The good and the possibly bad.
Creatine is a naturally occurring substance that occurs in meats. It is converted to creatine phosphate and then to ATP-adrenotriphosphate????-I.E. energy which is used for cellular muscle contractions.
Some don't get enough in the diet and high level performance athletes burn it up fast. Thus some feel that supplementation is beneficial. It has some downsides in that long term use will probably cause a weight gain if you are not burning it off rapidly. The weight gain is probably mainly due to water retention.
I don't use it on a daily basis, but only if doing a hard workout or will be physically active for an extended period of time.
A quick overview of creatine.
http://www.webmd.com/men/creatine Thanks for the info. Guy at work has mentioned it. I thought it was more for muscle building/bulk as he works out quite a bit and is somewhat of a gym rat.
Reading your info on WebMD, and according to what you say, I'm reading more of an energy boost type product, with the additional effect of muscle building and faster muscle recovery.
Which piques my interest. I've finally thrown in the towel and bowed to the wishes of my orthopedic surgeon and quit jogging. My knees are thanking me.
I'm doing a bit of mtn biking now, something I've wanted to do for a few years in addition to the road biking I do.
I've lost 25 lbs.
Most days, I can show up the guys 14 years younger than me, just leaving them behind. Other days, seems I struggle, especially climbing. Most of the "energy" drinks focus on electrolyte replenishment, sodium, potassium, with some B vitamins, etc. I also keep a Clif bar in my pocket and break off bites during rest stops.
This creatine sounds like it may actually produce a real energy boost with the benefit of faster muscle recovery.
Mtn biking is like sprints. Short durations of intense effort (climbing) followed by short durations of less intense cardio effort (downhill) with some rest stops/fluid replenishment thrown in. This cycle is repeated for the duration of the ride but only rarely is the stop long enough for the heart to return to normal.
Most of our trips are 15-20 miles unless it is a particularly steep or difficult trail. The riding app on my phone tracks my speed, elevation changes, my weight/age and calculates calories burned. Typical ride is 1200-1600 calories in about a 3-4 hour span (I do question the accuracy of this).
I usually have sore muscles for 3-4 days. I can usually throw in a road ride or a shorter mtn bike ride within a day or two but I can definitely feel it and it takes 4 days or better for a full recovery.
So, I'm wondering if this creatine will give me more energy during the ride and help speed up recovery in the days following a 15-20 mile ride.
