Who doesn’t want to find a way to fast track their fitness goals? Whether you want to get bigger muscles, a leaner waist, or better performance, there are certain supplements that can accelerate that process. Creatine and amino acids are hands down two of the most popular fitness supplements on the market. Why is that? Studies show that these two supplements offer a wide variety of benefits including enhanced recovery, increased performance, and overall better results. Let’s take a look at the benefits of creatine and amino acids along with how they can help you achieve your fitness goals.
What is Creatine?
Creatine is a substance that’s naturally produced in your body, but you also consume it every time you eat steak or other high-protein animal-based foods. Most of the creatine that you naturally produce or consume is stored in muscle tissue. And this key location for storage is why it’s become so popular in the fitness industry.
Creatine is broken down into a substance called adenosine triphosphate. I’m sure you’ve heard it by another name: ATP. During exercise or strenuous physical activity, your muscle tissue requires ATP for fuel. Studies show that by supplementing with creatine, you significantly increase your available levels of ATP. And this will improve your performance, endurance, and recovery.
Benefits of Creatine
If you’ve done a little research, I bet you’ve seen most people talking about using creatine for muscle growth. But that’s not the only benefit of taking creatine for your workouts.
Recovery: Experts have found that when you take a creatine supplement with a large amount of simple carbohydrates after a workout, you dramatically reduce muscle damage and enhance recovery. [1]
Performance: Studies show that creatine is especially effective for improving your performance during a workout. When you consistently take creatine, you might find that you’re able to go longer during your workouts. What’s more, you’ll find that you’re able to lift more weight than normal.
Muscle Growth: Creatine can help you build muscle in a few ways: First, it increases energy production, ensuring there is more usable fuel for your muscle tissue during strenuous workouts. Second, creatine has been shown to enhance strength output. In other words, the more you can lift for a longer period of time, the more you encourage hypertrophy or muscle growth. Finally, creatine helps your cells with processes like recovery and growth hormone production, both of which are key to bigger muscle. [2]
What are Amino Acids
Amino acids are the result of protein digestion. Dietary protein is broken down into 20 amino acids, but there are a few of these amino acids that are especially useful in a fitness setting. Branched-chain amino acids are the focus of most fitness studies because they are especially useful for recovery and results.
Benefits of Amino Acids
Leucine, isoleucine, and valine are the three amino acids that are exclusively referred to when someone says BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids). Why all the fuss? BCAAs has been shown to provide a number of benefits:
Muscle Growth: Of the three BCAAs, leucine in particular assists the most with protein synthesis, which is critical for muscle growth. Leucine also is very effective at protecting your muscle tissue from breakdown. [3]
Reduced Fatigue: When you supplement with BCAAs, you might notice that you’re able to exercise for a longer period of time. Studies show amino acids alleviated perceived fatigue in subjects. People felt like they could exercise for a longer period of time than normal. [4]
Recovery: Amino acids are the literal building blocks of muscle tissue and they have been shown to support recovery by reducing the oxidative stress after a workout. This means less soreness post-workout. And don’t forget that amino acids support protein synthesis, which helps with repairing and rebuilding muscle tissue.
Combine Creatine and Amino Acids for Better Results
Taking creatine and amino acids isn’t just a good idea; it’s a great idea. Think about it: Given the benefits of both supplements, wouldn’t you want to boost your chances for amazing performance and optimal recovery? Taking creatine with amino acids after an intense workout has been shown to reduce the damage done to your muscle tissue while kickstarting the recovery process. Regardless of your fitness goal, it’s important to avoid catabolic breakdown of muscle protein. Combining creatine and amino acids can help you do just that.
Creatine and Amino Acids: Benefits of Both in One Supplement
Instead of buying several different supplements to get the recommended amount of creatine and amino acids, why not just get them in one place.
Muscle Overload – MO90 is a revolutionary post-workout supplement, combining creatine with scientifically proven dosage levels of BCAAs. You’ll also get other ingredients that can accelerate performance and recovery like beta alanine. This amino acid has been shown for decades to increase workout performance, especially strength levels. Try MO90 for a new workout experience.
References
- Kreider, R.B., Kalman, D.S., Antonio, J. et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 14, 18 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z.
- Nissen SL, Sharp RL. Effect of dietary supplements on lean mass and strength gains with resistance exercise: a meta-analysis. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2003 Feb;94(2):651-9. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00755.2002. Epub 2002 Oct 25. PMID: 12433852.
- Breen L, Churchward-Venne TA. Leucine: a nutrient ‘trigger’ for muscle anabolism, but what more?. J Physiol. 2012;590(9):2065-2066. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2012.230631.
- Masako Doi, Ippei Yamaoka, Mitsuo Nakayama, Shinji Mochizuki, Kunio Sugahara, Fumiaki Yoshizawa, Isoleucine, a Blood Glucose-Lowering Amino Acid, Increases Glucose Uptake in Rat Skeletal Muscle in the Absence of Increases in AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Activity, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 135, Issue 9, September 2005, Pages 2103–2108.
