Dear
Friend
If you’re accustomed to training until every fibre
screams in agony but find that it’s
weeks or months since you saw any appreciable gains in strength or
muscularity, then you’re
probably sick to death of being told that these sticking points are entirely
normal, and that there’s no alternative to working ever harder until your body
somehow miraculously trains its way through the problem.
This is
really a classic “Catch 22”. The
stronger you get, the more intensively you need to train to maintain your
progress. But this in turn makes
ever greater demands on your muscles’ limited energy reserves and powers of
recovery. So the less frequently
you’re able to train.
It can be an intensely frustrating time. Your progress has inevitably slowed, yet if you try to force the pace beyond your body’s recovery ability you risk ceasing to develop altogether, and may even find yourself getting weaker. And this invisible yet formidable training barrier has been well known to strength and power event athletes ever since intensive progressive resistance training became the norm.
...many even turning in their desperation to illegal and highly dangerous anabolic steroids.
But if you have respect for your body, and for
that matter your sport, you’re not going to want to risk any illegal or harmful
muscle growth stimulant.
All you ask is
a fair return for your efforts, a way to have your body’s chemistry so finely
tuned that you’ll derive maximum benefit for the work and pain you’re
prepared to inflict upon yourself.
So no doubt
you already pay great attention to every detail of your dietary regime and
vitamin and mineral supplementation.
But essential as these are; they’re not enough
in themselves. What you need is a natural and healthy muscle building
supplement...
... something that works directly with your muscles to stimulate their growth.
The isolation of creatine, a substance produced naturally by the body which seemed to have precisely these effects, therefore produced enormous excitement. Even now science’s understanding of its operations remains to some extent in its infancy, but it’s clear that creatine’s value lies in its relationship with another compound in your body called adenosine-tri-phosphate (ATP), which is the vital source of energy your muscles need when engaged in an intensive, quick burst activity such as lifting weights or sprinting.
The problem is that in most people supplies of ATP are exhausted within 10-15 seconds and replaced by the useless by-product, adenosine-bi-phosphate (ADP). But amazingly enough this ADP can be converted back into ATP by the creatine stored in your muscles – releasing vital extra energy supplies during exercise.
Fortunately creatine is produced naturally in the liver by the synthesis of
three essential amino acids – arginine, methionine and glycine. And around 95 - 98% of your body’s
supply is stored in the muscles – typically in a concentration of around 3.5 - 4
grams per kilogram of bodyweight.
The bad news is that this may not be enough
if you’re engaged in an intensive training program aimed at significant muscle
growth.
Remember too that your body’s demands are not static. As you get stronger and train ever harder to maintain your growth rate your muscles are going to demand more and more creatine. If your body’s natural production keeps up with this extra demand, then well and good, but if not you run the risk of seriously setting back your training progress.
The good news is that...
More energy in your muscles means you should be able to achieve more quality reps of an exercise before hitting muscular failure, and intensive workouts like this will drive your body to ever deeper levels of exhaustion. And as you probably know, the founding principle of progressive resistance strength training is that the body ever so slightly over-compensates for the damage done during this kind of intensive workout.
So the rapid growth with which your muscles respond to this kind of workout will thrill you - a lways provided you allow them sufficient time for recovery.
And this is where the second dramatic effect of creatine kicks in – by assisting in the vital process of protein synthesis by which your muscles repair themselves between training sessions.
...so
you get stronger with each and every workout
sensible use of creatine supplements will slash your recovery time...
And as creatine improves
the efficiency and speed of your body’s repairs, you’re going to need less time
between workouts.
Longer, tougher workouts with less rest between in might sound like a masochistic regime, and certainly this is no easy option. But the rewards are more than worth the effort, as is amply demonstrated by the fact that creatine is the biggest selling muscle building supplement of all time.
In fact...
...as long ago as 1988 more than $200 million worth
of creatine supplements were sold.
Now it’s
only fair to point out that some of the marketing behind this amazing figure has
been ethically dubious to put it politely.
It has to be stated that creatine is definitely not some miracle formula
for superhuman strength. You’re not
going to be able to pop a pill and sit back on the couch with a pizza while your
body quickly and painlessly transforms itself into that of an elite strength
athlete.
Secondly,
creatine seems only to be really effective for those kinds of physical activity
which demand muscle bulk, strength and explosive power. The benefits have proved much harder to assess in the case of endurance
events such as long distance running, swimming cycling or triathlon, although
there is some evidence that creatine
may help in slowing down or reducing the build up of lactic acid
- the substance that causes that
characteristic and painful burning sensation as your muscles fatigue during
exercise.
Remember
too that creatine occurs naturally within the body, and as with other such
substances the amounts vary from individual to individual. So understand that if you’re one of
those who naturally produce high levels, further supplementation may produce
little or no benefit. But if your body produces only moderate to low amounts….
…..a
good quality creatine supplement can produce dramatic muscular
growth
The only real way to tell which category your body falls into is to give this muscle
building supplement a test drive. A
month of supplementation, combined of course with regular tough workouts, should
be enough to find out whether creatine’s going to help
you.
You can
find out more about getting started with an easily absorbed source of creatine
and a great range of other health related products simply by entering your
e-mail address below.
Veriuni
Creatine mixes readily with water for an easily absorbed great tasting citrus
drink offering 225% of the bioavailability of more traditional monohydrate
creatine products.
Good health and kind
regards
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