Creatine is the sports nutritional supplement most used by rugby players. Why is it so popular? Well, in simple terms, it’s popular because it works. You can see results quickly, and unlike some more “hyped” supplements, it’s relatively cheap to buy.
Creatine can help rugby players in several ways:
Increased muscle strength and power: tackle harder, push harder, etc.
Enhanced endurance and recovery – perform at higher levels on the pitch
Enhanced Anaerobic Capacity – Run faster and more consistently during a game
Improved Brain Function – Focus and make better, faster decisions on the pitch
Plus, there’s the more obvious benefit of increasing muscle size, giving you a more dominant look on the field and helping to prevent impact injuries.
Creatine is a compound that is involved in the production of energy in the body, in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Manufactured in the liver, approximately 95% of the body’s creatine ends up being stored in the skeletal muscles, with the remaining 5% found in the brain, heart, and blood cells. Once used, creatine is converted to a waste product called creatinine and is excreted in the urine.
Creatine is found in small amounts in red meat and fish. However, much of it is destroyed by cooking. It is also produced naturally in the body from L-arginine, L-glycine, and L-methionine, amino acids found primarily in animal protein. Insulin is necessary for creatine to enter your muscles, so consuming carbohydrates with creatine can increase the amount of creatine available to your muscles. Creatine is not a steroid and therefore does not have any of the side effects known to be found with those drugs. Our body produces one gram each day of protein. We also eat about a gram of creatine each day from meats such as beef, chicken, or fish. If you are a vegetarian, taking creatine supplements is even more important for further muscle growth and strength development.
As a rugby player, when we take extra creatine, you can store more energy. If you take creatine before a match or training session you will have more energy both at the beginning and throughout the match. When lifting weights, creatine allows you to train harder, allowing you to lift more weight and with higher levels of resistance. This, in turn, allows you to gain strength and lean muscle size which, as a rugby player, has obvious benefits for your “on the pitch” performance levels.
With regular creatine monohydrate powder, many people suggest “loading” 15-20 grams per day for a week. The dose can then be reduced to a maintenance dose of 5 grams per day. The idea is to make sure people get more than enough creatine to make sure it makes a difference in athletic performance. Personally, I don’t subscribe to this theory, and that’s it, it’s a theory. These high doses do not translate to higher levels of creatine in the muscle and may explain some of the side effects of creatine monohydrate powder.
Despite so many positive results, some rugby players report stomach pains, diarrhoea, increased urination (which is obviously not desirable in the middle of a game), and muscle cramps. When high doses of powder enter the stomach, they draw water from the body and cause cramps in the intestine. I personally prefer to take creatine in tablet or capsule form. It is more convenient and appears to be a more effective and efficient way to take it. Check the dosage levels of your tablets and remember that versions of Creatine such as Ethyl Ester and Kre-Alkalyn require lower dosage levels. I would recommend on training days to take half the dose 45 minutes before training and the other half 30 minutes after training, with the same protocol that is also applied on match days. On non-training days, take the full dose as one dose with a meal.
The results seen from creatine supplementation may vary. If a player doesn’t eat much protein from meat or fish, they may have lower creatine levels and see a dramatic improvement with supplementation. Also, stomach acid destroys creatine, so the amount a person absorbs can be too much or too little depending on a person’s stomach acid level. This last reason is one of the reasons why Ethyl Ester and Kre-Alkalyn are often preferred.
Creatine is safe for long-term use. Many natural bodybuilders have taken the product consistently for many years, many in extremely high doses, all without proven toxicity or long-term injury. No controlled scientific study has shown serious side effects or toxicity. In older times, man as a species ate a lot of meat and consumed high concentrations of creatine in meat for long periods of time, without any known ill effects. The creatine in his body gradually changes to a substance called creatinine, a waste product that is excreted by the kidneys. High levels of dust can raise creatinine, but this does not harm the kidneys. Creatinine is not known to be toxic. I always recommend that anyone taking creatine increase their fluid intake, which again helps prevent any problems associated with the kidneys.
In summary, Creatine supplementation can improve the performance and physical strength levels of Rugby players both during training and during a match without negative side effects if taken correctly.