Is the creatine workout power-up worth it?

December 5, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

Having difficulty getting the energy for a workout?

And… is the supplement aisle suddenly starting to seduce you as a result?

Yeah. I get the temptation. Especially when I see my coworker, Nate, take his pre workout right before his shift ends. It’s like this Jekyll and Hyde transformation. Testosterone to the testosteroneth power. The emerald hulk emerges – limbs quaking, muscles gyrating. Within moments of drinking it, the formerly docile young man transmogrifies into a monster, riddled with bulging blood vessels. He rips off his perfectly starched polo, and exits the clinic by busting a Nate shaped hole in the door. (After neatly signing out on his time sheet, of course.) Who is this person? He’s typically so tranquil; but this pre workout elixir turns him into a different entity completely.

And… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want in sometimes on whatever he’s sipping.

(A rare camera capture of my creatine-ized coworker exiting the clinic and making for the gym.)

Especially when I ask him the next morning how leg day was, and his deadened eyes light up as he replies:

“AMAZING!”

Who wouldn’t want in on that?

Even me – who runs twice a day and trains in MMA – is admittedly intrigued. I’m always looking to improve and maximize my performance. (And lose any accrued holiday weight by going harder on the cardio.) Yet, as somebody who doesn’t take anything that’s non-holistic sans doing deep research on it first, I had to wonder: is the stuff worth it? Not just for already aerobic-addicted me, but for you? For anyone on a fitness path who wants to maintain or lose weight with less stress? Who wants to thrive on exercise, not just survive it? Geez… wouldn’t it be nice if working out could feel… “AMAZING”, as my coworker so eloquently describes it?

So I checked it out.

And the results?

Well as far as general effectiveness (and safety) goes, it depends on what blend you get. Unfortunately, many a pre-workout tends to have a bunch of different herbs (sometimes with hazardous additives) and usually caffeine or creatine (or both). But those – caffeine and creatine – seem to be the biggest factors in fueling the workout’s power up. While two different things structurally, they both offer that pizazz that carries you through exercise with less effort. In fact, in one study done on a random proprietary blend pre-workout supplement, it appeared that athletes who took the supplement with all the surplus stuff didn’t perform any better than those on a healthy diet plus just plain creatine. All that extra garbage you’re paying for is just a filler to make the brand unique enough in its formula to be “unique”.

Alright, so creatine can make my workout better.

But… what about my ultimate goals?

Feeling good and losing weight?

Well, that’s where the bad news comes in. ’cause there’s a kind’ve body withdrawal that happens when you come off this stuff: fatigue, weakness, and decreased natural creatine production are all things you can expect. (There’s always a price to be paid for feeling “AMAZING” euphoria.) But, what’s more – what I haven’t even told you yet – is that you might have endless zest while you’re taking this stuff, but since it stores water, you’re gonna notice water weight gain on this stuff. Upside? When you’re going through all those horrible withdrawal symptoms after finally quitting the stuff, at least you’ll be dropping all that water weight.

You know, whenever I look at something that’s worth giving a try, I try to analyze it from a sustainability angle.

And, with that in mind, ultimately, it looks like pre-work out doesn’t offer anything better (in the long term) than a healthy diet coupled with a cup of caffeine would. (Except for a long list of side effects that would be more detrimental than helpful for your fitness and weight loss goals.) Our bodies create our own creatine. And if we eat a well rounded diet full’ve energy infusing foods (and eschew the ruinous, processed ones), we won’t need to supplement it with anything extra. What’s more, we won’t feel too fatigued to hit the gym and workouts won’t feel like such a chore. You may not get that next level high like my coworker gets. But you know what you also don’t get? Those dead eyes he has the next day that’re the hallmark of any addict coming down from their drug o’ choice.

Now, before I catch any hate – that’s not to say it has that effect on everyone. It’s not even to say this stuff’s necessarily unsafe or bad for you. Many seem to thrive on it – so long as they don’t stop taking it. But the downside could potentially outweigh that – inasmuch as there’s A.) reportedly a comedown, B.) water weight gain, and C.) a definite withdrawal when you have to stop taking it. For some, that might be worth the dependency on it. But, for those’ve us who want sustainable energy sources and weight loss – not so much.

In sum, I suppose that sticking with my matcha and plant based macro balanced diet I’m already following has gotta be enough. Sure, I only do an hour or three of cardio and strengthening each day. But, really, in what world isn’t that more than enough? Many don’t even make time for a half hour. Fortunately, though, I’ve found a diet that allows me to do that with ease. And if I’m doing all of that on a green tea drinking, vegan lifestyle alone (when my nearly-ten-years-younger coworker can’t even get it up for the gym without his fitness fix on board), then I’d say I’m doing alright.

In fact, I’d even say, I’m doing… AMAZING.