From Charles Poliquin Live
Creatine is a super supplement for helping you build muscle and shatter strength PRs. Usually we’re told to take it with carbs for maximal “loading” in the muscle. What happens if you’re trying to lose fat or just don’t want extra carbs?
Take creatine with fenugreek—an herb that is known to aid digestion and manage glucose levels—and avoid the need to ingest excess carbohydrates. By “mimicking” insulin, fenugreek works to load creatine into the muscle.
The effect is that creatine will work its magic and increase the supply of phosphocreatine in the body, thereby aiding your ability to train at a high intensity for longer periods due to increased energy substrate levels.
A study from the Human Performance Lab at Texas A&M found that because fenugreek has a hypoglycemic effect, combining it with creatine supplementation is just as effective as taking a creatine-carbohydrate mixture for increasing maximal strength and lean body mass.
In fact, researchers found that the creatine-fenugreek combo increased upper body strength and lean mass over a short training period of four weeks, while the creatine-carb supplement led to no short-term gains. Both supplementation protocols saw similar overall strength and lean body mass increases over the entire eight week research period.
To try it, combine 900 mg of fenugreek with 3,500 mg of creatine and avoid excess carbohydrates.
Reference:
Taylor, L., Poole, C., Pena, E., Lewing, M., Kreider, R., Wilborn, C. Effects of Combined Creatine Plus Fenugreek Extract Vs. Creatine Plus Carbohydrate Supplementation on Resistance Training Adaptations. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2011. 10, 254-260.
Source: http://www.poliquingroup.com/Tips/ta…-Strength.aspx
