My Health and Fitness Journey – week 7

Sustainable Routine and the Creatine Debate

Week 7 was all about maintaining a routine that is sustainable and works for me. Keeping the balance right between life, work and exercise. The things that I find the easiest to maintain are the fasting and supplements, diet wise I do well but like to cheat or treat a few times a week too. Exercise is always the hardest to schedule and so again a routine and being ridged is what I find works for me.

This week I wanted to focus on Creatine and debate its usefulness in my routine. Is it helping, does it make a difference and if so what, and why.

Exercise:

I managed to keep going to the gym regularly and keeping the sessions to between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 minutes. Also, with the better weather and longer days I added in some walks in the evening and of days to keep on moving.

Now the summer is almost here, the weather is better and the days are longer I will make a transition to more outdoor exercise and less gym. I live right next to a park and so have an ideal space right on my doorstep.

Supplements:

I continued with all the same supplements as before which are:

NMN – to boost my NAD+ levels and Mitochondrial function.

Nitric Oxide (L-citrulline & L-arginine) – for cardiovascular health and reduce blood pressure.

Magnesium – to helps with sleep and rest.

Multivitamins – these cover everything and are the staple essential.

Vitamin D – helps with bone health, immune system support, muscle function, mental health, and energy.

Creatine Monohydrate – this enhances muscle energy, strength, recovery.

Resveratrol - offers antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive benefits.

Vitamin K2 MK7 - offer significant benefits for bone health, cardiovascular health, and calcium metabolism.

Intermittent Fasting:

I continued with the intermittent fasting, usually from 8-9pm through until 1-2 pm the next day. This is all about routine and it’s something that I have managed every single day now for seven weeks. My body is used to it, and I rarely feel any hunger at all, at any point, except if I have a cheat meal like a pizza. I do notice some hunger the next day as I get towards lunch time and the end of my fast.

Diet:

I continued my low carb, high protein diet. I don’t find this too difficult to maintain but it does require an amount of pre-planning and preparation. It can also get a bit boring just eating chicken salad every day, so I have to vary it a bit and look for other things to eat as alternatives.

Creatine – does it really help?

I’ve been taking creatine regularly for 6 ½ weeks now and I thought I would look at how it’s affected me and the general benefits and reasons for adding it into a routine.

Creatine is one of the most studied sports supplements, and the evidence for some benefits is strong — but there are also limits, misconceptions, and trade-offs worth debating.

There are however proven benefits of creatine which are as follows:

1. Increased Strength and Power – this is the biggest evidence-backed effect. Creatine helps your muscles regenerate ATP (quick energy) faster during short, intense efforts such as lifting weights, sprinting and high tempo sports. Many people that take it see the ability to do more reps, lift heavier weights and train better overall. I have seen that I have been able to increase the weights lifted and reps so for me I do think this is the case.

2. Muscle Size Gains – Creatine can often help increase Intramuscular water storage, long-term lean mass when combined with resistance training. Some of the early weight gain is water, but longer-term studies show genuine increases in muscle mass too. Personally, I have not been looking to become Mr Muscle, and I am not seeing big muscle gains, but I am seeing more muscle and less fat and I believe creatine is adding into the mix to make that happen.

3. Better recovery and reduced fatigue - some evidence suggests it may help with reducing muscle cell damage, improving recovery between high-intensity sessions and lower perceived fatigue in repeated efforts but the effect is moderate, not magical. I do think it has helped me with any fatigue and with recovery between sessions. I have seen improvements to injuries too, with less pain than before I started exercising.

4. Cognitive and neurological benefits – studies in this area are growing fast. Research (and Dr Rhonda Patrick who I have quoted before) suggest that creatine may help with sleep deprivation, mental fatigue, memory and processing speed in some people, older adults or vegetarians (who often have lower baseline creatine stores as dietary creatine tends to come from meat or fish). I think this has had an impact for me. It may also be due to other supplements, but I believe I am sharper and less mentally tired than before I started.

Criticism of Creatine

There are however some criticism or myths around creatine:

· “Its just water weight” – this is partly true, Initial gains often come from water being pulled into muscle cells. Critics argue this inflates the appearance of effectiveness. However, even after accounting for water retention, studies still show improved performance and lean mass gains in many users. I personally never have noticed any weight gains or water gains

· “Not everyone responds” – also true. Some people are “non-responders” or only mildly responsive. Factors may include existing muscle creatine levels, diet and or muscle fibre composition. Vegetarians often respond more strongly because they consume less creatine naturally from meat/fish. I am not sure I am responding fully to muscle mass gains, but I am seeing and feeling a difference.

· “You can get it from food” - Technically yes — but in smaller amounts. Foods rich in creatine are red meat, fish but you need large amounts daily to match common supplementation doses.

· “It damages kidneys” - This is the biggest long-running controversy. Current evidence: In healthy individuals, standard doses have not consistently shown kidney damage in research. People with kidney disease or at risk for kidney problems should talk to a doctor before using it. A lot of the fear came from elevated creatinine blood markers, which can look alarming because creatinine is related to creatine metabolism. I’ve had no kidney issues myself.

· “It causes bloating” Sometimes. Common side effects can include Water retention, Mild stomach discomfort, Temporary bloating. These are more common during aggressive “loading phases.” This isn’t something that I have noticed at all.

What the evidence supports best

Strongest evidence: Strength, High-intensity performance & Lean mass support

Moderate/emerging evidence: Recovery, Cognitive support, Healthy aging

Weak or exaggerated claims: “Melts fat”, “Steroid-like transformation”, "Massive endurance improvements".

Typical dosing

Usual doses and the most common evidence-based approach is:

3–5g daily of Creatine monohydrate taken before or after exercise

There is something called a Loading phase, which is optional, but the idea is it build up the creatine levels in the muscles quicker, otherwise it can take several weeks at 3-5g, to build up enough in the muscles

Loading Phase dose:

Up to 20g/day split into doses for 5–7 days

Creatine Monohydrate is the most studied and usually the cheapest effective form.

There is a train of thought as explained by Dr Rhonda Patrick that once the muscles are ‘loaded’ then if extra is taken say 10g, then it will help support brain function. Once the muscles have what they need any extra creatine is helpful to the brain.

I am currently taking approx. 10g of creatine daily, even on the days I don’t go to the gym as that’s how I was recommended to take it for both physical performance and cognitive benefits. You need to take it every day as missing a day can set you back and reduce the loading in the muscles.

All in All

If the debate is “Does creatine work at all?” — the scientific consensus is largely yes, especially for strength and power performance.

Where to buy Creatine?

Here are the links to the two forms that we sell at Voyager Life. I personally use the 500g of Creatine Monohydrate Powder which I just mix with some water either before or after my trip to the gym.

Creatine Monohydrate Powder 500g – Voyager Life Limited £12.95 for 500g

Creatine Monohydrate 1000mg 90 Tablets – Voyager Life Limited £8.99 for 90 x 1000mg tablets

Results at the end of week 7:

Weight: I lost another kilogram taking it to eight kilos lost in total since the start, which is well over a stone in weight.

Body Shape: Continuing to make some progress and it’s now going to be small gains but still important gains nonetheless

Energy: Energy wise I felt good and still with good energy levels, way better than before I started all this.

Mental Focus: It still seems good and far better than before

Sleep: Still sleeping well and getting a good night’s rest every night.

Week 7 was a steady week and felt good and easy. I do believe that creatine has been working for me, as part of my stack and part of a healthy balanced diet. I can’t say it’s just the creatine because I also think that the NMN makes a difference too.

I am really looking forward to where I will be in another month or so, keep reading my blogs to see how I get on.

Don Marshall

Marketing & Sales Manager

Voyager Life

YouTube video from The Diary of a CEO with Dr Rhonda Sinclair that covers the benefits of Creatine at 1h: 20:46

https://youtu.be/PyhmvAL-iYw?si=Vk1rSuFk9z-7-yei

Links to the supplements that I am taking:

NMN – NMN Supplements UK | High Purity Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Powder – Voyager Life Limited

Magnesium – Magnesium Citrate 500mg 120 Capsules – Voyager Life Limited

Multivitamins –Vegan Multivitamin & Minerals 60 Capsules – Voyager Life Limited

Vitamin D –Vitamin D3 4,000iu 365 Tablets – Voyager Life Limited

Creatine Monohydrate – https://voyagerlife.co.uk/products/creatine-monohydrate-powder-500g