IMO,
It really depends on if your old school or new. Typically your loading cycle would be .3-.5 grams per lean muscle weight for 7 days depending on the type on Creatine you take. Not all are the same. After that you need a daily maintenance 1/4th of that depending on the supplement & depending on your bodys response, your workout and/or cardio routine. Without the proper amount of creatine supplementation your body will lack the ability of the muscle to store glycogen. The glycogen is like a carb stored inside your muscle which is used to fuel anaerobic activity or your inability to deliver enough oxygen to your muscles.
It seems so many people have opinions about the amount of creatine your body needs, but can never explain why. And the real answer is simple, IT DEPENDS ON THE INDIVIDUAL, THE ROUTINE OR CARDIO EVENT and THE SUPPLEMENT. Plain and simple, there no true answer.
See, when ATP or Adenosine Triphosphate is released (which is your initial energy stored from food within your muscles) during your workout and begins to convert to ADT or Andenosine Diphosphate, one of the phosphate molecules has broken off, and this process is what activates and deactivates certain enzymes that ultimately assist in giving energy to myosins or proteins that aid in your muscle group contraction.
When the Pi molecule is broken off or separated, this is when the energy is released into your system and by adding the correct amount of creatine back to your system, you are allowing the ADP to convert back to ATP for your next workout. While your body is trying to convert, it needs glucose, dextrose or grape juice/sugar molecules to help carry and convert the creatine. This glucose is converted into whats called pyruvate through glycosis, and this pyruvate acid can later be converted back to carbs by whats called a process called gluconeogenesis. Another conversation. Now when your oxygen is depleted,(i.e short recovery cycles, long running, etc.) your body temporarily converts the pyruvate into lactate, which allows for additional glucose breakdown, and again you continue to get additional releases of energy, but this is your last source from the muscle.
Now back to the abbreviated version, when you start your workout the ATP starts you off, then ATP converts to ADP, both begin to decrease, the ATP looks for more CP to convert, then depletes. Once your ATP and Cp begin to deplete, your muscle cell glycogen's kick in. Once you have depleted your ATP, ADP, CP you are pretty much on your muscles reserves which lack the glucose, phosphates, and enzymes to pass the glucose through your body. Okay so now your muscles are depleted and now your liver kicks in to then convert the remaining glucose in your body over to the fuel for your workout.
So now you have depleted your muscles, exercised your liver and now basically elevated the lactate levels or acidity of the muscle cells.Your lactate levels are there for a reason. It is a defensive indication for your body to keep you from causing damage to yourself. It is a true indication that either your ass is out of shape, or that your have depleted your levels to a point your supplementation and resources are not enough.
This is why many who understand the real effects of creatine use, not only use Creatine but also use some type of glutamine supplement. The glutamine helps with not only converting between the lactate and pyruvate process during low levels of O2, but also aids to minimize the muscle cannibalization effects.
Now to complicate things further there are so many types of creatine on the market & many of them do something completely different in some small or big way......and then again, some of them are completely the same product either private labeled, with only pretty marketing pictures and fancy wordsmithing on the container.
But to wrap this up, in order to understand your body, unless you truly understand what one of the most readily available and inexpensive supplements on the shelf and how it converts within your body, it is only my experience you are wasting money on supplements and really have no idea how NO2, Alpha Keto-Glutarate, HCL and other supplements repair the big machine.
Hope this helps in some way, and for what its worth, this has been my soapbox for a long time so dont take offense if it sounded aggressive. This is really about as short as I could make this explanation, so sorry if it was a long read. It gets much more complicated. But remember this, while most stereotype jack asses think the most successful body builders got where they are today because they stuck a needle in their ass, it was only to their own ignorance they got there by being a biologist and chemist at heart and understanding their bodys chemistry to the fullest.
Just trying to help the next guy.
Lata
CF
