In this day and age, the result of our physical activities is often influenced by more than just our ambition. We live stressful lives, our diet is never the best it can ever be, and sometimes, our gym work and post-workout recovery could do well with some supplementation.
Why should you consider investing in women’s creatine? Well, in short, it’s the best way to increase your strength and power, increase your body’s ability to regrow muscle, enhance your recovery after high-intensity exercise, and also see some visible changes in your muscle definition.
Creatine doesn’t work like steroids, but its effects are noticeable and it’s perhaps the most studied workout supplement available to purchase in Australia. Women are particularly likely to see some big body modifications with creatine supplementation, as they naturally have different hormone patterns, a greater risk of muscle breakdown associated with ageing, and lower creatine reserves in the muscle fibres.
Creatine can help your body regenerate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) faster than it would be possible by relying on diet alone. And this has a couple of distinct benefits. Creatine can allow you to increase the maximum number of reps you can do, lift heavier weights, sprint harder and for longer periods, and also experience less muscle fatigue between sets.
It’s not magic, it’s science, and it’s perhaps the number one supplement you should invest in if you want to increase the quality of your workouts and maximise the results of your physical activities.
Achieve a leaner look
Creatine doesn’t directly contribute to the production of muscle fibres. It’s not a steroid, and it’s not banned by WADA. However, it does have a direct impact on training capacity and muscle recovery, which can help your progressive weight training and support the preservation of muscle mass even when dieting.
Yes, you might gain two or three kilograms of water weight in the first few weeks after starting to take modern women’s creatine supplements. But you won’t look bulky or have a hard time getting rid of the extra weight. Quite the contrary, in fact.
Creatine can make it easier to train consistently, it can lead to improved body composition, it’s particularly useful for people who practice HIIT exercises or strength training, and there are also a number of studies out there that link creatine to significant cognitive improvements. In fact, this often can be the first positive sign you’ll notice.
A different impact for everyone
My girlfriend, for example, mainly takes women’s creatine for the clarity it provides, particularly after intensive workout routines. Typically, after gym, she struggled with mental fatigue and brain fog that lasted anywhere from a couple of minutes to more than five hours. But after starting to take creatine, these issues started to gradually disappear.
Even I, as a man, have first-hand experience with the potential benefits of creatine. While I didn’t struggle that much with mental fatigue after workouts, I did experience significant drops in strength after longer periods of recovery. Creatine, for me, equated to a 10 per cent increase in total strength output. Doesn’t sound that impressive? Maybe it isn’t at first glance, but it helped me recover the gains I lost during pauses in exercise, and made it easier to go back to a gym routine.
How does creatine impact women?
In many ways, women’s creatine can have a bigger impact than what an average man can experience. Women naturally have fewer creatine reserves in their bodies, their muscle mass is lower, and they have significantly less testosterone than men. For women, creatine supplementation can increase muscle endurance, aid with workout recovery and impact maximum strength.
Creatine doesn’t work like hormonal therapy. It can’t increase testosterone or contribute directly to muscle fibre increases. However, creatine has a direct role in the body’s production of ATP, and thus it can make us tolerate higher volumes of training, while also increasing the maximum strength output that our body is capable of. In other words, over time, creatine can potentially make us leaner and improve our body composition.
Yes, creatine can also lead to water-weight increases, due to retention in the intramuscular fibres. Additionally, some women report bloating episodes that are directly related to creatine supplementation. But these effects often are temporary and can be alleviated by starting with lower creatine doses. The truth is that creatine is perhaps the most studied workout supplement in the world, and for most people, it’s perfectly safe to take, even for longer periods.
What should you notice?
First of all, creatine doesn’t work like a steroid. You will not see substantial modifications in your physique if you don’t also continue with a gym routine that can contribute to the maximisation of your strength. How much change you can notice after taking women’s creatine will depend on your genetics, body size, diet and training style. That said, most women who get started with creatine can see an average of 10 per cent to 15 per cent increase in their maximum strength and also less time spent in recovery.
Your physical development is impacted by the time your body takes to recover after intensive exercise. But creatine can potentially help with that. With creatine, you might notice that your maximum number of reps increases by one or two, or, that your muscles appear a bit fuller, even though your exercise routine has remained the same.
Additionally, do you want to bulk up, but you struggle with your diet? Well, in that case, creatine can be the way to go. Most women report a 1-3kg weight increase in the weeks after getting started with creatine. But remember, that’s not fat weight, but rather it’s intramuscular water retention.
Creatine can give you the short-term energy boost you need for improving your HIIT routine, it can lead to faster recovery between sets, and it’s also widely available. So, why not at least try it out and see how your body reacts to it? The changes, after all, can only be positive.