If muscle mass is your goal, creatine needs to be in your foundation supplement stack. Creatine monohydrate is the most tested and proven effective supplement in history. This edition of Supplement Spotlight will look at APS Creatine Monohydrate. Ready? Let’s go!
What Is Creatine?
Creatine is a non-protein substance that occurs in fish and meats. The liver, kidney, and pancreas synthesize creatine. It’s manufactured from three amino acids: arginine, glycine, and methionine. (1)
Creatine – A Brief History
In 1835, creatine was discovered by a French scientist named Chevreul. In 1847 creatine was first linked to muscle tissue. Studies conducted in 1910 used test subjects that “loaded” creatine by taking up to 20 grams per day for 6 days. (2)
In 1993, EAS introduced creatine monohydrate to the supplement marketplace by EAS. This ground-breaking product was called Phosphagen (after an energy system in the body). Ed Byrd, an EAS co-founder, was mostly responsible for its introduction (in fact, he has the nickname of “Mr. Creatine”). Most other supplement companies of the day soon followed with their own version. It didn’t take long for creatine to take over the industry. Everybody had to have this hot new product!
What Is APS Creatine Monohydrate
APS Creatine Monohydrate is a pure creatine formula featuring 5 grams of patented Creapure Creatine Monohydrate per serving.
Let’s Look At The Ingredients
With that said, let’s take a closer look at Creapure.
Creapure® Creatine Monohydrate – 5 Grams – Creapure is ultra-pure creatine that’s made in Germany. Creapure Creatine Monohydrate is manufactured on a closed production line. This begins with the delivery of the required raw materials and ends with the final product. Before its released, every batch is fully tested for purity and quality. (3)
What Does APS Creatine Monohydrate Do?
No doubt the benefits of creatine are well known. It probably should be said that different supplement companies may push different benefits in the ads for their version. Some may even push benefits that you don’t usually see in the ads of other companies.
So, what does creatine do? First, creatine is naturally stored in the muscles as creatine phosphate. This compound is part of the body’s ATP-CP energy system, also called the Phosphagen system. Muscle cells contain more creatine phosphate than they do ATP. As we know, ATP is the immediate energy source for muscle cells for both high-intensity and low-intensity workouts or activities).
Yet it can take under a second for your muscles to burn through your reserve of ATP. This is where creatine phosphate comes in. Your body has a small reserve of creatine that your muscles can quickly convert to ATP. This, in turn, powers an all-out effort for another 3 to 15 seconds.
Now, consider the use of APS Creatine Monohydrate. The more creatine is available, the more that can ultimately be used for energy, allowing you to train harder and longer. This, in turn, can lead to improved performance, extended endurance, more muscle, and increased strength.
What else does APS Creatine Monohydrate do?
It functions as a “cell volumizer” or “cell expansion” product. It pulls water into the muscles. This causes them to swell in size. As we know, this is also called water-based pumps. The increased cell volume has several benefits. First, it supports increased strength. Second, more water means better hydration. A hydrated muscle is one of the things that stimulates protein synthesis. Of course, that means muscle growth!
In fact, when creatine first came out, this was the most hyped benefit. It’s important to understand that when creatine was first introduced, there was no pump category of supplements. It did not exist yet (Ed Byrd was the one that started the pump category in 2002 with his NO2 nitric oxide booster).
Since creatine’s introduction, both the cell volume and nitric oxide categories have exploded. That means you can add APS Creatine to virtually any pump product and be assured that the product will contain additional cell volumizers as well as nitric oxide boosters.
Does APS Creatine Monohydrate Have Other Benefits?
Creatine in general has become popular as a recovery supplement. However, I have to say that since it’s directly involved in endurance, it makes more sense to take it before a workout. What if it’s in your pre-workout? Is it clinically dosed at 5 grams? Then you only need to take your serving of APS Creatine on your off-days. Is it some other form of creatine? take your APS Creatine. Why? Creatine monohydrate is the version with most of the research behind it.
Finally, there has been research suggesting creatine may have cognitive benefits.
How Do I Use It?
Method 1: Loading Phase
Load creatine by taking 4 5g doses with 10-12oz cold water or non-acidic juice for 5 days. Evenly space these doses throughout the day. After your loading phase, take 1 5g dose per day. There is no need to cycle APS Creatine Monohydrate, but you can if you want to. Drink plenty of water while using this product.
This is the approach APS suggests on their label.
Method 2: Low Daily Dose
Take 5 grams with 10-12oz cold water or non-acidic juice daily. Drink plenty of water while using this product. This is a much easier approach, but bear in mind it’s going to be longer before you see any meaningful results.
What Can I Stack It With?
Since it’s a foundational product, you can stack APS Creatine Monohydrate with almost anything. Here’s an example stack idea.
Mass Stack
Most users will use creatine as part of a muscle building stack, such as:
APS Creatine Monohydrate
Protein Powder (such as Rule 1 R1 Whey Protein)
Pre-Workout (such as DAS Labs Bucked Up)
EAA/BCAA (such as Scivation Xtend)
Multi-Vitamin (such as Universal Animal Pak)
Natural Muscle Builder (your choice – give brand new 5% Nutrition Test a shot)
Optional
You can add whatever other products you use. This may include prohormones, gainers, or endurance-based formulas. The choice is yours.
Find APS Creatine Monohydrate here: APS Creatine Monohydrate – I’ll Pump You Up (illpumpyouup.com)
Find all your supplements right here: Bodybuilding Supplements Store | I’ll Pump You Up (illpumpyouup.com)
Summary
No doubt creatine is one of the best supplements you can use. APS Creatine Monohydrate is one of the best creatine supplements you can buy. If you’re using another brand, it’s time to make the switch. If you’re new to creatine, there’s no better product to start with. Get APS Creatine Monohydrate and get volumized today!
References:
- https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/creatine
- Hunter A. The physiology of creatine and creatinine. Physiological Reviews 2:580-626, 1922
- Creapure | reines Kreatin-Monohydrat