Achieving your athletic ambition requires more than just dedication; it demands a strategic and holistic approach to training.
For athletes working to improve their endurance and strength levels, sports nutrition is a necessary component of a successful fitness regimen. When taken together, two supplements—creatine and HMB—stand out as a powerful pairing that can accelerate your progress.
Let’s get into the details of creatine and HMB, and answer the big question: What makes the duo ideal for building endurance and strength?
Understanding Creatine
Creatine, also called creatine monohydrate, is a naturally occurring compound made by the body and found in foods such as meat, fish and dairy. It operates at the cellular level to ramp up adenosine triphosphate (ATP) regeneration, which provides energy to support cell functions.
Creatine is recognized as a staple in sports nutrition as one of the most effective dietary supplements for both men and women, as it offers unparalleled support during strength training. It also aids in memory and cognition, and as many athletes know, maintaining mental health is equally as important as maintaining muscle health.
Understanding HMB
HMB, or beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyric acid (it’s a long one, we know), is derived from leucine—one of the three essential branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs).
But what is a branched-chain amino acid, anyway? Simply put, they’re essential nutrients found in protein-rich foods like meat, dairy and alfalfa. BCAAs, comprising leucine, isoleucine and valine, play a vital role in protein synthesis by supporting muscle growth and recovery.
Athletes often turn to HMB to reduce muscle damage and soreness post-exercise. In addition, HMB slows natural muscle loss during downtime, like after injury, and in aging athletes, so you can return to where you left off.
What Happens When You Take Creatine and HMB Together?
After taking a combination of creatine and HMB for about two weeks, you’ll start to notice you can go farther, train harder and perform repetitive bursts of maximum power output more easily—and it only gets better from there.
As you continue taking this pair of supplements, you’ll notice their effects become even more pronounced over time since HMB has a compounding effect on the effects of creatine.
When considering creatine and HMB supplementation, seeking a pure, high-quality product is paramount to your success. Because we know this, we created HMB+ Creatine to put athletes one step closer to achieving their ambitions. For those looking to avoid creatine, we developed HMB Sport, which reduces feelings of soreness and tiredness after physical exertion.
Optimal Dosage and Timing
To realize the full potential of taking creatine and HMB, you must commit to making them part of your daily routine.
Numerous studies recommend taking approximately 5g of creatine monohydrate daily to maintain your muscles’ creatine stores and see a positive impact on your training. However, some larger athletes may require up to 10g daily to achieve the same result.
In addition, most individuals require 3g of HMB daily, ideally taken one to two hours before exercising.
If you plan to take both creatine and HMB, consider a combination product like HMB+ Creatine rather than two separate products to make sticking to your routine easier—one and done.
What to Consider Before Taking Creatine and HMB
While creatine and HMB are generally safe and offer tremendous benefits for athletic performance and overall health, it’s important to know there are some things to consider.
When taking creatine, maintaining adequate hydration levels is vital to mitigate dehydration since it causes your muscles to retain more water than normal. Additionally, some creatine users experience mild digestive issues like stomach cramps when taking it for the first time, when taking large doses, or after a long hiatus.
As with creatine, some HMB users may experience mild digestive issues when taking it for the first time, but this can be mitigated by taking two smaller doses throughout the day rather than one larger dose.
If you have questions regarding the safety of adding creatine and/or HMB supplementation to your diet, or if you have existing medical conditions, please consult with your healthcare provider.
So, Should You Combine Creatine and HMB?
If you want to get the most out of your training, then yes. The combination of creatine and HMB will give you a proper head start in your pursuit of greater endurance and strength.
If you decide to supplement your training with creatine, HMB, or both, don’t forget to consider the optimal dosage, timing, and safety considerations.
We encourage you to check out our HMB+ Creatine user guide for more useful information about taking this dynamic duo of supplements.
— That’s all for now. Train hard!