To date, creatine is the second most popular after whey protein among athletes and all who lead an active lifestyle. And this means that this product really does its job of building muscle mass. Different creatine producers in their commercials claim that their product is the best in the world market. Let's dwell on each manufacturer and type of product, discuss them and choose the best brand and type that is suitable for improving your muscles. After all, we deserve to use only the best creatine!
General Product Description
Creatine in small quantities is synthesized in the human body. Plus, a fairly large amount of it is found in red meat, especially in beef. This is quite enough for the normal functioning of the body. However, this is not enough for a person who is actively involved in sports and plans to increase his muscle mass. Clear business, in this case it is necessary to receive additional creatine. And the best way would be to use powdered creatine.
Creatine action
Creatine itself is a carrier of phosphate groups in the muscles, thereby providing them with additional energy. Accordingly, it is able to quickly increase muscle energy and make muscles stronger and stronger. In addition, creatine retains water in the muscles, which seriously accelerates their metabolism and recovery. Accordingly, the muscles grow faster, and due to the fluid look more prominent and full.
Best Creatine for Muscle Gain
It is rather difficult to unambiguously answer this question, since each type of creatine has advantages and disadvantages, which makes it impossible to select the best representative in all respects. Here, the main role is played by such parameters as the purity of the product, its chemical formula and form of release, as well as the rate of assimilation. An important factor is the cost of creatine, especially in the current environment. And, of course, the quality of the product. Accordingly, its effectiveness depends on the manufacturer.
Top creatine manufacturers
Today, the best creatine is produced by such eminent manufacturers as Weider, Ultimate Nutrition, Scifit, Dymatize, Universal Nutrition, Optimum Nutrition, Gaspari Nutrition and many others. These manufacturers can be fully trusted, because they have long established themselves in the global market for sports nutrition, and therefore value their reputation and do not allow poor product quality. The question often arises, what is the best company - creatine producer? Each has certain nuances in production, so it is not possible to decide exactly which is better. Below is an approximate list of these nuances, and you yourself can choose the best creatine for yourself. The rating will also be given in the second half of the article.
Existing Forms of Creatine
To date, many forms of creatine production are known. In physical terms, it can be divided into powder and capsules. They have no differences in chemical nature, but the pros and cons can be distinguished in each of these forms.
Powder creatine is cheaper, at the same time it is not inferior in quality to analogues.
Creatine in capsules is more convenient because it allows you to more accurately calculate the dose, it does not need to be dissolved in water. The main disadvantage of this form is its rather high cost.
According to the chemical formula, the following main types of this compound are distinguished:
- Creatine monohydrate is the most common and cheapest form.
- Creatine Malaate.
- Creatine Tartrate.
- Creatine Succinate.
- Mixed - contains all of the above.
Deciding what will be the best creatine among those provided is best done on their own, based on the advantages and disadvantages of various chemical and physical forms provided. In fact, usually the main criterion in this choice is personal preference and, of course, price.
Creatine Rating
As already mentioned above, choosing the best creatine for weight gain is quite difficult. However, there are popularity ratings worth believing. This, of course, will help you select the best creatine for yourself. Rating usually constitute the number of purchases of a product. The most popular in the world bodybuilding community are the ratings of the American website Bodybuilding.com. That is why the article provides a rating of the top 10 creatines according to the version of this resource as of October 2016:
- MuscleTech Platinum 100% Creatine
- Micronized Creatine Powder by Optimum Nutrition
- Muscle C-HCl Patented Creatine HCL by Kaged
- Sports CON-CRET by ProMera
- Sports Best Creatine by BPI
- MuscleTech Creactor
- Creatine + by EVLUTION NUTRITION
- Micronized Creatine from Bodybuilding.com Foundation Series
- Creatine Monohydrate by RSP Nutrition
- CELL-TECH by MuscleTech
How to use creatine?
Professional athletes usually use two basic patterns of creatine intake - with or without preload. For use, creatine is mixed in sweetened water or juice, and there must be plenty of liquid, and it must be sweet, because insulin plays an important role in the transfer of creatine to the muscles, which is released in large quantities precisely in response to the intake of sweets.
If you decide to load, then the first you should use 20 g of product per day, divided into 4 daily servings. After a week, consume 2-3 g per day. Use creatine for a month, and then give your muscle receptors a break of 3-4 weeks so they can rest.
Without loading, consume 5 g of creatine daily. On the day of training, drink it immediately after it. On a day free from classes, drink it in the morning as soon as you wake up. In this case, the course is approximately 2 months. Then it is worth giving the body a rest of 3-4 weeks.
Possible contraindications
There were no side effects in creatine, but there are some diseases in which the use of this product is undesirable. So, in asthmatics, this substance can cause allergic reactions, so people who have this disease are not worth consuming. Similarly, you should not use creatine for minors, as well as for people who have any serious liver and kidney diseases. It is extremely rare that creatine can cause diarrhea, but it quickly passes over time and never returns. It is also undesirable to use creatine for pregnant women during breastfeeding, since its effect on the fetus is currently unknown. Do not forget that while taking creatine, it is not recommended to drink alcohol and caffeine, since they dehydrate the body and prevent it from working normally.
Creatine and Protein Comparative
To ask the question which is better - creatine or protein, it is the same as asking who is stronger - Batman or Terminator, because these products are of completely different nature and are necessary to achieve different goals. That is why it is necessary to select the type of sports nutrition exclusively for your goals. If you want to gain lean muscle mass, it is advisable to consume protein and creatine together. Professional bodybuilders usually do not consume protein during drying, as it contains a certain amount of carbohydrates, which may affect the competitive form in the future. Therefore, at the drying stage, it is recommended to use only creatine, and replace the protein with amino acids. Also, at the drying stage, the use of a high-quality hydrolyzate is possible if the protein in your diet is not enough. This protein does not contain carbohydrates and is absorbed quickly enough. Its only minus is a rather high cost.