el a maximum effort such as lifting a weight for 10 to 15 seconds. After that, the muscle must rely on Creatine Phosphate to restock its supply of ATP. Increasing the muscles supply of Creatine phosphate helps increase the rate in which the body can supply ATP. This increases the muscle capacity to do work and improves the energy level of the muscles. Typically, the average person metabolizes about two grams of Creatine per day, and the body normally synthesizes that same amount; thus, you generally maintain a Creatine balance (Bamberger 59), but "it is not uncommon for an athlete to have what is called Creatine deficiency."(Phillips 15) which is not being able to create enough Creatine on your own. In these cases through a more balanced diet or by supplementing Creatine in their diet they regain the balance. This leads to a point that proves in one way how Creatine has an advantage on enhancing athlete's performance. Creatine is naturally found in foods. For example, the average helping of beef or fish contains about 1 gram of naturally occurring Creatine. Unfortunately, Creatine is very sensitive to heat and cooking virtually destroys the effectiveness of Creatine. The amount of Creatine needed depends on the athlete's body weight and on the number of days Creatine has been supplemented. Creatine should be loaded in relatively high amounts for the first six days of supplementation and then may be taken in daily dosage while maintaining positive performance. Creatine can bind water to the muscle giving an athlete a more muscular appearance. Competitive bodybuilders usually drop Creatine supplementation two weeks prior to a show to insure maximum definition and vascularity. Creatine has not yet been definitely linked to any adverse health effects, and thus has very few side effects. One side effect usually caused by over-dosage which some have complained about is stomach cramps. Reducing the intake of creatine in almost all cases has re...
