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Written by Navneet Kaur, M.Sc. Nutrition & Dietetics
Diet
Creatine is a substance found in muscle cells that helps produce energy during high-intensity exercise and it might also improve strength, power, and muscle gains.
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It actually aids in the recycling of ATP(Adenosine Triphosphate), which provides energy to cells and muscles and also supports muscle growth, recovery, and maintenance.
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Creatine loading and cycling are two phases, and the most common strategies athletes and bodybuilders use to maximize this supplement's benefits.
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Creating loading is used to boost its storage in the muscles rapidly, which involves taking higher doses for a short time, like 20-25 grams per day, breaking this into 4-5 smaller doses, and having it 5-6 times per day.
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This higher intake helps to increase the muscle stores of creatine and quicker results in terms of strength, power and muscle mass. However, it is not required by everyone.
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After the loading phase, the maintenance dose is taken, which is usually sufficient to sustain the elevated muscle creatine levels, generally around 3-5 grams daily.
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Creatine cycling refers to alternating between periods of creatine intake maintenance phase and periods without any supplementation.
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Ideally, a cycle consists of a loading phase, a maintenance phase, and a period of rest or no supplementation.
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People often have a misconception that creatine cycling leads to the body getting desensitized, which is not correct.
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Creatine loading and cycling are two different phases. To summarise, loading leads to saturation of muscles with creatine, whereas cycling entails alternating periods of supplementation with a period of rest in order to maintain the response over a time span.
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