In combination with strength training, it increases strength. Fat-free mass (muscles). Performance improvement in different sprint-. Play sports (more power). – Increased workout performance (1-3 more reps) – Can aid recovery after hard workouts.
Cheap creatine monohydrate is all you need. There's no reason to shell out money for any "special matrix" as they are no more effective (but much more expensive) than simple creatine monohydrate. 2 Jagim AR, Oliver JM, Sanchez A, Galvan E, Fluckey J, Riechman S, Greenwood M, Kelly K, Meininger C, Rasmussen C, Kreider RB. A buffered form of creatine does not promote greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition, or training adaptations than creatine monohydrate. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012 Sep 13;9(1):43. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-9-43. PubMed PMID: 22971354; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3479057.
Creatine Intake Schedule: You'll achieve the fastest saturation of creatine stores by taking 20g of creatine for five days, followed by 5g daily. You can also take 5g daily from the beginning and reach full creatine stores after ~25 days. Creatine binds water. Thus provides a weight gain of approx. 1-3 kg. These disappear again after stopping creatine. Full creatine stores are available after cessation of use after approx. 30 days back to the initial level. There is a group of people who do not react to creatine. You will notice this by the fact that your weight does not change for several days after you start taking it.
Creatine Monohydrate
– Myprotein Creatine Monohydrate, 1 pack 1 x 1000g (16€ / kg): price-performance king. Powder, 1000 g (18€ / kg).
Creapure ( "micronized" creatine )
Creatine split into very small parts. This makes it dissolve better in water and clump less. More comfortable to take but more expensive. If the extra cost is worth it to you, we recommend you go with Creapure.
1.2.3 Possibly interesting supplements for muscle building
1.2.3.1 Beta-alanine
Beta Alanine is one of the few newer supplements that has been proven to do anything. They increase the carnosine content in the muscles, which performs a buffer function for accumulating acids. Similar to creatine, this allows for higher volume and higher intensity strength training, which is reflected in greater strength and muscle gains over time.
Science-Fitness recommends: Beta Alanine should be taken for at least 1 month to increase carnosine content in muscle. For this purpose 800-1600 mg are to be taken in four single doses over the course of the day. Ingestion may cause brief harmless tingling and tickling of the skin.
– Beta-alanine (Beta-alanine in detail)
1.3 Weight loss (recommended supplements)
Two things will help you lose weight:
1. Suppressed hunger (= lower kcal intake) or 2. Higher energy expenditure (=more kcal consumption).
Not useful for weight loss:
1.3. Caffeine has a hunger suppressing. A fat burning effect. However, you quickly build up a tolerance to caffeine. Do you still remember your first cup of coffee? This was the effect without tolerance. Today you drink coffee by the cup. You hardly notice the effect. After 14 days of regular consumption, the effect decreases sharply.
We are talking about an additional kcal consumption of 15 kcal / hour, with higher intakes (400mg caffeine) can reach a little over 30 kcal / hour.
Caffeine content of various drinks:
– 150 mL / a cup of coffee = ~50 -120 mg – 150 mL green tea = ~20-40 mg – 250 mL Red Bull = ~80 mg – 250 mL Coka Cola = ~20 mg – 1 caffeine tablet = typically 200 mg
Dosage: 50-400 mg, depending on tolerance. Caution: Too much can lead to very unpleasant side effects (heart palpitations, anxiety, irritation) – so if in doubt, approach slowly!
Caution: Do not buy caffeine powder. Caffeine needs to be dosed in the mg range, which can quickly lead to mistakes and thus massive overdoses. 5000mg (1 teaspoon) can be fatal. Protect yourself by eliminating the possibility of overdosing.
1.3.2 Green tea / Green tea extract / EGCG
Green tea develops its effect mainly through the catechin polyphenols it contains. Of these, EGCG is the most biologically active and at approx. 70% is the most abundant. In addition, green tea or extract always contains caffeine.
EGCG content of various beverages:
– 1 cup of green tea (225 ml) = ~180 mg EGCG – 1 tabl. green tea extract = ~250 mg EGCG
Dosage: 2 tablets throughout the day (equivalent to 400-500 mg EGCG / day) or 3-4 cups of green tea to cause fat-burning effects. You can also take capsules in combination with a cup of green tea.
1.4 supplements for vegetarians/vegans
As a vegetarian or vegan, some nutrients found in meat or animal products are often inadequately absorbed due to the absence of animal products. The body cannot produce these substances itself.
Widely known is the vitamin B12 deficiency or iron deficiency. But there is often much more missing.
Check the generally recommended supplements at the top of the article. Depending on exactly what your diet looks like, some deficiency intake is especially with
Omega-3, iron, zinc and vitamin B-12 Not unlikely with a plant-based diet.
If you have problems to get enough protein, a vegetarian or – if there is no other way – vegan protein powder is recommended.
For maximum athletic performance it might be useful to supplement the following nutrients. They play an important role in energy production in muscle cells and are found practically exclusively in animal products:
Creatine (For more strength and power in weight training or sprints). Beta Alanine (For 1-2 wdh. More in strength training or endurance). L-Carnitine (More important for longer endurance training).
1.4.1 Protein powder
As a vegetarian/vegan you run the risk of not consuming enough protein. Often not even the absolute minimum amount of 0.8g / kg body weight is reached. And this is the lower limit above which negative effects are to be expected. What is optimal for your goal may vary.
A vegetarian/vegan protein powder is a good way to counteract the low intake. Look here at the vegetable protein powders for a suitable source for you: protein powder overview (vegetable). Vegetarians can also turn to the best quality protein powder: Whey Protein.
Sense of intake: Take in enough high quality protein.
Dosage: Depending on your needs. 1 serving (30g) usually provides ~25g of protein.
To note: Time of intake does not matter.
1.4.2 Creatine
Half of a person's creatine needs can be produced by the body itself. The other half must be taken in through food. Especially red. White meat as well as offal good sources of creatine. For those who do without these foods, we recommend creatine supplementation.
For vegetarians/vegans who practice weight training, the increases in strength, power and lean body mass from creatine are even more pronounced than for omnivores. Creatine is mainly stored in the muscles. With creatine intake, vegetarians/vegans achieve similar muscle creatine levels to omnivores.
Creatine also increases cognitive abilities (thinking, learning, performance, fatigue during strenuous tasks) in individuals with insufficient creatine intake.
Why? Insufficient intake in meatless diets. Muscular performance, cognitive benefits. Dosage: 5 g / day
To note: Just take it sometime during the day.
1.4.3 L-Carnitine
L-carnitine is a substance found almost exclusively in meat and only in insignificant amounts in milk. L-carnitine is involved in energy production in cells and can counteract negative effects of aging (neurological degradation, chronic fatigue) and diseases.
L-carnitine is mainly used as a mental booster, as taking it increases alertness, conduction speed and mitochondrial capacity. This is mainly due to increased acetylcholine levels.
Why? Inadequate intake on a meatless diet. Energy production, mental fitness. Dosage: 500 mg / day
To note: Just take them at some point during the day.
1.4.4 Beta alanine
Beta Alanine is also found exclusively in meat. If you don't eat meat, you won't get beta alanine either. Through supplementation, a deficiency condition is excluded.
For omnivores, beta alanine supplementation will result in you being able to do ~2 more reps per set when training with weights. As a vegetarian / vegan with a deficiency condition, this effect may be stronger.
Why? Insufficient intake in meatless diets. Energy boosting, mental fitness. Dosage: Dose: 2 g / day
To consider: Excessive doses can cause harmless "tingling" (paresthesia) in arms and legs.
Some supplements stay at the top of the sales lists, but have been proven to do nothing to achieve the desired goal.
Glutamine – with the goal of muscle building, L-Carnitine – with the goal fat burning (works in rats, not in humans), BCAAs – with the goal of muscle building (BCAAs are sufficient in other qual. protein sources).
Attention! In a different context, these supplements may have their justification. A fork is quite ineffective to spoon a soup, but excellent to spear a piece of meat.
Better focus on which supplements really make a difference in each context.
The supplement industry is a multi-million $$$ business in which the desires of many people are silvered. Because what the advertising promises for the supplements is only rarely kept. Many supplements are even completely ineffective for the promised results. Especially with the "unnecessary" supplements, several hundred percent margins are not uncommon.
No wonder that exercisers are more likely to be overwhelmed with supplement purchase recommendations than with effective training tips – and as we all know, money doesn't stink.
After this short wake-up call, you are probably asking yourself: Should I now completely do without supplements??
Our answer: It depends! If you know us, then you know that we stand for objective considerations – demonizing something on principle would not be an effective way to go about it.
The question you should rather ask yourself: Which supplements do I really need? Because there are some supplements that are really useful and have proven their effectiveness in scientific studies.
In the following sections you will find an overview of all supplements that really make a difference. We show you those supplements that actually bring you a benefit.
Are supplements really necessary?
Supplements are not necessary in the sense of indispensable. You can get most of your results with a solid diet. But there are supplements you can use to improve your health, performance, recovery, etc. Can still optimize. Or in other words: You can get out the last percentages with supplements.
Basically you should remember: Supplements are purpose-bound! That is, supplements can be used for specific goals or specific situations. But what are the cases? You are on a diet. Want to optimize fat loss. Your daily routine prevents you from taking all the nutrients you need, which you then have to supplement – you want your Shorten recovery time.
– You want to performance in training or competition increase
– You often get sick and/or want to more resistant to diseases Become.
The following figure will help you to classify supplements correctly. The use of supplements only makes sense if you have built a good base with nutrition, and is only the top of the pyramid.
Properly assess the importance of supplements. A good diet must always be the basis on which supplements build.
However, it is also true..
…the most Supplements that you stumble across on the Internet or in stores are absolute bullshit. They don't do anything except successfully empty your wallet. The supplement industry, as mentioned earlier, is a multi-million $$$ business. Most of the promises made by the manufacturers are simply far-fetched. By the way: did you know that these typical before/after pictures are even specially traded? (After they have been massively edited with Photoshop, of course.)
But there are a handful of supplements that are indeed recommended and scientifically proven to be effective. These are exactly the supplements we recommend you in good conscience here.
Watch the video of Lyle McDonald (english). He explains here very nicely why so many supplements are a waste of money.
Tip: If you liked the article, you might also find the free 10-day fitness course very interesting. By e-mail you get there a perfect introduction to the interrelationship of training, nutrition& Body.
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