What is Creatine?
The phosphocreatine (PCr) system is the main source of energy for sporting activities which require short bursts of high intensity exercise - this being an important factor for power based sports such as powerlifting, weightlifting, and sprinting events.
Although the liver produces approximately 2-3g of creatine per day and it can be found in low amounts in a number of foods such as red meats, supplementing creatine monohydrate has been shown to significantly increase the concentration of creatine in skeletal muscle. It is in the muscle where this creatine is stored as PCr and releases the phosphate to fuel the anaerobic activity predominantly in the type 2b muscle fibres.
Essentially, this additional creatine donates the extra energy to power the cells as we exert ourselves during intense exercise and in turn reduces the rate at which we fatigue. To date, there is a host of studies that have illustrated how creatine can boost performance, strength and power through such mechanisms (See review by Bird, 2003).
Why Creapure®?
There are a number of sources of creatine available on the market including various forms which contain added substances to either enhance absorption or buffer the muscle (reduce acidity). However, it is purely creatine monohydrate that dominates the surrounding literature. The purity of this creatine will have a huge impact on how well this is absorbed into the muscle as well as other factors such as acidity in the muscle and the build-up of potential by-products in the blood which can in fact be detrimental to performance.
Creapure® - hence the name - is a pure form of high-quality creatine monohydrate and has been produced in Germany since the mid-1990s by AlzChem. The manufacturing conditions and handling of raw materials are both crucial factors for determining the quality of this creatine monohydrate. Inferior raw materials or a too-rapid reduction in the amount of water during the recrystallization process will result in larger amounts of the impurities; creatinine, dicyandiamide, and dihydrotriazine.
What makes this even more unique, is that Creapure® has been specially tested for these impurities using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) which ensure there are low amounts of the by-products and the high purity is maintained. As a result, Creapure ® is world-renowned for its high quality and purity, which is due to careful selection of raw materials and the technologically mature, patented system for synthesizing creatine.
Conclusion
Creatine Monohydrate has been a popular sports supplement since the early 90’s where athletes such as Linford Christie, Sally Gunnell and Colin Jackson used it to enhance anaerobic performance. The research to date suggests 5g of creatine monohydrate post workout can help increase muscle creatine stores which can increase the available substrates to enhance recovery during high intensity short bursts of exercise. There are many types of creatine monohydrate on the market. However, the purity of the creatine can have a huge impact of its overall effectiveness. Creapure® is the purest form of creatine monohydrate available on the market and is extensively tested to ensure this quality is maintained to ensure little impurities.
