Include Creatine In Your Sports Nutrition

By Author: Salvatore Andrea
Total Articles: 6261
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If you are a sports person and want to increase the intensity of your athletic performance, you can include creatine supplements as a part of your sports nutrition. As early as the beginning of the twentieth century, researchers across the world have been convinced of the effectiveness of creatine as an important source of energy for the skeletal muscles. And it was only in the year 1992 that it became a popular ingredient of the sports nutrition package in the form of a performance enhancing supplement.

A lot of research has been conducted in this regard and there is enough scientific evidence to support the fact that there can be a 5-15% increase in the maximum performance and power of an athlete with the repetitive anaerobic and high intensity activities, by using creatine for a short term. The work that falls in the category of single effort has shown an increase of 1-5%. However, in some studies conducted on endurance, athletes have shown slightly contradicting results with no or little ergogenic effect. When ingestion ...
... of creatine happens, it results in around 20% increase in the phosphocreatine level of the muscles. Here, the point worth noting is that creatine increases power during high intensity sessions of short duration but does not affect aerobic endurance in any significant manner.

Although, creatine is a performance enhancing substance, it does not fall within the category of a doping substance and has not been banned by the major sports governing bodies. However, recently a NCAA rule passed in United States refrained colleges from providing creatine supplements to their players, but did not refrain the players from obtaining this substance from other independent sources.

It is, however, important to understand that short term use of creatine supplements is considered to be safe, provided you are a healthy individual. Hence, consult your doctor before starting any supplement intake.