IS CREATINE FOR WOMEN TOO?
Anyone who has done any amount of bodybuilding and fitness research is already familiar with creatine.
It’s the most popular natural muscle building compound available and delivers a variety of positive effects when it comes to gym performance, muscle growth and even fat loss.
Creatine has been a central part of bodybuilder’s supplement plans for many years… but is creatine for women too?
Creatine For Women
The short answer is that, yes, any woman who is looking to build muscle, increase strength and get a leaner, more athletic body will absolutely benefit from creatine supplementation.
Creatine is backed by more solid peer-reviewed studies than any other supplement, and there is no evidence to suggest that creatine acts any differently in women than it does in men.
First off, creatine will amplify your overall muscular strength and power output.
It accomplishes this by assisting your body in re-synthesizing ATP at a more efficient rate. ATP is the key energy molecule used by your muscles during weight training workouts.
This increase in strength will help you gain lean muscle at a faster pace and improve athletic performance as well.
Secondly, creatine increases overall muscle cell volume.
By driving additional water inside of your muscle cells, creatine gives your muscles a fuller and more defined appearance.
This effect will vary from person to person and may be more or less desirable depending on your specific goals.
It should be noted that the increased water dissipates entirely when creatine usage stops, as it is simply there to allow the creatine to be stored in the muscles.
If this is an effect that you don’t want, the best option is to use creatine for a few months for its strength benefits and then stop later on. This way you’ll keep the additional lean muscle that you gained without any of the added water storage.
You should also keep in mind that this increased water is stored directly inside of the muscle cell and not underneath your skin, so it does not cause any form of softness or bloating. In fact, the opposite is true as creatine actually increases muscle definition and hardness.
What is the best form of creatine for women?
Proper creatine supplementation is exactly the same for men as it is for women, and the best creatine form for anyone is still the original creatine monohydrate.
Although a ton of “new and improved” creatines have been released over the years (such as creatine ethyl ester, creatine malate and buffered creatine), none of these forms have ever been shown to be superior in any way.
High quality German-grade creatine monohydrate is still your best bet, and it’s the most cost effective form as well.
What is the proper dosage of creatine for women?
The standard recommended dosage for creatine use is 3-5 grams taken once per day. This will allow for full creatine saturation of the muscles in about 2-3 weeks.
Creatine dosing will ultimately be based on body weight, but a gram or two isn’t going to make any significant difference in the long run and I recommend that most people just go with 1 teaspoon (or slightly less than a teaspoon) once a day to keep things simple.
You can mix your creatine in whatever liquid you prefer, and take your creatine dose at any time of the day when it best fits into your schedule.
The Bottom Line On Creatine For Women
At the end of the day, creatine is the most effective natural muscle building compound in existence and can be used by both men and women.
Stick with high quality German-grade creatine monohydrate and consume 5 grams once per day.
It’s really as simple as that.
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