The Best Creatine for Men: Beginner Guide

Creatine...we're sure you've heard of it and maybe even dabbled in it before, but are you really maximizing all the benefits that creatine has to offer?

Let's find out!

Whether you're an experienced, occasional, or straight up noob athlete, adding creatine to your supplement regimen can help you reach your goals, no matter what they may be.

If you've been wondering...

"Is creatine for me?"

"What's the best creatine?"

"Why do I need creatine?"

You've come to the right place. We'll dive into everything creatine and at the end of this article, you can make an educated decision on whether you want to use creatine or not.

The choice is yours. Let's break it down!

WHAT IS CREATINE?

Creatine is a naturally-occurring substance that is produced in the liver and responsible for supplying energy (ATP) to your cells, most importantly your muscle cells.

Creatine is made up of three amino acids:

• L-arginine
• Glycine
• L-methionine

Although creatine is naturally produced in the body, it can also be consumed through your diet.

• Red Meat
• Fish
• Poultry
• A Creatine Supplement

95% of the creatine in your body at any one time is stored in the muscles as phosphocreatine.

The other 5% is found in your brain and kidneys. 

WHY YOU NEED CREATINE

Simply put, Creatine equals energy - in the form of ATP.

ATP is an immediate energy source that is used for explosive movements. Once ATP energy levels deplete, creatine helps to replenish these levels and your body's energy stores.

Creatine’s “job” is to help your muscles produce energy when under physical stress from:

• Resistance Training
• Power Lifting
• High-Intensity Exercise
• Explosive/Power Sports

Several things can affect your body’s creatine levels, including:

• Testosterone Levels
• Exercise (Intensity and Frequency)
• Muscle Mass
• Diet

95% of the creatine in your body at any one time is stored in the muscles as phosphocreatine.

The other 5% is found in your brain and kidneys. 

BENEFITS OF CREATINE SUPPLEMENTATION

Creatine is one of the most widely used supplements because of its effectiveness to:

• Increase Strength
• Increase Muscle Mass
• Increase Endurance
• Improve Athletic Performance
• Increase Energy and Metabolism
• Increase Time to Fatigue
• Decrease Fat
• Aide in Weight Loss

Supplementing with creatine will add to your body's natural production of 1-2 grams of creatine per day.

This will saturate your muscles to increase available ATP and energy and will also help your body replenish ATP levels at a quicker rate.

The more your muscles are saturated with creatine, the more energy they will have to support your training and maximize your benefits.

THE BEST CREATINE SUPPLEMENTS

The best creatine supplements are clean, pure, effective, and come in powder form - specifically monohydrate form, but we'll get to that shortly.

Skip the liquids, pills, chewables, and all of that nonsense.

Here's why:

"Creatine is not stable in liquid solution", says Andrew Jagim, director of sports-medicine research at Mayo Clinic. This is why you need to mix your creatine powder into liquid, and keep shaking it up with every sip. If you let it sit, the creatine will fall to the bottom and you'll need to shake it up again.

There's only so much creatine you can fit into a tiny capsule. If you choose the capsule route, you'll be taking in 2-5 capsules (depending by brand) of creatine in one sitting compared to a simple scoop of creatine powder in your drink.

Powders are superior because they are:

• More Water Soluble
• More Bioavailable
• Faster Absorbed

Stick with the powders.

CREATINE MONOHYDRATE VS. CREATINE HCL

Not all creatine supplements are created equally, this is the case with creatine monohydrate vs. creatine HCL.

Pro tip: ALWAYS buy Creatine Monohydrate.

Creatine Monohydrate

Reason: Creatine Monohydrate is the safest, most effective, most researched form of creatine powder on the market.

Creatine Monohydrate has been tested and researched for the past 25 years and scientifically proven to:

• Support Muscle Gain
• Maximize Strength
• Improve Endurance
• Improve Anaerobic Performance

Creatine Monohydrate is king when it comes to the best creatine supplements.

Other forms of creatine, including HCL, are expensive and don't have the same scientific backing and research that creatine monohydrate holds.

INCREASES MUSCLE MASS AND STRENGTH AND AIDS IN FAT LOSS

If you're looking to increase lean muscle mass, increase strength, and lose unwanted fat...hell who are we kidding, everyone wants that right?

Anyways...creatine is your ticket.

Studies show that combining your creatine with resistance training can lead to the following results:

• Increased body weight
• Increased fat-free mass
• Decreased body fat
• Increased muscle strength
• Increased endurance

Creatine works in several ways within your muscle cells:

• It increases the production of IGF-1, a hormone key to muscle growth.
• It supports muscle by sending energy for instant use that can help increase the amount of reps you can do.
• It helps you retain muscle and reduce muscle breakdown, which helps with muscle growth over the long run.

To get the most out of your creatine supplementation, though, you have to use your creatine supplements correctly.

The next question is, should you incorporate a loading phase or not?

Loading phases are great if you're new to creatine or coming off of a creatine break. It's the fastest way to saturate your muscles creatine stores and start maximizing your benefits.

And by fast, we mean taking in 20-25 grams of creatine monohydrate per day. You'll break this up into 4-5 servings of 5 grams of creatine monohydrate throughout the day.

One week of loading and your muscles will be saturated and ready to put in work.

Do you need to do a loading phase? No, you don't.

Although it will take a little longer, about 3 weeks, for your muscles to be fully saturated.

If you don't want to do a loading phase, no biggie. Supplements with 5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily.

The key is consistency.

Take your creatine EVERY DAY, even if you're not working out, to support your muscles and keep them saturated.

INCREASES ENERGY IN MUSCLES

Remember when we said that creatine’s “job” was to produce energy for your muscles to use?

Let’s examine just how it does that.

Creatine aids in the production of ATP - which is responsible to transport energy within the cells of your body. The more creatine you have, the more ATP you’ll have, and the more energy your muscles (and other cells) will be able to produce.

ATP provides the energy your body uses for moving muscles, pumping blood, and increasing cardiac function. All the things that you do during exercise sessions and athletic performance, right?

At any one time, your body has a certain amount of ATP stored in the muscles. 

Studies show just enough ATP is stored for 8–10 seconds of use. Not a lot of time, is it?

Creatine stored in the muscles instantaneously replenishes that ATP supply, giving you a lot more steam in the train’s engine. 

IMPROVES ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE AND HIGH-INTENSITY TRAINING

All that ATP pumping through your body will have one serious side effect—your overall athletic performance will see vast improvements.

Let’s break it down a bit, shall we?

Your endurance will be increased, leading to longer, more demanding workouts. Those longer workouts will naturally lead to greater results.

Your energy levels will be boosted, resulting in greater effort during your high-intensity workouts. Again, the natural outcome will be better results than before.

Your strength will increase. You’ll be able to lift more, swim faster, jump higher, sprint quicker, than you could before. Studies have proven it.

Anyone serious about improved performance would be amiss to not include creatine supplements in their everyday fitness regimen. 

SUPPORTS COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS AND BRAIN HEALTH

Interestingly, on top of supporting your muscles, creatine also improves cognitive functions and brain health.

5% of your body's creatine stores are stored in your brain.

Studies show that supplementing with creatine:

• Improves Working Memory
• Improves Reasoning and Logic
• Improves General Intelligence

Stronger and smarter?

That's what you call, two birds one stone.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CREATINE?

• Increased Lean Muscle Mass
• Increased Strength
• Reduced Fatigue
• Improved Athletic Performance
• Increased Time to Fatigue

HOW SAFE ARE CREATINE SUPPLEMENTS?

Creatine powder has been extensively studied for over 25 years and is considered to be one of the safest and most widely studied supplements on the market.

On top of being scientifically researched, studies have also been done to refute false creatine claims and claims of harmful side effects.

IS CREATINE GOOD FOR SKINNY GUYS?

Skinny guys, fat guys, skinny-fat guys, fit guys... creatine products are ideal for all body types.

If you're skinny, creatine supplementation can help saturate your muscles' natural creatine stores to support them during training.

If you're fat, creatine supplementation can help maintain your lean muscle mass while helping rid of excess body fat.

If you're fit, creatine supplementation can help to improve your strength, athletic performance, and endurance, while increasing your time to fatigue.

The trick is that you need to put in the work. Don't expect your muscles to start bulging or the fat to start melting once you start supplementing with creatine.

Creatine AND a training program will help you reach your goals.

IS CREATINE MONOHYDRATE WORTH IT?

Short Answer: Hell YES!

Long Answer:

If we haven't convinced you about the benefits of creatine monohydrate by now...

We've either written a really shit article or you may have stumbled onto this creatine article by mistake.

Creatine Monohydrate is WORTH IT if you're looking for these benefits:

• Increased Strength
• Increased Muscle Mass
• Increased Endurance
• Improved Athletic Performance
• Increased Energy and Metabolism
• Increased Time to Fatigue
• Decreased Fat

STILL ON THE FENCE?

Nathan W. says, "I've been working out a lot to keep sane during this past year and over the last two months, my body has been dragging to, through, and after workouts, no matter what. Two weeks into this and I'm no longer carrying that muscle fatigue anymore, which has helped my mood and workouts tremendously. "

James E. says, "Very clean and satisfying. My gains with this product cannot be denied."

Tryon V. says, "I feel stronger with a little muscle gain. Wife likes the results the most."

You know the saying, HAPPY WIFE HAPPY LIFE.

We'll end it at that.

Go get your creatine (monohydrate, not HCL).