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Supplementing With Creatine

Creatine gives an immediate, and significant power boost to athletes, and it makes it possible to train without fatigue, while working at an intensity that’s higher than usual. The growing popularity of creatine supplements since the 1992 Olympic Games - when two British sprinters used it to win gold - has revolutionized sports nutrition. Found naturally in our muscles, (our kidneys, liver and pancreas make it by combining the amino acids arginine, glycine and methionine) creatine levels are higher in fit people, because exercising increases the creatine content of their exercised muscle.

ATP provides the energy for muscle contractions. ATP will only last for 1-2 seconds during intense exercise demand, such as sprinting or weight lifting. Creatine phosphate is needed to produce new ATP at the same rate that it’s being used. There’s enough creatine phosphate in our muscles to fuel ATP production for the first 6 seconds of effort before there’s a switch over to glucose for fuel. With higher levels of creatine available from supplementing, creatine phosphate can be remade quickly during recovery from intense muscle contraction, to make sure that there’s plenty available to fuel repeated, high-intensity power demands for weight lifters, or during sports demanding repeated power sprints such as football, rugby, tennis, lacrosse, basketball, hockey or soccer.

Besides delivering a significant power push by keeping ample creatine phosphate supplies available, creatine can help delay fatigue. Muscle fatigue - during very high intensity exercise – is associated with using up creatine phosphate. Creatine also acts as a buffer to reduce lactic acid buildup in muscle, which is another effective way of delaying fatigue.
On 08/08/08 at 08:08:08, the Beijing Olympic games will start, and that will mark the 16th year that these elite athletes have relied on creatine to power boost and prolong the intensity of their extraordinary performances.