What is Creatine? Creatine is an amino acid occuring naturally in fish and red meat. While creatine is in some of the food you eat, you could not possibly eat enough meat or fish to effectively increase the level of creatine in their system to levels needed for super maximal physical performance. Normally less than 1 gram per day is supplied by the diet and another gram is synthesized (by the kidneys and liver.)

Muscles are powered by a compound known as ATP. When you exercise, you burn food calories which generate ATP. However, ATP is used up very quickly, and next for energy, your body switches over to its reserves of creatine phosphate. So creatine is like a backup energy supply that kicks in during periods of peak demand. Creatine helps extend the time your muscles and mind can work intensively before you fatigue and you feel exhausted. Creatine loading is especially useful among strength training athletes like basketball players, football players, bodybuilders, and powerlifters. Since strength training involves all-out muscle work for about a minute or less, the muscular demands for energy are huge. Especially during the last two or three repetitions of a set, the cells must tap into their backup energy supply - CP in order to keep working. The more CP in the muscles, the longer you can work at peak levels, and the more explosive muscle you can pack on.

Fast twitch muscle fibers especially benefit from creatine supplementation. Jumping is an explosive activity that's fast twitch muscle intensive and rapidly depletes the muscle's available ATP supply. Creatine supplementation powers your fast twitch muscles while helping you build more fast twitch fibers. Creatine is the perfect addition to muscle building power / plyometric programs such as the ones that come with Jumpsoles™ or Proprioceptors™.

Perhaps you’ve tried raw creatine monohydrate commonly sold in stores. It’s white, chalky, and almost impossible to fully dissolve. Not our product. The chemical process which makes our creatine effervescent or “bubbly” converts raw creatine monohydrate into a more soluble form. It’s the only form of creatine your muscles can absorb. Any undissolved creatine just passes through your body.  Better absorption means better power from your muscles. A study was done at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska which measured anaerobic work capacity in subjects taking creatine monohydrate, creatine monohydrate plus carbohydrates, effervescent creatine, and a placebo. The findings were stunning. The effervescent creatine didn’t just produce a slight increase; it ramped up work capacity by an amazing 84 percent over creatine plus carbs and a whopping 194.9 percent over creatine monohydrate!

Perhaps you tried creatine before but didn’t notice much gains. Perhaps you were unsure as to what to mix it with: water, apple juice, orange juice, cranberry juice. As it turns out, none of these mixtures get creatine into your muscles at optimum levels. Typically, only 30% of raw creatine monohydrate is absorbed into your muscles. To get creatine into the muscles where it does its job, you not only have to get it fully dissolved, you then need to trigger your body to release insulin. The various fruit juices people commonly try to mix creatine into are low in glycemic index and less capable of triggering the proper insulin response. Research has shown that dextrose, a high glycemic index carbohydrate, is the best ingredient for causing optimum insulin response. Vertical Blastoff™ Effervescent Creatine has the proper amount of dextrose to fully load creatine into your muscles. VBEC is the simplest way to properly take your creatine. Just add water. Watch it fizz. Every vital ingredient goes into solution instantly. It's fun to watch. It's fruity to taste. But make no mistake, it's a serious shot of energy being pumped directly into your muscles. While creatine is the main ingredient, a supporting cast of essential minerals makes the formula work. VBEC contains Magnesium which scientists now know stabilizes both ATP and Creatine Phosphate for maximum cell energy and energy reserves. Magnesium is an essential mineral often lacking in many diets, and a nutrient which drains all too quickly from the body during exercise. Plus, VBEC is completely gentle on your stomach, unlike raw creatine which has been known to cause upset stomach, cramping, and diarrhea.

There's a scoop inside your bottle. Three scoops contains 5 grams of creatine. Therefore take about 3 scoops with about 6  ounces of water 30 minutes to 1 hour before exercise. During loading phase, space 3 to 4 servings throughout the day. There are 16 servings per container.  Below is a Creatine dosage table which will precisely indicate how much may be needed depending on your weight and training intensity:

*Low range represents 1 hour training, 2 to 3 times per week at a low level of intensity.

*Mid range is 1 - 1-1/2 hours training 3 to 4 times per week at a medium level of intensity.

*High range is 2 hours training 5 to 6 times per week at a high level of intensity.

Reference Adapted from : Creatine: Nature’s Muscle Builder by Ray Sahelian, MD p. 49 

Cycling is a period of time where an athlete stops taking the supplement for short period and then resumes its use. It was used by steroid users to allow the body to recuperate from any stress or damage to the body. Creatine is not harmful to the body and does not need to be cycled. That being said, the extra cautious approach is to cycle "just because". You can cycle 4 months on, 1 month off. Remember: the function of creatine is to provide the body with energy reserves -- if cycled off, the reserve will require reloading again for 5 days.

There have been hundreds of studies done on creatine. No supplement in the last 10 years has undergone as much scrutiny and have passed so many tests for safety. While overwhelming evidence indicates that creatine is safe, you should always check with your physician before supplementing with any nutrient. Be sure that you have no pre-existing kidney or liver conditions. Creatine is the real deal that's safe for packing on muscle, a much better alternative to steroids or growth hormone which are illegal, can cause terrible harm, and can even kill you.

JUMPUSA.com recommends that you be 18 or over before using creatine. While the use of creatine by high school athletes has become increasingly popular with no evidence of unsafety, there is controversy about this trend. Absolute-creatine.com is a comprehensive site on creatine, and they examine the issue this way: (excerpt) If you are a teenager wanting to use creatine, be sure to discuss this information with your parents, and take the low end of the dosage range for your weight in the tables above.

You lose muscle mass and levels of important body chemicals as you age. Creatine phosphate is a critical chemical in all cells of the body. It gives energy that lets muscles contract and nerve cells send messages to each other. Muscle loss with aging often results in accidents and falls greatly lowering the quality of life. Research indicates that creatine helps older adults increase muscle mass and strength and maintain brain function. Older adults are handicapped by high priced medications and sometimes limited options for improving muscle fitness. Creatine supplements are cheap and can make a big difference in your everyday quality of life.

For women, physiology is different from men, especially in the hormones. Studies done on women show that creatine increases strength, while not adding bulky body builder type muscle mass.

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