So todays question come from Steve in Sutton Surrey. I get asked this a lot for my personal training clients, ‘Do I need creatine to help me bulk up and build muscle?’
I tell my personal training clients that creatine works well if all other aspects of you diet and training are good, if they are not then it is a waste of money.
So let me explain how creatine works. Your body’s main fuel source is carbohydrate (sugar), when a sugar molecule is in your muscle cell it goes through a few stages of chemical transformation before it is converted to actual energy for you muscle cell to use. The final chemical stage before ‘energy’ is when the sugar is converted into creatine.
By consuming creatine you bypass all the starting sugar chemical transformation stages and jump straight to the end.
I only really recommend creatine to my personal training clients who are doing the type of workouts that require maximal efforts such as heavy weight lifting, sprints, intervals etc… It is great to give you a boost in this type of training and you’ll find that your power won’t drop off so much in repetitive sets, sprints and intervals. Creatine has little benefit for those during long distance cardio training as you just burn through it quickly as fuel.
So to answer the question ‘Do I need creatine to help me bulk up and build muscle?’. My answer is no you don’t, good progressive training and consuming extra calories is the best way to bulk up, but if you want to take in some creatine on top of this it will help you push that little bit harder and recover better between intensive bursts of energy.
If you are looking for a personal trainer in Sutton Surrey get in touch for a further chat about your goals and how I can help you achieve them. pete@petegriggs.com 07047049889
