SUPPLEMENTARY BENEFITS

Despite being one of the most heavily researched supplements on the planet, creatine is still surrounded by a lot of misinformation. Here, PT and all-round fitness expert Ben Carpenter tells you all you need to know...

Despite what many people think, creatine isn’t a steroid or a dangerous substance. It’s actually naturally occurring in your body and is present in some foods, such as meat and fish. Approximately 95% of your body’s total creatine pool is found within skeletal muscle (the muscles attached to your skeleton that you exercise in the gym), with the remaining 5% found in other tissues, such as your brain, heart and testes. 

In simple terms, if a diet naturally contains a couple of grams of creatine, then your creatine stores may only be 60-80% saturated. So additional supplementation can increase the creatine levels in your body by an additional 20-40%. That can help with short-term energy demands, such as weightlifting or sprinting.