, please don’t.
“I Took That Personally” - Creatine
You’ve been told “don’t take creatine, it will bloat you!” and “stay away from that stuff, it’ll make your hair fall out.” Creatine has heard it all, and he’s taken it personally.
Time and time again, creatine has risen to the occasion and silenced the haters. No, despite the nasty rumors you may have heard, creatine does not:
Cause bloating
Cause acne
Lead to hair loss
Damage your kidneys
Damage your liver
Dehydrate you
Cause cramps
Worsen digestion
Nearly every purported side effect of creatine is a myth, baseless claims supported by pseudo-science and fear-mongering. The verdict is in and it’s clear - for 99% of people that do not have underlying medical conditions, creatine is safe, harmless, and beneficial.
Wrap Up
To reap all the benefits of creatine supplementation, take 5g of creatine monohydrate/day, every day. Lucky for you, when you use the promo code SOLOKASFOCUSCREATINEISMAGIC you get 50% off your next order of my exclusive 17 Lean Creatine Xtreme!!
Did you think I was serious?!
For real, any creatine monohydrate will work perfectly well. You can find some affordable, reliable options here, here, and here (I have no affiliation with these companies) (40, 41, 42).
The key word is monohydrate. Don’t fall for the crafty marketing behind creatine hydrochloride, ethyl ester, buffered, etc. – they’re all more expensive and equally or less effective than monohydrate.
Start taking it today. The pros outweigh the virtually nonexistent cons. Plus, it’s not just for your ambitious meatheads. Everyone from ages 13-100 will benefit from taking it (I’m serious, both of my parents take it every day - it was my present to them last Christmas).
Do you have any personal questions about creatine or any other supplement? Feel free to ask me below and I’ll get back to you ASAP.
3 Steps You Can Take
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Thanks,
John
