After protein powder, creatine is probably the next most important supplement for people trying to build muscle. Creatine malate is a particularly effective form of creatine and I’ll explain a bit about it here.
What Is Creatine?
Creatine is a naturally occuring nitrogenous organic acid that helps supply energy to muscles. Yeah, right – but what does that mean? Okay, well the low-down on creatine is summarized nicely by a PubMed.gov paper from the exercise and sport nutrition laboratory:
“… creatine supplementation during training has been reported to promote significantly greater gains in strength, fat free mass, and performance primarily of high intensity exercise tasks.“
When people talk about creatine they usually mean creatine monohydrate but there is now a better form of creatine called creatine malate, which is what I will describe next.
What Is Creatine Malate?
Creatine malate is a combination of creatine monohydrate and malic acid.
There is a biological process in the body called the Krebs Cycle and what this does is helpo to convert carbohydrates, fats and proteins into energy the body can use. Malic acid is used during that cycle as an intermediate substance.
Combining malic acid with creatine makes it more water-soluble, thus allowing the body absorb it more efficiently. Furthermore, the easier absorbtion means that you will suffer less in the way of gastric disturbances than you would with plain creatine monohydrate.
To put it in plain English, if you are going to get creatine you may as well get the malate form of the stuff because it is more effective. You are still getting creatine monohydrate but you will be getting malic acid too.
Do I Really Need Creatine Malate?
No, of course you don’t, and you don’t need protein powder or any other supplement either. However both protein and creatine supplements have been proven to help those who are trying to build muscle mass, so if you are serious about your training then you should consider a creatine supplement. I would say that creatine is probably the next most popular supplement amongst bodybuilders after protein.
S.A.N V-12 Turbo is probably the most popular brand of creatine malate on the market just now. You can buy this at a huge reduction or find out more about creatine malate by clicking here.
