Can creatine work for women? Is it an effective supplement to increase performance in female athletes?

What is creatine?

Creatine is used as a sports supplement in a similar way as whey protein to improve sports performance. Creatine is a substance found naturally in your body. Every time you perform any type of intense exercise (e.g. resistance exercise or running) your body uses creatine through respiration to provide you with energy. Unfortunately, the bodys natural supply of this substance’s stores only last for a maximum of around 10 seconds. This depletion is the reason why you can’t train “all-out” for an unlimited time and you have to slow down or rest.

The vast majority of creatine in your body, around 95%, is stored in muscle tissue, and it provides the quick, short bursts of energy necessary when performing high-intensity activities like sprinting or resistance training. By supplementing your diet with additional creatine, you're able to load your muscles with more of this energy-producing compound. This increases your capacity to perform high-intensity work for a longer period of time.

So far, the vast majority of creatine users are men, but if you're an intelligent female athlete who trains hard, eats right and stays up to date on cutting-edge training techniques dietary supplements, you should seriously consider using creatine. Even for the hard training ones, most women could probably still increase the intensity of their workouts by supplementing with creatine. If you haven't already completed your quest for that lean, sculpted physique, Creatine can help, but you're probably concerned that it may not work for you. Worse, you may have heard it will make you bloated and retain water or maybe you've tried it with disappointing results. Or perhaps you think it will make you bigger, even massively muscular which obviously isn't your goal for training hard and eating right.

The real question is: Does creatine work for women?

Taken correctly, creatine can enhance performance and add a little lean body mass without making you massive. With some fine-tuning of dosages, it shouldn't cause bloating or stomach discomfort, either. Women can also benifit from taking whey protein, which is invaluble in weightloss regimes and fitness performance, and many female sports enthusiasts combine the two for help them gain results.

No, not really. This is a common concern among women, they want to get fit but not necessarily bulk up and look like the hulk! Remember creatine does not create muscle mass. What is does is give you energy to work out longer and harder. It is your workout routine that will determine if you get fit or bigger. If you do a routine to trim up and get fit then you will not get bigger. In fact

With the creatine powder there can be some weight gain. This is mostly do to the extra water retention. As we stated above if you go with a creatine product designed for women, weight gain is minimized.

The problem is that creatine supplements can lead to some water retention - and this water retention and bloating can be particularly annoying for women and can possible lead to acne. To avoid dehydration, drink plenty of water while taking creatine. Other possible side effects can inlcude short term diarrhoea and stomach cramps, again drink lots of water. However, There are now some creatine supplements made specifically for women. There is the Femme Advantage Creatine Serum made by MMUSA. The serum has additional supplements mixed in with the creatine that relieve bloating and water retention.

It makes sense to be over cautious when you are pregnant. I would not recommend taking any supplement without running it by your doctor to make sure it is safe. Sometimes it is not the creatine that is dangerous, but some other supplement in the specific product you are taking.