Looking for the best creatine for muscle growth? You have come to the right place! I still remember the first question I asked the first day I hired a personal trainer – “tell me John, what’s the best creatine I can use to grow muscle bigger and faster?” With that said, John told me that that’s not important; it’s important that I know what role the creatine works and how it works to help the body grow muscle. Without further delay, let’s pump!

Best Creatine For Muscle Growth – How Creatine Work For Muscle Growth

Instead of looking for the best creatine for muscle growth, the trick to help grow muscle is to take in creatine at the “right phase” when your muscle needs a boost. As the creatine blogger from Men’s Health magazine described,

When you are in the “loading” phase of creatine supplementation, you are ensuring that you have the optimal amount of creatine in your muscles prior and during the workout. After the loading phase, you are basically maintaining the amount of creatine you need to get the job done.

First, your muscles are pretty much tapped out after a hard workout. You can say that your muscles are in a state of desperation and need fuel ASAP. By taking in a simple carbohydrate after your training, you are basically “shuttling” fuel to your muscle cells and by taking in a creatine after your workout, you are immediately replenishing your muscles of creatine which have been used up in the workout.

Besides, your muscles are most receptive to producing new glycogen (fuel) within the first few hours after your workout. During this time, blood circulation to the muscles is much greater as well which causes your muscles to soak up everything like a sponge. Insulin, is produced and released in the presence of the carbohydrates which will act as a shuttle to transport glycogen and creatine into your muscles at the most opportune time which is post workout.

You can see that you can maximize the muscle growing effects by taking creatine at the right phases.

Best Creatine For Muscle Growth – Benefits

We will let along the side effects of taking creatine and focus only on the benefits of taking creatine in the post. I thought that the expert from A Calorie Counter has the best answers for this.

Q: Does creatine itself actually build muscle?

A: No. That’s not how it works. During exercise that requires short bursts of energy (like weight training, sprinting, etc.), the primary source of energy is Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). The thing is, ATP is in limited supply and it depletes rather rapidly. This of course is where creatine comes in, as it’s used to replenish the amount of ATP available. So, in plain English, creatine increases the energy your muscles have.

This then increases the amount of work your muscles are capable of doing, which then increases what you’re capable of doing during your workouts (meaning lifting more weight and/or doing more reps).
The process of gradually increasing the amount of weight you lift and/or the number of reps you lift it for is known as progressive overload, and it’s the #1 weight training requirement for building muscle.
What creatine does is directly assist in making this process take place. Which means, in the end, creatine supplements help build muscle.
Q: Does It Really Work?
A: Yes it does. Creatine has probably been the most studied and tested supplement of the last 20 years, and research (and the real world) shows that it does indeed work.
So yes, for the majority of the people who take it, it certainly works.
Of course, there is a small minority of people who take it and notice no difference at all. They are referred to as “non-responders.”
However, for the majority of the people who take it, creatine will definitely work as expected.

Best Creatine For Muscle Growth – Highlights

To sum up what the experts said, if the person just taking creatine along without hitting the gym, it will not help building muscle. However, if you pay attention to your body and how your body reacts to your workout and the food and supplement such as creatine by giving what the body needs, you have the higher opportunity to witness your own outstanding muscle growth.
My suggestion for you is to experiment and see what works best for you because what has worked for me may not work for you. Try taking your creatine supplement first thing before breakfast and immediately after an intense workout due to that is when your muscles are most likely to absorb it. Remember that understanding how the creatine and your body works is the ultimate solution for looking for the best creatine for muscle growth.