[This is a guest blog by Earl Wilcox. Earl is a graduate from the Kinesiology program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Earl currently possesses his CSCS from the NSCA and is an Applied Sports Science Intern at Athletic Lab.] Creatine is one of the top supplements of choice for increasing athletic performance. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, Americans spend around 14 million dollars a year on creatine supplementation. The main draw to supplementing with creatine is that it can help promote greater changes in muscle mass, body composition and strength gains when combined with the proper training regimen. However, supplementation may not just be for elite level athletes and those who are trying to look good come beach season. There are now studies that show creatine supplementation may in fact help in the treatment of Parkinson's disease as well as help prevent sarcopenia and traumatic brain injuries. Before we get into how creatine can help prevent these particular issues, I believe it is important to explain what creatine is and how it works. First of all, creatine is a naturally occurring substrate in the body and can be found in most animal-based proteins. It is used during the resynthesis of ATP. Think of ATP as the currency the body uses to perform any task; if you spend too much of it, you become unable to perform said task. The body has three different ways to produce ATP, one of which uses creatine. The phosphocreatine system. The phosphocreatine system can produce a vast amount of ATP, however it is limited to producing energy for up to 6-10 seconds. The phosphocreatine system would be like driving a Ferrari in a cross [...]

[Kelsey Haddock is an Exercise Physiology student at the East Carolina University and is an Athletic Development Intern at Athletic Lab.] What do you think of when you hear the word creatine? Well, the first image that pops in my head when I hear the word creatine is a man in the weight room with muscles on top of muscles. My lack of research and knowledge about creatine influenced my attitude towards this must-have nutritional supplement. I never knew the many benefits that creatine supplementation has on the human body, many of which are not even related to increasing one's lean muscle mass. So in this blog, you will discover what all the fuss is about. Did you know our bodies naturally produce creatine? Creatine phosphate is a naturally occurring amino acid that is present in much living tissue such as the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. Creatine phosphate is stored in our muscles, where it can regenerate ATP, or in simpler terms, it can create energy during those high-intensity, short duration workouts4. Creatine's most popular use is to improve ones strength levels, and in return increase lean muscle mass. How? By producing enough energy for your body to train harder, and progressively overload your system. Progressively overloading your system gives the body the ability to gain strength and build more muscle tissue2. Chad Kerksick, Ph.D., assistant of exercise physiology at the University of Oklahoma puts it into simpler terms, If you can lift one or two more reps, or 5 more pounds, your muscles will get bigger and stronger? 3. Research has shown creatine is the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes in terms of increasing high intensity exercise capacity and lean [...]