by Lucas Lee
Using supplements to enhance the body and improve performance is no longer a strange thing. It is a healthy way to add nutrition to the body.
Contents
There are many supplements in the world. Some are specific to the world of sports nutrition, others are only for personal use.
In the fitness and bodybuilding world, there are two popularly used supplements, viz:
o Creatine
o Whey Protein Powder
Although both of them enhance muscle growth and improve performance during workouts and exercises, they are still different. With lots of data to back their effectiveness, it can be difficult to distinguish between their functions. Because of these fine details, we will review both Creatine and Whey Powder. You can get some either Creatine or Whey from Costco's Best Protein Powders here.
This review will discuss their differences, benefits, and which is best for you.
Creatine is an organic compound naturally produced in the body. The site of production is in the muscle and it aids muscle development.
The chemical composition of creatine is Glycine, arginine, three different types of amino acids, and methionine.
The main function of Creatine secreted in the body is to increase the body's phosphocreatine reserve. The phosphocreatine store aids the regeneration of adenosine triphosphate. The more common term for this is ATP. This ATP created can best be described as the form in which the body transfers energy in the muscle. The energy is what the body requires to make muscle contraction and development possible.
In simpler terms, creatine prevents muscle fatigue. By doing so, it boosts the overall performance of anybody putting his or her muscles to work.
Asides from human muscles, creatine is naturally present in red meat and seafood. The most abundant source of natural creatine is present in Saltwater fish. In other words, by consuming red meat or seafood, you are already filling up your creatine store.
However, the amount of creatine the body available in meat and seafood is not as much as you would expect. Even more so, vegetarians and vegans cannot receive enough creatine from their diet. Since they do not eat meat, their creatine intake is very limited.
Now a bodybuilder needs to grow their body's creatine. A vegan bodybuilder won't be able to do this. Even meat-eating bodybuilders would find themselves hard-pressed to boost their muscle overall performance.
Fortunately, there are creatine supplements to help fill any gap in your diet. These supplements are commercially synthesized in a laboratory. The most common type of creatine supplement available on the internet is Creatine Monohydrate.
NOTE: There are other types of creatine supplements. But for the basic benefits which creatine provides, Creatine monohydrate does the job. Some of these basic benefits include:
- Improving weightlifting strength
- Improving sprinting endurance capacity
- Vertical jumping, etc.
All these benefits, of course, only appear when creatine supplements are combined with the right training schedule. Without a compatible training regimen, all the creatine in your body can do is:
- increase the production of muscular tissues;
- increase muscle strength and mass
- reduce injury risk etc.
To get those lean physique and muscle of those bodybuilders you so adore just won't happen without proper training.
Whey Protein is a form of pure ingestible protein produced from the byproduct of strained and curdled milk. This byproduct is sourced from the Cheese and Milk making industries.
The protein content of this byproduct is very high. The byproduct is then commercially reproduced into powdered form. This is what we refer to as Whey Protein Powder.
Whey Protein Powder offers one of the easiest ways to supplement your diet with high-quality protein. Another popular alternative is Protein Pills.
Unlike Protein Pills, the Whey Protein supplement is mostly marketed as a sports supplement. In other words, the primary market for Whey Protein is bodybuilders, athletes, and regular gym-goers. This is because it contains all the nine (9) important amino acids needed by the body to function properly.
These essential amino acids are not only found in Whey Protein Powder. They are also present in the food we eat. This is one of many reasons bodybuilders and weightlifters always prefer Whey to any other protein supplement. Whey provides lean muscles which when taken consistently can help you bulk up. The lean protein is available in form of Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) and is highly effective.
There are also clinical researches that back the effectiveness of Whey protein intake up. For instance, studies showed that six to ten (6-10) weeks of training combined with daily whey supplement intake can massively increase your body's lean mass. It can also significantly increase your muscle strength and development.
In Summary, Whey Protein Powder is a dairy byproduct rich in all necessary amino access your body needs. It provides a healthy and effective way of augmenting your muscle strength during training. It also improves your muscle endurance limit which improves your recovery rate after exercising.
As you can already infer, both offer similar benefits. Both are also protein supplements. But some fine details boldly separate them.
Creatine | Whey Protein Powder | |
| Muscle gain |
| - Whey Protein powder is a rich source of high-quality protein that enhances the synthesis of muscular tissues. This, in turn, leads to an increase in lean muscle gain over time. |
| Nutritional Composition | - Creatine consists of 3 essential amino acids. It also contains glycine, methionine, and arginine. These are also naturally produced in the body. | - Rich in nine essential amino acids, Whey Protein is a dairy byproduct. |
| Muscle Synthesis |
| - Whey Protein Powder functions exactly like protein in the body should. It stimulates the synthesis of muscle tissue. It also stimulates anabolic reaction taking place in your muscles. |
| Workout contributions |
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| Timing |
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From the table, you can see that both increases muscle gain. The way they work to make this happen though is completely different.
Considering the fine line between the benefits the two offers, one cannot but consider if there are any benefits of taking the two supplements together. I mean, one is more appropriate to take before a workout, the other is best treated as a post-workout supplement.
The simple answer is Yes, you can take Whey Protein Powder and Creatine simultaneously.
The longer answer is that you are not the first to question the benefits of taking the two supplements at the same time. Nutritional Sports journals have since researched to determine if there is any advantage in taking Whey and Creatine. The results of one of the research showed that athletes using a combination of Creatine and Whey significantly improved in lean muscle mass and strength. Compared to other athletes on just one supplement or none at all, the benefits are crystal clear.
The results also proved that there are no health risks associated with taking both supplements together.
This is a big question and the answer is unique to everyone. Your physique goal can help you determine which supplement is best for you.
The first thing to consider is whether you just want a supplement to aid your recovery after each training session. This might mean you are not a regular gym-goer and you only go when you feel like it. In this case, Whey Protein offers the best benefits.
However, if your goal for taking the supplements is to boost your energy in a healthy way to perform longer training sessions, creatine is best for you.
Summarily, since there are results that show taking both at the same time significantly improves your muscle development, there is no reason to choose.
The bottom line is both Creatine and Whey protein powder increases muscle performance during exercise. How they do this is unique to each's chemical composition. They are effective when used at the same time or as standalone supplements.
About Lucas Lee
Lucas Lee was raised outside the city of Livermore, in the legendary Bay Area of North California. Lucas considers his family and researches to be most important to him. If he isn’t hanging out with his loved ones, you can almost always find him around his sweet little garden of fruits right in the backyard of his lovely home.
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