There are two supplements that have become powerhouses in the muscle growth scene. Both of these are vital for our bodies regardless of whether we’re gym rats or not, but they add a lot of helpful benefits for those of you who want to build mass and strength. These are protein and creatine. I’ve decided to do a creatine review because it’s the one that is more commonly misunderstood. People just seem to love to spread misinformation about creatine – and I don’t know why! It’s such a great supplement that I feel compelled to shed some light on the subject.

Creatine is an organic acid. That means your body makes it on its own. Bodybuilders and athletes take it upon themselves to supplement with over three times as much as they could derive from their diet and body processes in order to gain muscle mass.

Let’s talk about exactly what’s going on when you take creatine. There is a reason it’s become so popular over the years, and it all boils down to one thing: force. Taking creatine allows your muscles to exert more force than you are normally capable of, which translates to you lifting a lot more weight than you normally could. Think of it like this: in crisis situations, your body recruits every single strand of muscle fiber in order to help you get out of whatever situation you might be in. You’ve all heard of the stories of a grandmother lifting a car to save her grandchild. While I’m not saying creatine can cause this effect, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that our bodies are capable of much more than we see them do on a daily basis. Creatine helps our bodies use our muscles more effectively, recruiting more muscle fibers more effectively in order to help you push out a new personal record on any exercise you might be having trouble with.

Of course, with results like these there have been many scientific studies to determine if there are any negative effects to creatine use. These studies have overwhelmingly shown that although supplementing with creatine equates to taking over three times as much as “normal”, anywhere from five to twenty grams of creatine in a supplementation stack is completely safe and has basically no side effects whatsoever.

One of the only things that you have to make sure to do when supplementing with creatine is to drink more water. It definitely pulls more water into your muscle tissues, so you have to make sure to add a few glasses a day to your average intake to make sure that you don’t get dehydrated. Dehydration is the only serious side effect but if you’re smart about what you put into your body, you’ll have no problem remembering to drink more water and avoid the problem completely.

That’s about all there is to know about creatine. For any of you that want to build muscle and strength, the last question I have for you is: why aren’t you taking it yet?