Creatine Loading Phase

The creatine loading phase is designed for the sole purpose of quickly loading your muscle creatine within only a few days. There have been recent debates as to whether or not using creatine for the loading phase is necessary to ensure its optimum benefits.

Start a Creatine Loading Phase

Creatine supplementing is often divided into three phases: the loading phase, the maintenance phase, and the wash-out phase. During the loading phase, you consume no more than 0.3 grams of creatine per each kilogram. For all of you unaccustomed to the metric system one kilogram is roughly equivalent to 2.2 lbs of body weight. This amount is about 10 times greater than our body can go through each day. These dosages should be divided into four equal parts, taken once every four hours. Never take your daily dosage all at once. Doing so puts unnecessary stress on vital organs like your kidneys and liver.

Your body is only able to safely handle 5-10 grams of creatine at one time, which largely depends on your total amount of muscle mass or body weight. You must not load creatine for more than 5 consecutive days, because muscle storages reach their full capacity in this time, and if you go beyond this, that extra creatine will not be processed by your muscles and just run through your system through your liver and kidneys and out with your urine.

About Creatine Loading Phase

During the loading phase, our muscles’ supplies of creatine increase dramatically, which also increase your muscles’ water content at the same time. Because of the water retention, muscles swell as creatine is packed into your muscles. Doing so will also increase weight more quickly. You will also feel more pump quicker because of this muscle volumizing effect.

The downside of a creatine loading phase is your urine production is decreased during this phase due to excess water flowing into muscle reserves. The absorption of muscle creative also decreases rapidly after initial loading. The biggest fall back of loading is the possible damage to your kidneys. The creatine that remains in the blood stream and does not go into the muscle because of the muscle’s storage abilities is processed directly through the kidneys. The kidneys are working harder to excrete the excess creatine, however, urine production is lessened, which could wreak major havoc in those with pre-existing kidney problems.

If you do decide to a creatine loading phase, heed the advice and find out how to load creatine properly. Read as much info as you can. Following the loading phase, your body can body’s creatine stores can be maintained by consuming only a few grams of protein each day for no longer than one month.

The subject of whether or not to creatine load is entirely up to you. If you’re not looking for that immediate pumped look, then being a bit more patient and streching out, you could also take 3 grams of creatine daily for 28 consecutive days, which would endow you with the same results. The rapid loading phase is not absolute. It is not “required” to reap full benefits of creatine. It is up to you to decide what works best for you and your needs. Plus, not doing a loading phase can save you cash, because all of the creatine your body cannot absorb is excreted. Doing a creatine loading phase will ensure you absorb all the creatine you are intaking and excreting less, thus saving money in the long run.