ne does have the ability to be a very useful aid in weight training, but it is important to first understand what creatine is.

Creatine is a compound that can be made in our bodies or taken as a dietary supplement. The chemical name for Creatine

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Jones, K. (1999, September 9). Perils of a uniquely unethical sporting age. The Independent, 26.

The third function of creatine is to buffer lactic acid build-up. Research has shown that creatine can help buffer lactic acid that builds-up in the muscles during exercise. The build up of this acid is what causes the burning feel a person gets in his muscles. Basically what happens is the creatine bonds with a Hydrogen ion and that helps delay the build up of lactic acid.

Creatine can also be taken in liquid or serum form. In theory there are many advantages to liquid creatine over powder. It is a more effective delivery mechanism so much more creatine is absorbed. In addition, it is unnecessary to leave as much time between creatine intake and the beginning of a workout. The major down side to liquid creatine is it is very hard to make. If creatine is just mixed in a liquid it starts to breakdown into a waste product called creatinine, after about 20 minutes. So, to make liquid creatine effective the creatine must be stabilized. If the creatine is stabilized it will not break down into a waste product and it will remain as creatine.

When the discussing the safety of creatine, it is assumed that the person taking the creatine is not abusing it. That is the person is taking or thinking about taking creatine within the recommended dosage. This is very important to understand, because creatine, like anything else, can be dangerous if a person takes too much of it. Even Vitamin C can have very harmful effects if a person takes too much of it, but that does not mean it is unsafe. So therefore when discussing the safety of creatine it is assumed that it is being taken in the proper dosages.

(2000, July 3). Controversial Creatine Popular with Kids. The Los Angeles Times, 6.

Finally, creatine can be found in effervescent powder form. Effervescent powder is mixed with water, and when mixed, the water fizzles. In the end it works on the same principle as the liquid, it is supposed to increase absorption rates. Preliminary studies show that effervescent powder may be an effective delivery mechanism. The down side is that they come in pre-measured individual packets, so it is very hard to vary the dosage

Creatine should provide a person with more energy when muscles are worked to fatigue. Creatine can be very beneficial to an athlete who does sprinting, weight lifting and any other quick burst activity. Generally speaking, by taking a creatine supplement a person should be able to do more reps, sets or weights before hitting the fatigue point. For endurance athletes it is not as clear what creatine can do. If it does buffer lactic acid build-up, that would be a great advantage to endurance athletes. In addition, even in an endurance sport, if muscles are really being pushed and worked to fatigue, it would make sense if that athlete saw gains from creatine. All these seemingly great benefits of creatine do not just come on their own, work must be done by the individual to notice any gains from creatine use. For any benefits to be noticed from the use of creatine supplements, it is absolutely necessary that the person on the supplements work out. Creatine is not a wonder dr!

Rotar, C. (2000, August 31). Weight training the key to success. Tampa Tribune, 2.

The second function creatine serves is the Volumization of muscles, that is the process of pulling fluid into the muscle cells and thus increasing the volume of the muscles. Creatine has been shown to pull water into muscle cells, which increases the size of the muscles. At this point it is not clear how great an affect this volumization has, the first point is still a much greater benefit of creatine.

With all the demand in society today for people to have the "perfect body", it is not surprising that creatine has become such a popular supplement. It does appear to have

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