Creatine plays two roles in the body. Its primary function is to act as a reservoir of bound phosphate in the form of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP Its secondary role is to scavenge leftover free phosphate after ATP breakdown, thereby elevating, or buffering, as it's called, local muscle pH. The more trained the muscle, the more creatine is present to manage acid and act as a reservoir. The body naturally makes its own creatine in response to training, but supplementation is a valid way to increase performance. To understand why, you'll need a short background on muscle physiology.
How Contractions Are Fueled
Most bodybuilders have heard of ATP and they probably know that it's considered to be the energy currency of all living cells. ATP is called "currency" because like money it can be applied to many different
situations. Money can buy all kinds of goods and services, from erasable-ink pens to Ferraris and from four-course meals to tax preparation. ATP like cash currency, can be exchanged in nearly every conceivable cellular situation, from changing microscopic concentrations to helping synthesize proteins and from sending molecular messages to physically moving cellular components. That last item is most important for this discussion because creatine participates in moving muscle proteins.
situations. Money can buy all kinds of goods and services, from erasable-ink pens to Ferraris and from four-course meals to tax preparation. ATP like cash currency, can be exchanged in nearly every conceivable cellular situation, from changing microscopic concentrations to helping synthesize proteins and from sending molecular messages to physically moving cellular components. That last item is most important for this discussion because creatine participates in moving muscle proteins.
ATP supply is particularly crucial for athletes because its presence is the molecular driving force behind every single muscular contraction-everything from blinking an eyelid to blasting eight-plate squats. To cause that latter forceful motion, ATP is actually exchanged for changes in the length of muscle proteins in the cells. When you decide to contract a muscle, nerve impulses that deliver your decision cause muscle proteins to accept ATP in exchange for shortening their length microseconds later. When the lengths of billions and billions of microscopic muscles are shortened at roughly the same time, the overall effect is a leg or bench press, a curl or some other meaningful muscle contraction. Needless to say, the availability of ATP is solely responsible for this tinal action. To put it another way, without ATP you wouldn't get very far in life.
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