5 Creatine Benefits for Women: Why You Should Add It to Your Fitness Routine
While creatine is a supplement commonly associated with male bodybuilders and athletes in power sports like rugby and sprinting, creatine is becoming a popular supplement among women who are serious about performance and achieving their fitness goals.
Creatine is one of the most extensively studied nutritional supplements available and offers anyone who is serious about their training and physical development – including women – a cost effective product relative to its many benefits.
Women may benefit more
Numerous studies confirm that creatine is safe and well-tolerated by both men and women, with benefits reported in both sexes¹.
There is also scientific evidence suggesting that it may actually offer more benefits for women because females exhibit 70–80% lower creatine stores in their bodies compared to men².
How creatine works
Creatine is a naturally occurring compound found in small quantities in foods like red meat and fish, with creatine supplements offering a convenient and effective option for anyone looking to boost their gym performance.
Our body uses the phosphocreatine (PCr) we get from food and supplements to support energy production to fuel short and intense muscle contractions.
With a limited amount of creatine stored in our muscle cells (the primary storage site in the body), boosting creatine stores with a supplement can deliver various physical and performance benefits.
Creatine supplement options
Creatine monohydrate, found in products like Primal Creatine 5000 and Primal Creatine Charge, is the most common form of creatine available today, and it is considered by many to be the most effective.
Various studies³ over the last three decades have shown that creatine monohydrate supplementation for 4–12 weeks increases muscle creatine and PCr content by 20–40%.
5 reasons to consider creatine
Here are 5 reasons why every lady who trains in the gym should consider including a creatine supplement in their plan.
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Creatine can help you build shapely muscle
Boosting creatine stores with a supplement enables you to sustain the intense short duration muscle contractions for longer during resistance training sessions.
By increasing strength, power and muscular endurance in this way, you can train harder for longer, which increases the stimulus muscle tissue needs to grow stronger and bigger with the appropriate recovery and nutritional support.
This enhanced work capacity delivers creatine’s muscle-building benefits, rather than any direct effects on muscle growth, as is the case with supplemental protein.
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Creatine helps you train harder for longer
In terms of creatine’s ability to increase high-intensity exercise capacity, this supplement is a prolific performance-enhancing product.
According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition’s position stand¹, “creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes in terms of increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass during training.”
By boosting your workout capacity through its ability to increase strength and endurance in both men and women2, creatine can help you lift heavier weights for an extra few reps every set.
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Creatine can help improve body composition
While creatine itself doesn’t directly contribute to weight loss or fat loss, the increased work capacity it generates supports the muscle-building benefits already mentioned. These muscle-building effects can indirectly help you improve your body composition.
Muscle tissue burns calories at rest, so as you gain lean muscle mass, your metabolism revs up, potentially making it easier to manage your weight. More intense training can also help you burn more calories at each weights session in the gym.
A landmark study² on the benefits of creatine supplements throughout a woman’s lifecycle confirmed that, when combined with resistance training, “creatine further augments body composition and bone mineral density, particularly in post-menopausal females.”
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Creatine may help to spare muscle tissue
Research³ by a team of Australian scientists has shown that creatine may deliver a greater muscle sparing effect than whey protein.
Based on the findings, the researchers concluded: “Creatine supplementation appears to offer an element of myoprotection which was not observed following whey protein supplementation.”
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Creatine may aid recovery
The findings from the study³, which were published in the journal Nutrients, suggest that the ability of a creatine supplements to support muscle growth run deeper than its ability to generate functional strength.
According to the Australian researchers, observations from the study suggest that supplementing with creatine reduces the extent of muscle damage and/or enhances the growth of the regenerating fibres.
They suggest that the structural improvements are due to increased cell fluid volume that occurred in the earlier stages of the study, which may underpin the benefits observed in the later stages of recovery.
Incorporating creatine
To reap the benefits of creatine, it is best to use it consistently with a cycled protocol. Always follow label recommendations.
Primal recommendations for their Creatine Monohydrate suggest mixing ±1 teaspoon (5g) with 250ml of water or fruit juice before or after exercise 4 times daily in the initial loading phase. Thereafter, mix ±1 teaspoon (5g) with 250ml of water or fruit juice before or after exercise once daily during the maintenance phase.
Before starting any new supplement, including creatine, it’s advisable to consult with a healthcare professional, especially if you have underlying medical conditions or concerns about how it may interact with other medications or supplements you are taking.
References
- Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, Ziegenfuss TN, Wildman R, Collins R, Candow DG, Kleiner SM, Almada AL, Lopez HL. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017 Jun 13;14:18. doi: 10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z. PMID: 28615996; PMCID: PMC5469049.
- Smith-Ryan AE, Cabre HE, Eckerson JM, Candow DG. Creatine Supplementation in Women’s Health: A Lifespan Perspective. Nutrients. 2021 Mar 8;13(3):877. doi: 10.3390/nu13030877. PMID: 33800439; PMCID: PMC7998865.
- Role of Creatine Supplementation in Conditions Involving Mitochondrial Dysfunction: A Narrative Review. Nutrients 2022, 14(3), 529; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030529.
- Myoprotective Potential of Creatine Is Greater than Whey Protein after Chemically-Induced Damage in Rat Skeletal Muscle. Nutrients. 2018 May; 10(5): 553. Published online 2018 Apr 30. doi: 10.3390/nu10050553