The Show Up Fitness Podcast

Creatine: Everything you need to know | Science | Who should take it | How much to take

• Chris Hitchko, CEO Show Up Fitness • Season 2 • Episode 204

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Pubmed Creatine article: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7871530/

Dive deep into the fascinating world of creatine – perhaps the most scientifically validated supplement in fitness history – as we separate fact from fiction in this evidence-packed episode. Discovered in 1832 and composed of three amino acids (glycine, arginine, and methionine), creatine has evolved from a scientific curiosity to a cornerstone supplement for performance enhancement.

We explore how creatine actually works within your body's energy systems, particularly during high-intensity exercise. By facilitating ATP regeneration during those crucial first 30 seconds of intense effort, creatine literally allows you to perform more work – turning those 8 reps into 12 or 15. This isn't just theory; it's backed by decades of research and countless position stands from leading sports nutrition organizations.

The episode systematically dismantles persistent myths surrounding creatine: no, it doesn't damage your kidneys (unless you have pre-existing kidney disease); no, it doesn't cause hair loss; and no, loading phases aren't necessary. We discuss proper dosing (3-5 grams daily depending on body size), timing considerations (they're minimal), and why expensive proprietary blends offer no advantages over simple, affordable creatine monohydrate.

Most fascinating are the emerging applications beyond the weight room. Research now points to cognitive benefits and neuroplasticity support, expanding creatine's potential value for everyone from young athletes to aging adults concerned with brain health. Whether you're a competitive athlete, weekend warrior, or fitness professional guiding clie

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Speaker 1:

I once had a 12-year-old client take creatine. I sent to his parents a position stand. They read all the current data and they made the decision that it would be best for him, and I full-heartedly agree, and I'm gonna have my kids be taking creatine absolutely Welcome to the Show Up Fitness Podcast, where great personal trainers are made. We are changing the fitness industry. One qualified trainer at a time with our in-person and online personal training certification. If you want to become an elite personal trainer, head on over to showupfitnesscom. Also, make sure to check out my book how to Become a Successful Personal Trainer. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. Have a great day and keep showing up. Howdy y'all. Welcome back to the Show Up Fitness podcast. Today we're going to be talking everything creatine. If you are in the Show Up Fitness nutrition coach program this Thursday, you'll have Mel getting into the weeds. Everything about creatine. I wanted to do a podcast, so we have it on record for those that are interested in learning more about creatine.

Speaker 1:

What is creatine? Who's it for? Should you be taking it? Contraindications Before we start addressing the stuff that you see on social media, we got to start with the basics. Who found it? Who discovered it? Big hunk in the early 1800s 1832 to be exact French scientist, the 1800s, 1832 to be exact French scientist, eugene Chevrelle. I probably butchered his last name. I apologize, eugene, but he discovered it by extracting it from meat, coming from the name flesh in Greek, which is kreos.

Speaker 1:

Kreatine is an organic substance. It's composed of three amino acids. If you've gone through the show up program, you know that there's 20 things that we teach you as you become a qualified personal trainer. We have glycine, arginine and methionine. Now you have some fun little factoids about creatine that will get you some free drinks at a bar. What is happening during exercise metabolism when we would be utilizing creatine? Another bar factoid free. You want a free drink?

Speaker 1:

What is the powerhouse of the cell? Most people know it's mitochondria, and ATP is the cell currency. That means listen back to that TDEE podcast that I did on how we use energy for the organism. 70% of our fuel goes to the brain, liver, lungs, kidneys, skin, muscle, and so these organs need fuel, and that fuel is ATP, and that stands for adenosine triphosphate. So we take an adenosine molecule and we attach to it three phosphates. When I utilize ATP, energy is taking in those molecules and we're breaking it down, with the byproduct being ADP adenosine diphosphate. The majority of creatine is stored in our liver and our muscles about 95%. Now it's synthesized and made in the liver, the pancreas and kidneys. That's where it it's produced. We can take this stored creatine and produce more adenosine triphosphate and this is bioenergetics.

Speaker 1:

I'm not going to get into the weeds in this stuff, but anaerobic metabolism. The first zero to 10 seconds of work that's being done is just strictly ATP. But now we have that byproduct of ADP and we can combine it together with creatine phosphate, with some cool creatine kinase and it's an enzyme that's going to put it together. So we have more ATP. It allows for more work to be done. So that second kick of anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds of a high intense work is that phosphocreatine system and when you take creatine it allows for more work to be done.

Speaker 1:

You'll hear a common misconception this one goes out to you, cousin Ethan about creatine being used for recovery. Not so much because it's the work that's being done Now. If Ethan and I were 100 yards apart and we were walking towards the finish line and he's taking creatine, he's going to get to the finish line quicker than I would. It just allows for more work to be done. It's not bad for you. Unfortunately, you have lawmakers in New York. What the hell are y'all doing? They banned creatine for kids under 18. That's crazy. Luckily I don't live in New York and if I did, I would just go buy it and give it to my kids, because this stuff is literally the fountain of youth.

Speaker 1:

We've studied this supplement so damn much that we've looked at it and how it would respond during COVID People with mental illness. We've studied this sucker so much We've gotten past that. It's very, very beneficial for exercise. Let's see what else this awesome compound could be used for and beneficial. It's unfortunate that there's so many people on social media who ruin a perfectly safe and beneficial supplement.

Speaker 1:

Now, are there individuals that maybe shouldn't be taking this Sure? Do you have kidney issues? Did a doctor specifically tell you that creatine is going to jack up your kidneys because of some type of metabolic disease that you currently have? No, if you exercise a lot and you get your blood work done, you may have your levels slightly elevated, but you need to find a practitioner who understands your organism because you are more active. For a lay person who's not exercising, those results would not be normal, but for someone who's exercising regularly, it would be perfectly healthy. Luckily for us, at Show Up we have a team of doctors, therapists, dieticians who we can consult with. So when I get my blood results back, I go to that doc to interpret it for me, because my organism is different. If you're benching 225 or on your road to 315, like I am, and you hit it for 10 reps, what supplementing with creatine would allow for you to do is get to 12, get to 14 or 15. More work can be done, and that's an amazing thing.

Speaker 1:

Now there's a lot of misconceptions out there on social media, people running their mouths who don't understand this stuff. So let's start with some of those basic ones, such as water retention, and I'm going to post this in the show notes from the National Library of Medicine in PubMed and it reviews the common misconceptions about creatine supplementation. And the first one usually is around water retention and there just isn't much evidence to support that. And my two cents is when people start taking creatine, they're more aware of hydration. They're drinking water more regularly. They see the big jack dude at the gym with their water bottle, so they start drinking more water, whereas before they were probably dehydrated, maybe even chronically dehydrated. So when you start taking creatine, your mindset shifts into being healthier. You want to perform better in the gym, so you start drinking more water, but there's no evidence that supports concretely that you're going to retain more water. That's usually a big one with women. As we freak out, we don't want to look bloated, but it's always a case-by case example. That's why you got to look at what type of creatine you're taking.

Speaker 1:

The single most studied compound when it comes to this supplement is creatine monohydrate. Not phosphate, not ester ether, not the gummy bears and worms that everyone's taking today. Creatine monohydrate it's just a pure powder. When you look on the back of the bin, it says creatine, five grams, other ingredients none. That's it. It's just creatine monohydrate.

Speaker 1:

You're going to have some jack dude at GMC, probably named Chad, telling you you got to get this $80 bottle because it's going to get you extra jacked and has all this other cool stuff in it. No, chad, I don't want that. I want creatine monohydrate. No ingredients, that's it. Those proprietary blends they could be mixing in their fillers. That just allows for them to charge more for their magical serum, which is not, in fact, magical. Stick to the basics.

Speaker 1:

With that being said, if someone wanted to give me some creatine estyl ether, I'll take it if it's for free. If a supplement company wants me to support their creatine, they're going to send me a bunch of stuff for free, I will take it. I'm not going to market it to the masses saying this is the new magical creatine. I'll take it for free, but I'm not going to give it to my clients. I'm not going to profit off something that's going to be charged 3X, 5x, 10x, when you can literally go to Costco and get a three-month supply for less than 50 bucks. That's what you should be taking regularly. There was a 12-month study that the ISS ended that's my go-to source when it comes to nutrition information and they had these advanced lifters taking something like 50 grams per day for 52 straight weeks, mega dosages. There was no adverse effects on their liver, on their kidney, the blood, nothing, perfectly fine. Don't go out there and start taking 50 grams.

Speaker 1:

The recommended supplementation is three to five grams. If you're a smaller person, less than 170 pounds, probably closer to three grams per day. If you're a little bigger, five grams, I call it. You got to find that shit range. I know it sounds terrible but it really is. When you have too much creatine you're going to have explosive diarrhea. It's not fun, but that's how you truly find the amount that your body can take in. So it's probably going to be like six to seven grams for that 190, 200 pound dude. Maybe a little bit more experiment with it. Perfectly okay to try that stuff out.

Speaker 1:

It is not an anabolic steroid. You'll have people misconstrue that, oh, you're taking steroids. Nope, not the case. And here's some people talking about baldness and hair loss. No evidence really supports that. Dehydration and muscle cramping no evidence to support that. Is it safe for children and adolescents? This is new studies that have been done, still learning about the efficacy of less than 10, but they're showing that even at age 10 plus it's fine.

Speaker 1:

Smaller dosages are what we want to aim for three to five grams or 0.1 grams per kilogram of body mass. You don't really need to do a loading phase. You got Chad back there saying you got to take four times the recommended doses in the beginning to load up your muscles Again, it's not going to do any harm per se, just probably going to have explosive diarrhea. You don't need to do that. It's already in our muscle.

Speaker 1:

We would typically find creatine in nature in fish and red meat. Now if you're carnivore, you're probably fine. Otherwise, if we're not getting a lot of amino acids, we may be missing out on this super important compound. Other forms are not superior by any means. So just stick to that creatine monohydrate and it's great for males and females. They've also done some cool stuff looking at cognition because it is stored in the brain. So maybe for mom and dad it would be something that they could start taking for some neuroplasticity. That might be kind of cool.

Speaker 1:

It's for anaerobic metabolism and the brain health, as I just mentioned. So if you're a marathon runner or an endurance athlete, probably not going to do too much for you because the majority of aerobic metabolism will be utilizing fats and you will not be into that initial phase of exercise metabolism which is that ATP-PCR. It's more fat utilization. With that being said, if you're toe-to-toe in that last 100 meters of a marathon, having some creatine supplementation may allow for you to get to that finish line faster. So for right now we don't really know the long-term effects for endurance and efficacy behind it. We do know for a fact for anaerobic metabolism, which is going to be lifting weights, power lifting. It's an absolutely must supplement with you want to say you're natural. You're still natural with this stuff. You don't need to put hashtag natty, but I take creatine. This stuff is literally the fountain of youth.

Speaker 1:

If you exercise regularly, this is something you should be taking Powder form in the morning, two to three grams. Take some before bed. The timing isn't necessarily that important. Some people will opt for doing it after because if you just did a workout you'd be a little more depleted. That's fine. We don't need to get into the weeds on these nuances. Just take it in the morning and before you go to bed. That's what I'll do. I'll do a scoop in the morning, a scoop at night. Not needed to get 10 grams, but I'm 200 plus pounds. I know my tolerance for what I can handle.

Speaker 1:

Another question you're going to get is people saying well, should you go off of it? I've literally been taking this stuff since I've been like 16. And the only time I'll go off of it is when I go on vacation because I don't want to carry a bin around with me. Put it into my bag. So, like most of us, if we travel for a couple of weeks out of the year. That's more than enough, but you don't need to. If you wanted to stick through it and just take it all the time, you're more than happy to do so.

Speaker 1:

And I talked earlier about a client that I have when I was training at Renaissance Club Sport. This was almost 15 years ago and he was a young hunk and he was a competitive swimmer. He was like 12, 11, 12, I believe, and his parents wanted him to take that next step. He wasn't a beginner, so he's been doing this for a while. He said, mom and pops, you might want to look into creatine supplementation. And mom was like oh, it's bad for your kidneys and all that stuff. I totally understand the concern, but that's not the case. Those are big misconceptions. Almost 20 years ago, I was telling them this this is stuff that we were learning in college when I was at University of Connecticut, learning from Dr Kramer. How he explained it to me is Chris, think of a cup from Starbucks right out in front of you, 20 ounces Right.

Speaker 1:

A third of it is full. You have a tiny BB size hole at the bottom of it and it's just slowly leaking out. When we exercise that third cup full of coffee, it's slowly going to empty out Now if you could fill up that cup of coffee, whereas when you were out and you couldn't do any more at that, 225 for eight. Now you have more fuel in the tank to get 12, to get 15. The size of the cup is based off of your genetics how long you've been lifting your lean body mass. But why not keep the cup full as much as you possibly can? You're just going to be optimizing your performance in the gym. Again, anaerobic metabolism. These are athletes that need to do things explosively and for his swimming his race was like 15, 20 seconds.

Speaker 1:

It would be a prime opportunity to supplement with creatine, but I told his parents I totally understand. I'm not a doctor. You don't want to believe Chris the trainer. So let me send you a position stand and this is from the top exercise scientists and doctors in the world who review this information and they don't have any biases. They're not pro creatine or anti creatine or getting paid by creatine EAS company over here. They're just looking at the evidence and the efficacy of supplementation. So I sent them that position stand and they made the decision to supplement with three grams. Because he was like 120 pounds. He was able to set PRs based off of that supplementation.

Speaker 1:

And if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. But we need to nip the stuff in the bud where you have influencers saying it's bad for your kidneys. Or I had hair loss when I was taking it. My skin got all messed up. That is anecdotal. I'm giving you my anecdotal evidence of 20 plus years of taking this and I've never experienced any of those side effects. But the science supports this stuff. So if you're looking for better performance in the gym, male or female, looking at cognition benefits, mentation, that's, your brain and how we're thinking neuroplasticity could have an impact on that.

Speaker 1:

If you don't believe me, that's all right. I'm the belt buckle trainer. I can be kind of annoying. I get it, my biceps are bigger than right. I'm the belt buckle trainer. I can be kind of annoying. I get it, my biceps are bigger than yours. I'm just kidding. But hop on our call with a registered dietitian, mel. She will go over all the pros, the very, very few cons. If you do have some type of renal issues or family renal issues, you do want to look into that more, consulting with your physician. But when it comes to athletic performance male or female anaerobic metabolism. This is something you want to highly consider. You cannot get in trouble for suggesting this to your clients. But notice how I did it. I didn't say you have to take this. I said let me send you a position. Stand from these doctors at this well-known International Society of Sports and Nutrition. These experts are going to give you their opinion. You do your research with what I just sent you and then come back and we can have a discussion.

Speaker 1:

I'm not peddling creatine, going to the store, putting it in a white bag, selling it to my clients under the table. No, creatine monohydrate. Take it as the bottle says. I don't do the pills. I don't do any of that other stuff. The reason I don't like the gummies take five of those. It gets your five grams 40, 50 calories here. Times that by 10, 500 calories by the end of the month. Half a pound of fat almost. I would prefer to have a couple of beers over that. That's my choice. If you want to try some gummies, to each their own. If you want to try some of the other kinds out and experiment with them, that's perfectly okay. But do not recommend those to your clients because they have not been studied, only creates a monohydrate habit.

Speaker 1:

If you want to level up your knowledge and become a qualified nutrition coach, our certification will get you one CEU. That's 10 hours of material that we offer with classes that I teach weekly, and then we have a registered dietitian on our team. You get to consult with her and learn about all the misconceptions about supplements, weight management, body composition, all the fun stuff for general pop, but also performance. You are learning from the expert when it comes to nutrition, not Francine, who has 2.3 million followers and telling you glucose is going to kill you. Make sure to stick a cube of butter up your ass, because that's how you're going to get rid of all your inflammation. We don't need to go to those extremes. Y'all Learn from the professionals. Level up your knowledge with the fundamentals our body mass equation it is calories in and calories out. But you need to look at the other factors the environmental factors, genetics, our mental factors, genetics, hunger, energy cravings, water, hormones those all play a role into the organism. We teach you those things when you become a qualified nutrition expert. Once you finished a course, you are now a certified nutrition coach. You will have a dietitian within your network so you can start generating streams of revenue.

Speaker 1:

Trainers' biggest flaw is not having additional streams of revenue when it comes to nutrition. You go talk to Frank, who's a trainer at your gym. He's going to tell you that I'm an idiot because he never did it. It's just like those that had a car in the early 1900s. People that were riding around on horses are going to say that's weird. Yeah, you're also going five miles per hour. Wouldn't you rather be in a car? Frank? I'm sorry you don't have these streams of revenue. I include it in my packages, but why not make an additional $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 per year? Because you are a competent coach.

Speaker 1:

When you train your clients, you train them, and then you have sessions and offerings that are supplemental when it comes to nutrition. There's a great call today because we went over how you can utilize your social media to get clients to learn about your nutritional offerings. You do a discovery call. You let them know that you have a psychologist, a dietician, on your team. If need be Worst case scenario I'm going to refer you into the hand, so you are absolutely going to get the results. That confidence is what our clients deserve and need, not some dipshit who's sitting on a car telling you how to make seven figures and he's never even trained a client. Sure as hell can't tell you the 17 muscles around the shoulder.

Speaker 1:

The seven nutrients of the body carbs, fats, protein. Alcohol is technically a macronutrient micronutrients, vitamins, minerals and then water. I'm not saying we got to go drink, but you should be aware of what the nutrients are. The macronutrients, the basic unit amino acids, fatty acids, monosaccharides. What are the three monosaccharides? Glucose, galactose, fructose. They're not bad. They are what they are. Chemicals are part of biochemistry.

Speaker 1:

We should not be scared of this. I would be scared shitless if I had to fly a plane, but guess what? A pilot is not, so am I going to start a podcast why we shouldn't fly planes? They're the experts. Go to the experts when it comes to nutrition, movement, competency. You need to level up your mindset and you can absolutely turn your passion for fitness into a sustainable career. If you haven't read my book, volume 2, grab that sucker on Amazon, maybe a photo of where you got the book. We're choosing weekly winners. Trisha Lynn just won $500 worth of show up swag. We're giving away seminars, our certifications. We want you to become a successful trainer so we can help people move better, lose weight, get out of pain, and that's exactly what a qualified trainer and nutrition coach should be able to do. Remember, big biceps are better than small ones, and keep showing up.