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have you been thinking about taking
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creatine but don't really know what it's
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for or how it can help you in the gym
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in this video i'm going to tell you all
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about one of the best studied sports
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how's it going guys my name is richie
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kerwin and i'm a nutritionist and
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nutrition researcher at liverpool john
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and you're watching the myprotein
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youtube channel this is the channel that
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brings you need to know info on how to
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and train to be your strongest self
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today we're going to talk all about
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everybody's favorite performance
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enhancer creatine we learn what it is
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how it works what it can do for you in
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the gym and in whatever sport you do
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and why it's simply one of the best
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out there i'll also tell you about a
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less well-known benefit of this
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that might actually surprise you so if
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you're a regular gym gore
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at some point in your life you've
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probably heard maybe even in hushed
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of creatine a magical white powder that
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of your dreams come true when you say it
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like that it certainly does sound a
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so it's no wonder that there is now an
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generation of moms that have experienced
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moment of discovering their supposedly
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innocent child's baggy of creatine
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hidden under their bed and have
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despaired at the realization that their
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baby has stepped on the slippery
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slope of steroid juice that will
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eventually lead to them odin and being
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face down in a bag of the evil white
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but at least i'd be jacked right
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seriously that's what some people think
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about creatine so let's start this video
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all the bull surrounding the most widely
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researched and safest
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sports supplement so what even is
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well it's an amino acid but it isn't
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actually used to make protein
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it's found 100 naturally in foods like
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pork and fish and you know what else you
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also make it in your own body
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that's right you're making it right now
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as you're watching this video
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while you're looking at me disgusting
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steroid it's not that your mother is
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terrified of you getting hooked on
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is made in the cells of your own body
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every day so creatine is a completely
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normal and healthy part of your
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metabolism not some weird
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artificial substance that has been
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discovered in a lab by scientists hoping
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to make super soldiers
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like i mentioned as animals produce it
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creatine is found in animal muscle and
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that's why meat eaters tend to have
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higher levels of muscle creatine than
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however i wouldn't recommend using meat
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as your primary source of creatine
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and that's because to get the same
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amount of creatine as you'd get in
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one little scoop of creatine monohydrate
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powder you'd need to eat almost
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1.3 kilograms of beef not only does that
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come with a lot of extra calories about
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1500 calories if you use lean beef it's
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also stupidly expensive that's why
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creatine supplements can be so
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in fact continuous supplementation can
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increase the amount of creatine in your
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by 20 to 40 percent another advantage is
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that the creatine that you buy in
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supplements is usually 100
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vegan which is great news because like i
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vegans tend to have lower levels of
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creatine than meat eaters
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putting them at a disadvantage when it
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comes to performance so by supplementing
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with creatine they can increase
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their muscle creatine levels to the same
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levels as meat eaters
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and they can level the playing field so
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to speak so now that we know what
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and that it's something we can produce
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in our own body let's talk about the
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what it can do for you the main role of
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creatine in the body is energy
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specifically high intensity energy
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the kind of energy used for short quick
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explosive movements like
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lifting weights you may know that we
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generate energy using a molecule called
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atp or adenosine triphosphate when atp
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gives up its energy during exercise it
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loses a phosphate group
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and becomes adp or adenosine diphosphate
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creatine is found in the muscles joined
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to a phosphoryl group
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and is able to recharge the adp by
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replacing its phosphate and turning it
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into atp that way your muscles have a
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more constant supply of energy
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for high intensity work basically more
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creatine in your muscles
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allows you to train or perform harder
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in reality that means creatine can
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benefit exercise performance in a lot of
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and there's a huge amount of research to
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show creatine can improve your sprint
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performance help you lift more weight
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do more volume in the gym improve
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glycogen synthesis in your muscles
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meaning you have a ready source of
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energy for continued exercise
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it can improve your anaerobic exercise
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threshold that's your ability to do
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very high intensity or explosive
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exercise and it might even improve your
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on top of all that it can improve
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recovery for most people watching this
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video you'll be happy to know that
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all this means creatine can help you
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by allowing you to train harder accrue
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high quality training volume and recover
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better which in the long term
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leads to muscle growth just to give an
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example one study had two groups doing
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resistance exercise for 10 weeks
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one group supplementing with creatine
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and the other without the creatine group
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increased maximal strength 25 more than
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and they also increase fat free mass
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part of which is made of muscle
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60 more than the placebo group that said
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any sport that has a high intensity
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component to it from football swimming
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tennis rugby martial arts and
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powerlifting and here's something you
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might not have known about creatine it
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can also benefit brain health and
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this is because the brain is a very
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energy-hungry organ so creatine can help
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just like in the muscles which leads to
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better brain function
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for example creatine was shown to
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significantly improve
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working memory and intelligence tests
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that relate to the speed of processing
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it may even help to slow down cognitive
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decline in the elderly
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yet another reason to get your granny on
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creatine this is why creatine is getting
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used a lot by older people who want to
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functioning optimally so now you know
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creatine is simply one of
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the best supplements available for
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improving exercise performance
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not just in the gym but in almost every
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and maybe even in chess in my next video
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i'll cover everything about how to take
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creatine and for how long you might be
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in store for a few surprises
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as always if you have any questions let
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me know in the comments below
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and remember to like and subscribe to
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the my protein youtube channel
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for more great evidence-based nutrition
