I am a Thorne Supplements Ambassador. I have been using Thorne supplements for over 4+ years, so I am super proud to be able to associate my name with such a reputable company. Please note associated links are my storefront. I only receive credit when a customer creates an account at checkout so any support I sincerely appreciate!
My Intro to Creatine
When I first started working out, I honestly didn't have high expectations. But as I started to see muscle development I really began to get intrigued with how I could help that definition.
Pracitcing what I preach I began to do my own research and found a lot of studies that eluded to creatine being a great assist to build lean body mass.
Creatine supplements increase your body's stores of phosphocreatine, which is used to produce new ATP during high-intensity exercise.
Creatine has been shown to help prolonged muscle growth after workouts. Research shows supplementing with creatine can double your strength and lean muscle gains when compared to training alone. Additional studies done by pubmed show creatine supplements can also help women to tone up and/or increase strength. One particular study in women found a 60% greater increase in lean mass compared to a group that only strength trained. (
Click HERE to read)
People have all sorts of reasons for working out and developing Lean Body Mass. Athletes are interested in muscle building to improve their performance on the field. Bodybuilders want muscle growth for that trophy-winning physique. For us regular gym-goers who struggle to find enough time to eat right and workout, it can be as simple as looking losing weight and looking lean.
What all is considered your Lean Body Mass?
Lean body mass includes the weight of all the following elements which make up your body:
Organs
Skin
Bones
Body Water
Muscle Mass
Lean body mass is calculated as the difference between total body weight and body fat weight, or more simply, the weight of everything except the fat.
I wanted to certainly develop my muscle mass to see this number increased on my measurements and overall bring down my BMI.
But ultimately, the overall appeal to me was all of the long term health benefits I read about that all attributed to having lean body mass, which I've shared below:
1)Lean Body Mass Decreases Overall Obesity
Lean Body Mass is associated with your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) the amount of calories you burn at rest. The greater amount of LBM you have, the greater your BMR will be. This means that people with greater amounts of Lean Body Mass will have a greater energy expenditure while doing nothing, helping to avoid calorie imbalances, and ultimately, obesity.
2)Lean Body Mass Contributes to Strong Bones
In the Mediterranean Intensive Oxidant Study, researchers found that lower amounts of skeletal muscle mass, a significant and major component of Lean Body Mass, was correlated with weaker and thinner bones in elderly men. Because Lean Body Mass is made up of multiple components that cannot be readily increased, such as the weight of body water and internal organs, increasing skeletal muscle mass is the primary means of increasing Lean Body Mass. This, in turn, builds up greater bone strength and density.
3)Lean Body Mass Can Protect Against Insulin Resistance
In a large-scale study of over 13,000 people over a 6-year span conducted by the UCLA School of Medicine, the researchers concluded their findings by illustrating an inverse relationship between skeletal muscle mass and insulin resistance. Not only that, they found that for every 10% increase in skeletal muscle mass, there was an 11% decrease in insulin resistance. For people without diabetes, the decreases were even more pronounced.
Developing your Lean Body Mass also has the added benefit of increasing your BMR, which will increase your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) all on its own, which, when combined with proper diet and nutrition, causes Fat Mass reduction. This reduction contributes to less release of Fatty Free Acids into the body in the first place, which will, in turn, make it easier for the body to clear excess glucose and transport it into muscle cells.
Of course, I always come down to the bottom line of supplements are not necessary in your health journey but they can certainly be so helpful to achieve your goals.
One thing to make sure of is that all of your supplements have good clean ingredients. Check the labels for any fillers and weird additives. Since supplements are not regulated by the FDA they can have additives we may not even be aware of.
That's why I always turn to Thorne supplements for myself and my family.
Here's the link to my storefront where you can shop the same creatine I use!
Click HERE and make sure to create an account at checkout so you get in my mailing list and also get the awesome FREE shippping on all ground orders!
It's a large tub and using a daily scoop allotment will last you probably 4-5 months!
Let me know if you start using creatine!
