Construction and occurrence

Creatine (Cr) is a small peptide made of amino acids. It naturally occurs mainly in red meat and seafood. Most of it is found in skeletal muscle (about 95%), while it remains in the brain and testicles. The total amount of creatine stored in the muscles is about 120 mmol / kg dry muscle mass (for a person weighing 70 kg). However, the upper limit of its resources can reach up to 160 mmol / kg. About 1-2% of intramuscular creatine is degraded and excreted in the urine. For this reason, the body requires it to be replenished daily (1-3 g / day). Almost half of the daily requirement is met through the diet. Creatine from food undergoes a slower digestion process than when taken externally. The remaining amount is mainly produced in the liver and in smaller amounts in the pancreas and kidneys. However, many people have a creatine deficiency due to disorders in the construction and functioning of Cr transporters.

How does creatine work?

Creatine was classified in category I (strong scientific evidence supporting effectiveness, relative safety) of supplements supporting the building of muscle mass, as well as supporting performance on the list created by the International Society of Sports Nutrition in 2018. In addition, the Australian Sport Institute in 2019 included creatine in group A, i.e. a group of ergogenic supplements with strong scientific evidence confirming the benefits of using it in specific sports situations. Creatine works by increasing the amount of ATP available, which is the most important energy molecule at the cellular level. Creatine supplementation increases its intramuscular resources, which particularly supports efficiency in high-intensity efforts. In addition, creatine has a positive effect on increasing regeneration and supports injury prevention. Research shows that supplementation increases muscle creatine availability, leading to increased exercise capacity and adaptation to training. The benefits of supplementation are observed among both men and women.

Creatine forms - which one to choose?

Creatine can be bought in many different forms, such as monohydrate, malate, and citrate. Creatine monohydrate has the most proven effects in scientific studies. Currently, there is no scientific evidence confirming that other forms are less degraded or result in greater creatine uptake by muscles. In addition, the monohydrate is characterized by the highest creatine content, good absorption and a relatively low price.

Creatine dosage

For a regular diet of 1-2 g Cr / day, 60-80% of the creatine content is saturated. Additional supplementation can increase its amount by 20-40%. There are two supplementation protocols described in the literature. The first of these assumes taking 5 g of creatine monohydrate per day (or about 0.3 g / kg body weight) 4 times a day for 5-7 days. When creatine reserves are saturated, we use a maintenance dose of 3-5 g / day. As a result of the creatine loading process, we can see a 20-30% increase in performance during intense efforts. An alternative supplementation protocol is taking 3 g creatine monohydrate daily for 28 days. In this method, however, we observe a gradual increase in creatine resources, compared to the fast loading method. Such action may cause a less noticeable effect in improving performance, until the saturation of Cr resources in the muscles. Both protocols are intended to saturate muscles with creatine, but the use of charging will allow you to reap potential benefits faster.

Is supplementation safe?

Based on approximately 1,000 studies conducted to date with creatine monohydrate, the only reported side effect of supplementation is weight gain. However, this is really a desirable effect. Creatine is 95% accumulated inside the muscles, which is associated with increased accumulation of glycogen and water. Lack of water retention may even suggest that too low a dose of creatine is being supplemented. However, it should be remembered that if initially the concentration of creatine is high, we may not notice any special effects after the implementation of supplementation. It is worth adding that people on a plant diet are characterized by its lower resources, which allows you to conclude that supplementation in this case will bring greater benefits.

Summary

Creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic supplement. It should be used by people who want to increase their ability to perform high-intensity exercise, as well as support post-workout regeneration.

Bibliography:

Exercise benefits seniors in many ways. Properly adjusted, it can have a positive impact not only on the physical but also mental aspect. Exercise of moderate intensity, performed regularly, improves health parameters. Regular training helps keep your bones healthy. It lowers the probability of fractures, among others hip bone or spine. Exercise helps to increase muscle mass. In addition, exercise improves mobility and strengthens joints. Another benefit is the reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, which are the main cause of death in Poland. In addition, it is the basic prevention of the development of type 2-diabetes or depression. Physical activity is a proven cancer prophylaxis factor, reducing the risk of developing cancer of the colon, uterus and breast (especially in the menopausal age). Regular exercise is an effective method of maintaining a healthy body weight.

Physical activity reduces the incidence of diseases because:

• reduces the level of adipose tissue,
• maintains muscle mass,
• has a positive effect on cholesterol levels,
• lowers blood pressure, supporting heart health,
• improves blood flow through organs, preventing the development of atherosclerosis.

How should seniors exercise?

The appropriate form of exercise for the elderly is not only daily walks, but also training in the gym. At any age, move as far as possible. Extending the time of undertake activity and the level of its difficulty should be gradual and adapted to the mood and state of health. Therefore, it is worth using the help and care of qualified personal trainers at Calypso Fitness clubs.

What exercises should I avoid?

Each training plan should be individually tailored to the health of the senior. You should avoid dynamic jumps and long-term leaning on the wrists or kneeling positions. In addition, sudden, too fast changes of position from low and medium positions (lying down, sitting, kneeling) to standing positions are not desired. Trainers at Calypso Fitness clubs will adjust the appropriate exercise plan to the abilities and health of the exercising person.

Free consultation with a trainer at the Calypso Fitness club

Visit the Calypso Fitness club and benefit from a free consultation with a trainer. During the visit, free body composition measurements will be performed on the TANITA analyzer. The latest innovative technology enables a comprehensive and precise analysis of the body composition and the metabolic age of the body. Obtaining accurate health indicators is crucial for monitoring progress and assessing the effectiveness of your training and diet. Physical activity is not only good for the figure. It is essential in building health as well as helping to fight stress.

It costs nothing and is the first step towards health!

How to prepare for a body composition analysis?

• Approach the test 3-4 hours after a meal.

• Avoid beverages with diuretic properties or caffeine before taking measurements

• Avoid drinking alcohol 24 hours before the measurement

• Wear light clothing

• If you are taking measurements regularly, take them at the same time of the day

Remember! Do not analyze your body composition immediately after taking a bath, using a sauna, and exercising.

Summary

How should the correct warm-up look?

1. Buttock muscles mobilization.

2. Tibia-fibula group muscles mobilization.

3. Ankles warm-ups.

4. Swinging legs sideways.

5. Swinging legs forwards/backwards.

Special part

After a solidly performed general part, you should move on to the special part, which is intended to prepare the nervous system for the loads waiting for him. The specialist part will be slightly different when we go out on the "fast five", or than when we have a marathon waiting for us.

A specialistic part before running for 5km should consider covering 4x50-100m in a slightly faster rate than normal running (but not sprint rate), that we use both aerobic (oxygen rich) and anaerobic processes to generate energy.

On the other hand, when it comes to long distances, I would skip the short runs at the expense of better preparation of the muscles for a long effort in the form of general development or mobilization exercises, because we will benefit mainly from the oxygen metabolism and the run will have lower intensity.

Summing-up

More expensive does not mean better

Contrary to appearances, healthy eating does not have to be expensive. There is no need to choose products such as salmon, avocado or exotic fruit and products from a more expensive shelf every day. Many of the healthy assortments such as olive oil, for example, last a long time. In addition, when you give up sweets, processed foods, you'll see how much money you save. Oatmeal or millet flakes consumed for breakfast, compared to chocolate balls, are definitely a better and cheaper choice. Contrary to popular belief, buying healthy food does not have to cost a lot.

Plan your shopping

Planning your meals in advance is an integral part of saving. It is worth going shopping with a prepared product list. In addition to saving you buying things you don't need, your wallet will also thank you for that. Not only will you avoid throwing away uneaten and spoiled products, but also purchases with a prepared list will be faster. Unfortunately, we often have a tendency to waste food by buying unnecessary products for storage. Before going to the supermarket, think about the meals you want to eat in the coming days and be sure to look through the pantries.

Seasonality

Remember that prices of some products change seasonally. It is worth to bet on currently available vegetables and fruits, which in practice will allow you to reduce food expenses. In summer, it is worth using fresh fruit such as strawberries, blueberries, etc. Root vegetables are of good quality in winter. Apples and plums taste best in autumn. If you do not want to waste time peeling and cutting vegetables, you can use frozen food.

Rotate products

You don't have to eat salmon every day. It is worth to rotate consumed products in your diet, not only because of price differences but also nutritional values. You can serve cheaper offal on the menu, such as liver rich in vitamins and minerals.

If you can, do it yourself!

Instead of choosing ready meals such as salads or smoothies, you can prepare them yourself. We tend to think that choosing a finished product will save time. However, keep in mind that by buying ingredients for a salad, you can make several portions of it. Self-preparation of dishes does not have to be time-consuming, if we plan it properly and, above all, we acquire practice, for which practice is needed. If you do not have a lot of time, prepare larger portions for storage. As part of several lunches, you can eat the same for several days. Buying poor quality meats, ready sauces, processed food like pizza or kebab, contrary to appearances, leads to spending more money.

Do not buy ready-made meals

Colorful messages encouraging to buy on ready-to-eat products, such as "just pour water", "for a little hunger", etc. are often perceived by consumers as a simple and quick way to satisfy their hunger. However, very often processed foods are characterized by high energy density and at the same time low nutrition. In the long run, this may translate into micronutrient deficiencies. In addition, we often don't realize that we overpay when choosing ready-to-eat products. It's worth getting into the habit of reading labels to know what we pay for. Reviewing the composition of the product we will see what really, often contrary to misleading assurances of manufacturers, is inside. If you want to save time, just choose natural products without composition!

So what products should you choose?

Carbohydrates: groats, rice, whole grains, fruits, vegetables.

Protein: meat, fish, eggs, seafood, dairy products, legumes.

Fats: olive oil, linseed oil, evening primrose oil, borage oil, avocado, nuts, seeds.

The shorter the list of ingredients, the better. The more nutritious the diet, the more productive we are, we work more efficiently and we have more energy.

Summary

Constant dropping wears away a stone

The problem with us - the people, is that we disregard the risk that selected activity brings, if at the time of its performance we do not see and feel its negative effects.

The more the "judgment" of incorrect conduct is deferred, the less are chances for us to change our behaviour. For a good example can be the habit of smoking cigarettes. From one smoked cigarette, our health and body will not change dramatically. We will not get cancer, we will not lose hair or teeth. Only over the years that we maintain this bad habits we will observe the growing health problems. The same process is observed in the plane of posture defects. If we bend over a book or a phone for a few times, it will not affect our muscular and skeletal systems. The problem will arise when we will adopt a bad, slouching posture for most of the day, week, months and years.

Awareness – first step to a better life

Before we get to know specific techniques and exercises that will help us to ensure the correct body posture, I would like to easily introduce the basic terms and mechanisms of which understanding will allow us to explore the topic better.

Let me make a thesis – each of us at least once in our lives held an atlas of human anatomy. A lexicon in which all muscles, ligaments and bones are presented in a very accurate and schematic way. At school, we were taught what function a single muscle has and how its work affects the joint over which it stretches. We remember that the muscles of the front of the thigh are responsible for straightening the knee joint. The straight abdominal muscle - a popular six pack, for flexing the body, and more specifically, bringing the chest closer to the pelvis (as during sit-ups). However, we were not told that these muscles are in some way connected by so-called fascial tissue and that the tension of one affects the work of the other.

In today's article I would like to emphasize the fact that regardless of what the selected muscle can do individually, it also functionally affects the integrated continuity of the whole body. Welcome to the world of Anatomic Tapes, thanks to which all elements of our movement system form an integral whole. In a world where it is not surprising that the right-handed tennis player's service has a significant impact on the quality of the gluteal muscles on the left side. World where problems witch ache in the foot can be the cause of pain in the lumbar spine. In addition, after reading this entry it will not be a big surprise that an excessively tight rectus abdominis muscle can indirectly cause the head to move forward.

Our bodies are able to make smooth and complex movements with the help of myofascial tapes. More precisely, because of the existence of a real connection between adjacent muscle groups surrounded by a connective tissue.

The structures that we will deal with today, due to their indisputable impact on body posture, are:
• Rear Superficial Tape (RST)
• Front Superficial Tape (FST)

To make it easier, I will present these tapes as two elastic bandages stretched at the front and back of the body.

Rear Superficial Tape (RST)

Its simplified equivalent is the blue bandage, which we will stretch together along the back surface of the body. The beginning of the tape is at the sole of the foot. At this point, we glue a starting part of the bandage. Then we head up, through the heel and Achilles tendon, we reach the calf muscles, which we connect with the muscles of the back of the thigh – sciatic shin muscles. Developing our bandage further, we go from the sacrum, through the erector spinae, to the head - yes, the superficial rear tape ends on the head, where we cut our bandage and glue it to the frontal bone. Of course, we have to do the same thing on the other side, starting from the sole of the other foot. Well done, we've got the whole RST process.

If we look at a man with such a bandage stuck on, then immediately after the initial daze we would ask - why is he walking with a blue tape on his back? We would understand that the rear superficial tape is responsible for keeping the body upright and prevents it from bending. Which in our case would cause the bandage to stretch. Half of the our work is over. Now we take a red bandage in our hands and head to the other side of the body.

Front Superficial Tape (FST)

As in the case of FST, we start our exercise on the foot, but this time on the dorsal side. On the phalanges of the feet we glue one end of the red tape, then we head up to the muscles of the anterior part of the lower leg, where we find well-known the tibialis anterior muscle, after which we smoothly pass to the patella. We continue our journey up through the quadriceps muscle, thanks to which we can stick the next part of the bandage to the hip bone. Then we stretch it through the over-trained rectus abdominis muscle, pass to the chest, and more precisely to fascia of the sternum, from which we move upwards, to the neck (for those who need to know more - the sternocleidomastoid muscle). It will not be a surprise if I say that the other end of the bandage is attached to the head - where our tape ends in a loop at the back of the skull. Looking at our model from a different angle, we will quickly see that FST is a functional opposition to the superficial rear tape. It is responsible for flexion of the torso, hip joints and knee joint.

Cooperation - the key to successs

Postural equilibrium in the sagittal plane is possible, among others, because of the cooperation between the discussed tapes. Simplifying the most important thing is to keep an equal tension of the blue bandage located at the back of the body and the red bandage symbolizing the front superficial tape during all activities performed every day. Otherwise, the position of the body will deviate from equilibrium. The consequence of this will be the occurrence of compensations. Not corrected early, will lead to permanent structural changes.

Lack of balance = posture problem

Postural defects in the sagittal plane are mainly due to the imbalance between the front superficial tape and the rear superficial tape.

When we observe the lifestyle of the 21st century citizen - it is not difficult.

The problem of our time is that as a society we have become extremely comfortable and we spend most of our time in flexion positions (it makes the red bandage is constantly shortening). We sit all the time - while commuting, at work, when we are returning from work, and of course, when we are at home - during meals or watching TV. In the training room, especially for men, we pay more attention to the muscle growth of the front side of the body, which often adds fuel to the fire.

Unfortunately, the body is an amazing organism that adapts perfectly to the surrounding conditions. Frequent and regular assumption of the bending position causes that the tissues of the superficial tape are shortened and tend to pull down the entire skeleton, which causes the person to constantly assume a forward leaning position.

Chronic bending position causes that the tissues of the superficial anterior tape are shortened and tend to pull down the entire skeleton, which causes the person to constantly assume a forward leaning position.

Person like this often experience:
• limitations of the plantar flexion,
• hyperextension of the knee,
• excessive pelvic tilt,
• head and shoulder moved forward,
• limited mobility of the ribs, which can lead to the serious respiratory disorders.

As you can see, staring at the phone for most of the day, several times a week for several years, can cause quite a mess in our body.

Movement - a cure for all evil

The awareness of the need for movement is constantly growing, what is very interesting. More and more people are choosing physical activity in their free time. It is also important that the awareness of the movement and exercises should raise. And that the training programs and exercises contained therein bring us closer to improving mobility rather than limiting it. Which unfortunately happens very often.

I would like to emphasize that if you want to change your body posture correctly you must first change your attitude. It is also important to realize how strongly the environment in which we function everyday affects our body posture. One hour a week at the best manual therapist will not do anything for us. If for the next 167 hours we will take positions that will lead to permanent imbalances between the myofascial straps, at a later stage they can lead to permanent structural changes.

A good example for this are people who constantly complain of excessively tense upper back muscles. They are usually people who work behind a desk, with their head and shoulders extended forward. When they want to ease their problems, they sign up for a masseur. Unfortunately, the day after surgery, the problem returns. Why? You probably already know the answer.

After the theoretical part, we know that excessive tension of the red bandage (front of the body), caused by prolonged taking flexion positions, will affect the positioning of tissues on the opposite side. The blue bandage will be excessively elongated - which will also cause stress in the tissues. Then we say that the tissues have been bolted in elongation. They become overloaded and manifest it with pain.

If the masseur focuses only on the parts of body indicated by the person as excessively tense and causing discomfort, the therapy will bring only a short-term change in the patient's condition. Muscles of the back will be relaxed, so the client will be satisfied. Unfortunately, soon after the procedure the ailments come back. They come back because a person returns to old habits, and most importantly, no action was taken to relax the muscles on the front of the body. Such work would free the front superficial tape and create the opportunity to restore balance.

It should be realized that very often the back tape is overloaded. It must counteract the pull forces of the entire skeleton down, generated by the overstretched front strap. In this situation, in the therapeutic process, the red bandage in the front of the body should be loosened first, and then proceed to strengthening the postural muscles of the back tape.

Examples of exercises