Creatine
For many climbers, keeping light is of big importance, as any unnecessary body mass will be additional weight to shift up a climb, so the thought of gaining a few kilos in a few days from creatine supplementation is unthinkable!
Creatine is a substance that is found naturally in muscle cells. It helps your muscles produce energy during heavy lifting or high-intensity exercise.
A common misunderstanding with creatine supplementation, is that taking it itself will make you stronger, so I’m going to try and explain how creatine works, and how it can be beneficial for your climbing training.
The Science
There are three energy systems in the body, the immediate energy system, the oxidative system (Aerobic) and the glycolytic system(Anaerobic). For the uses of creatine we only need to think about the immediate energy system which lasts around 4 seconds.
The immediate energy system is powered by Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a relatively heavy molecule so not much of it is stored in the muscles, instead, when it is depleted, it is re-synthesised in the muscles using phosphocreatine (PCr). The immediate energy system is often referred to as the ATP-PCr system.
In normal muscle, ATP that is broken down to adenosine-diphosphate (ADP) is immediately rephosphorylated (converted) back to ATP, allowing the immediate energy system to be used again. Once this has happened and the bodies creatine stores are depleted, it must wait for more creatine to be made or consumed in the diet. However when we supplement creatine, the muscles are loaded with PCr, allowing the immediate energy system to be used much longer.
Practical Application
Having this readily available energy source for the immediate energy system can be extremely useful for training, as it will allow you to train harder, for longer.
A standard programme for supplementing creatine would be:
5 day loading period: 5g of creating 4 times a day roughly every 4 hours
Maintenance: Take 3-5g once a day
It is worth considering that when supplementing creatine, the body holds extra water weight so its very important to stay well hydrated. This will result in a body mass increasing by a few kilos, however once you stop taking the creatine, this will drop back to normal after 2-3 days. For this reason, personally I like to use creatine whilst in a training phase, where being slightly heavier than usual isn’t an issue, and I’ll stop taking it prior to a competition or trip.
