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As a personal trainer in Houston many of my clients who want to gain muscle ask me about creatine. Creatine has been around since the beginning of the 20 century. Creatine is a natural substance that helps to supply energy to muscle cells. Creatine is utilized by athletes to increase muscular size and seeking an increase in athletic performance in high-intensity anaerobic activity.

Creatine was first discovered by researches in 1912. Willey Glover Denis and Otto Folin discovered that by ingesting creatine one could increase the amount of creatine within muscle. Even though creatine had been around since 1912 it was not until 1992 that creatine came into the public view. During the 1992 Barcelona Olympics several athletes who won gold medals were utilizing creatine. It was during this time that many athletes began to utilize creatine in order to improve there performance.

So does creatine actually work? Yes there is evidence that creatine increases athletic performance. What creatine does are supply muscles with energy and increases fat-free body mass. Many theorize that the gain from creatine is primarily from water-retention. However, many studies conclude that long term, increases in total body water is reported to be proportional to the weight gains. This means that the percentage of total body water is not significantly changed; therefore, most of gains during creatine use more than likely are muscle increase and not water-retention.

So as a personal trainer in Houston I recommend for clients who are seeking to increase muscularity and/or performance in high-intensity anaerobic activity to use creatine. This is primarily due to studies showing that creatine does improve athletic performance. However, athletes who are going to utilize creatine should first confirm that creatine is an allowed supplement within their sport.