Is Creatine For Cyclists Worth It? Benefits, Risks, And Myths

Cyclists, whether the ones who love a casual morning spin or the ones who take it as an intense training regimen, understand the pursuit of performance. Inherently driven to improve, they track their progress seriously, refine their techniques, and continuously hope to cover some extra kilometers in those precious seconds. Wait, how do they refine their techniques? They explore tools and strategies, advanced bike equipment, and nutritional supplements. This is where creatine enters the picture. Famous for enhancing athletic capability, is creatine also a game changer for cyclists? So, before you clip into your pedals, read this blog to find the importance of creatine for cyclists. Let us explore the real connection between creatine and cycling performance, understanding its benefits and associated risks.

What Does Creatine Actually Do in the Body?

To understand whether creatine is best for cyclists, it is important to understand its role within our cells. Creatine is a naturally occurring compound made in the liver, pancreas, and kidneys and stored in our muscles as phosphocreatine. It is an ATP regeneration machine that essentially provides our body with short bursts of energy. So, the next time you lift a little extra or make some more pedal strokes, you know it is fueled by ATP.

While you try harder to push your limits, your muscles need immediate energy. Carbohydrates or fats don’t show up at that time, as they come through slower metabolic pathways. So, when ATP is used, it loses a phosphate group and becomes ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate). PCr or phosphocreatine comes into play and donates its phosphate molecule to convert ADP back to ATP. More ATP means more energy and enhanced performance.

For cyclists, most of the effort is required in exploring a breakaway, responding to an attack, or making that sprint to the finish line. Creatine supplementation in cyclists increases phosphocreatine stores in muscle cells, and that makes ATP readily available to them. It acts as an energy reserve, helping them maintain peak power for longer intervals and recover faster.

How Does Creatine Help Cyclists?

Creatine supplementation can help in enhancing a cyclist’s performance in the following ways:

1. Enhanced Power

The most prominent benefit of creatine for cyclists is increased power during intense efforts, such as sprinting or climbing. This happens due to the availability of muscle phosphocreatine stores. Whether it is reaching the finish line or covering a gap, creatine can help maintain peak power for those decisive seconds. It also powers cyclists for climbing steep roads where a lot of effort is required.

2. Deal with attacks and breakaways:

Sustaining an attack requires immediate energy. Creatine empowers the body to accelerate with agility and escape the attack.

3. In making comebacks:

During a cyclathon, dynamic roads and long routes call for maintaining different speeds strategically. These frequent accelerations and decelerations are powered by creatine, which helps in rapid ATP production.

4. Improved Recovery:

In addition to providing the required power, creatine also helps muscles recover from high-intensity efforts. Due to constant replenishment of ATP and phosphocreatine, creatine allows quick recovery between successive efforts. This recharging capability of creatine supports the stop-and-go nature of cycling.

5. Training better:

Enhanced power helps make the training session more productive. Creatine helps improve high-intensity efforts during interval training. It maximises the output and recovery, making training sessions fruitful.

6. Muscle Hydration:

The basic nature of creatine is to draw water into the muscle cells. This cellular hydration leads to cell volumization, ensuring better overall nutrient flow and cellular health.

Creatine primarily affects the anaerobic energy system, which is crucial for those peak power moments that often define a race or a challenging group ride. This indirectly enhances the cyclists’ performance.

Common Myths About Creatine and Cycling

A) Creatine causes unnecessary weight gain that harms climbing.

TRUTH:Creatine draws water into the muscle cells, which leads to a temporary gain in water weight. This initial weight gain does not affect the performance of cyclists and can actually support muscle function. For climbers, this initial water weight, not fat, is a minimal trade-off for the quick bursts of energy and improved muscle recovery.

B) Creatine can cause muscle cramps and dehydration.

TRUTH: Not true. Many studies have shown that creatine supplementation does not cause muscle cramps or dehydration. In fact, by increasing cellular hydration, creatine ensures a better nutrient flow within the body.

C) Creatine is only for strength or power athletes; it has no benefit for cyclists.

TRUTH: Creatine typically provides short bursts of high-intensity energy. This is required during cycling races and even during training that includes sprints, sharp accelerations, climbs, and tactical moves. All of these efforts rely on active ATP regeneration, and creatine benefits these moments.

D) Creatine damages the kidneys or liver.

TRUTH: This is the most common myth about creatine. Research and science have backed that creatine supplementation is safe for healthy individuals when taken at recommended dosages. There is no evidence that it causes kidney or liver damage in people with no pre-existing conditions.

Potential Side Effects or Risks of Creatine for Cyclists

While creatine is generally well tolerated among healthy individuals, it is important as an athlete to be aware of its possible side effects before starting the supplementation. However, if creatine dosages are regulated with the help of healthcare experts, they are unlikely to be harmful. Here are some of the potential side effects of creatine for cyclists:

1. Water Retention:

Creatine is an osmotically active compound that draws water into muscle cells. This results in a temporary weight gain (approx. 1-3 kg) within the first few days of supplementation. This is beneficial for muscle functioning and is not similar to bloating. For cyclists, this initial weight gain does not typically impact performance. In fact, well-hydrated muscles are more efficient. However, keep a check on the dosage to avoid any escalations in side effects.

2. Gastrointestinal Distress:

Some people might face stomach discomfort or upset, diarrhoea or nausea if heavy dosages are taken or if creatine is taken on an empty stomach. These issues are usually transient and can be easily handled by reducing the dosage per serving or by taking it with food.

3. Individual Responses:

Each body is different, and its metabolic responses can vary. Thus, it is important to start with a small dosage to observe the body’s reaction to creatine. If there are any concerning symptoms that prevail, then seek help from a healthcare professional to regulate the dosage.

Best Way to Take Creatine as a Cyclist

METHOD 1: Starting with the loading phase (Faster Saturation):

• Start with 20 grams of creatine per day for a week.
• Split the dosage into 4-5 smaller doses throughout the day to reduce the chances of digestive upset.

METHOD 2: Skipping the loading phase (Gradual Saturation):

• Start with 3-5 grams of creatine per day consistently.

Here are some more tips to consider:

1. Maintain consistency with regular intake.
2. Do not stress more about the timing of taking creatine. The exact timing (pre-ride, post-ride, with meals) is less important; consistency is more important.
3. Try to take creatine with carbohydrates to improve its absorption.
4. Stay well hydrated, especially during training.
5. Stick to a good quality creatine monohydrate due to its proven efficacy.

Conclusion

While there are common myths regarding weight gain, muscle cramps, liver damage or digestive upset, creatine has proven its efficiency time and again. There is no evidence of creatine causing damage to an athlete’s body. When used responsibly, more specifically as creatine monohydrate and with attention to proper hydration, its potential side effects are easily manageable. For many cyclists, getting an edge in power output and recovery is very important and creatine is an effective tool in the pursuit of peak performance. Make sure you make an informed choice!