Have you ever wondered how a simple supplement could transform your health and vitality as you age? In this enlightening episode of The Holly Perkins Health Podcast, I dive deep into the world of creatine for women, especially focusing on its incredible benefits for women over 40. Often misunderstood and primarily marketed towards men, creatine is a powerhouse nutrient that can significantly enhance muscle strength, bone health, and even brain function. As we navigate midlife, the role of creatine for women becomes even more crucial, providing the support we need to maintain energy levels and overall wellness.
Have you ever wondered how a simple supplement could transform your health and vitality as you age? In this enlightening episode of The Holly Perkins Health Podcast, I dive deep into the world of creatine for women, especially focusing on its incredible benefits for women over 40. Often misunderstood and primarily marketed towards men, creatine is a powerhouse nutrient that can significantly enhance muscle strength, bone health, and even brain function. As we navigate midlife, the role of creatine for women becomes even more crucial, providing the support we need to maintain energy levels and overall wellness.
Throughout this episode, I share my personal journey with creatine for women, illustrating how it has revolutionized my workouts and sharpened my mental clarity. I’ll provide you with actionable insights on how to effectively incorporate creatine into your daily routine, including recommended dosages, the best forms to use, and the optimal timing for maximum results. This isn’t just about lifting weights; it’s about enhancing your quality of life through informed nutrition and smart fitness choices.
Let’s break down the myths surrounding creatine, reassuring you of its safety and efficacy based on extensive research. Many women are unaware of how creatine for women can boost not just physical strength but also cognitive function, making it a vital addition to your health regimen, especially as you embrace health after 50. Whether you're looking for workout tips, seeking to build lean muscle for women, or navigating menopause workouts, this episode is packed with the motivation you need to thrive.
Join me as we explore the latest women health trends, discuss clean eating tips, and uncover how to eat for muscle. Together, we'll empower you to take charge of your health with confidence, focusing on how to track macros and implement muscle toning strategies that work for your unique body. This is not just a health podcast; it’s your guide to living vibrantly and strong over 40. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn how creatine for women can elevate your fitness journey and enhance your life!
Are you training to build muscle? For a limited time, you can learn exactly what I teach my most successful clients to strategically add 5 pounds of lean muscle in the next 5 months.
I'll walk you through the precise adjustments to your training, nutrition, and cardio so your body is primed and positioned to build lean, strong muscle - the kind that lasts. And you can get this live-recorded workshop for FREE (a $20 value). It’s called Optimized for Muscle Lab.
To claim your free recording, simply post a review of my podcast, grab a screenshot, and upload it at: https://www.hollyperkins.com/review
This is a limited-time offer, so don't wait — it normally sells for $20, and this is your chance to get it at no cost.
Resources:
+Follow so you'll know exactly when new episodes are available on Tuesdays.
00:00:00.360 — 00:00:44.680
Imagine if there was one simple, safe, and affordable supplement that could actually help you feel stronger during your workouts, sharper during your day, and more energetic in your 40s, 50s and beyond. Well guess what? There is. And it's called creatine. For years it's been marketed mostly to men in the gym.
But the science is clear. Creatine is a game changer for women, especially as we age. It supports muscle strength, bone health, brain function, and even your metabolism. Today we're breaking down the benefits, the science, and why creatine might just be the most overlooked tool in your midlife wellness toolkit.
So keep listening.
00:00:52.680 — 00:02:01.830
Hello and thank you for being here. If you are new, welcome. I'm Holly Perkins and I help women mostly over 40. To improve body composition to at least 70% lean mass, so that you can reduce your risk of disease and stay in the game of life and out of the rocking chair for all the years ahead. And recently, I was looking at my downloads report for this podcast, and there were a few episodes that jumped off the page because they have been downloaded way more than the others.
Clearly, these are the episodes that resonated with listeners, and I want to make sure that you heard them too. So today's episode is in the top five most downloaded in the past year, and I know it's because the world has been clued into the power of creatine for women, not just for building muscle and performance, but also for health and longevity.
If you're refining your creatine protocol or you just want to learn more about it and how to use it, this episode is for you. I hope you love this one as much as the rest of the world does.
00:02:07.950 — 00:11:33.090
A few days ago, I stood in my kitchen and dry scooped five grams of creatine powder, just like I do every day. And I had the following just stream of consciousness. I said to myself, I can't believe I was so afraid to use this supplement for most of my career. I can't even imagine my day without it now. Why did it take me so long to get on board?
And why aren't more women over 40 using it to improve their health and wellness? Oh, because it's either misunderstood or it's thought to be used by the gym bros with big muscles. And I know many women are actually still really afraid of getting more muscle than they actually want. You know what? I need to do a podcast episode on this because I personally believe that every woman should be taking it.
I'm the type of person that talks to myself. Do you talk to yourself? I find that I actually think out a lot of my big ideas that way, and oftentimes my best ideas come from talking to myself. So here we are, my friend. In today's episode, I am going to share the who, the what, where, when, and why of creating so that you can decide if it's something you want to add to your holistic health and wellness routine.
Because the benefits of creatine go way far beyond your workouts, to your brain health and to giving you all day energy, I'm going to share exactly what I take and what I recommend to my clients, and how and when to take it for optimal results. If you're a woman over 40 and you struggle with fatigue, feeling weaker in your workouts, or just never feeling strong physically, or if you battle brain fog and struggle to get your thoughts and your words out clearly.
We all know that's no way to live. In fact, before taking creatine on the regular, I struggled with all of these symptoms. Something I noticed in the past few years is that it would just take me a while to put together the right sentence in my head, and to find the right words, to be able to express what I was trying to say.
And you might find that funny because I'm a writer and a podcaster. But the truth is, a lot of times I have to pause for a moment to really, like, get my brain going. Now that I've been taking creatine on the regular, it's very, very different and I just notice much stronger brain power in general. So in this episode, you'll learn the benefits of creatine for women over 40, how to use creatine to improve health, wellness and fitness, and exactly when to take it and in what form.
So if you're interested to learn more about creatine, you're going to get it all in this one episode. After being in practice now for over 30 years, I have seen some truly incredible transformations with my most successful clients. Because of this, I know without a doubt that every woman is capable of becoming a powerhouse and feeling unstoppable in your body at any age.
I coach women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, and my methods have worked for women in every decade of life. If you're wanting to feel powerful in your body and feel good throughout your day, and finally understand how to get stronger in the gym, this episode is for you. The biggest mistake most women make is to think that creatine is for men, gym bros, or the Super Fit Elite.
And while all of those people are taking creatine, that doesn't mean that it's not for you. Even if you're just starting your strength training journey. Creatine is a naturally occurring non protein compound and it's found in small amounts in certain foods like meat and fish. And it's produced by your liver, kidneys and pancreas.
And while it is naturally occurring in nature and food, chemically it's synthesized from the three amino acids that you get from food arginine, glycine and methionine. So in other words, the truth is you're already eating creatine in small amounts if you eat any animal meats or fish in the body. About 95% of creatine is stored in muscles, and it's mostly stored as something called phospho creatine now it doesn't really matter.
But of course I want to try and bring some of the science here, but you may never hear that word again. The rest of the creatine in your body is stored in your brain, your heart and other tissues. So think about that. The creatine that we eat or synthesize from the proteins that we eat live in some of your most important muscle organs.
Interesting, right. The brain, muscles, heart and other tissues. Creatine is crucial for energy production, especially during high intensity, short duration activities like sprinting or specifically lifting weights. See if you're lifting weights correctly. Or rather I should say, according to what I teach, each set during a strength workout should feel like a mini workout in and of itself, and it should be Systemically challenging.
So one set, let's say of leg press is like a 32nd interval workout where your body is working hard and your heart rate increases in direct relationship to the intensity of the weight load relative to your current ability. It's like one set is interval training. I talk about this all the time. This is where creatine is particularly helpful to support your energy needs during each set of your workout and therefore, of course, your workout as a whole.
So here's the biological process and how creatine actually works. This is a bit of a science lesson, so you can scrub forward if you're not interested. Number one, energy in your muscles comes from something called adenosine triphosphate. We call it ATP for short. This is your cells form of currency for energy.
I like to think of it as the gasoline or the fuel for your muscles. Number two during brief, intense effort like an appropriately challenging set of leg press, ATP breaks down into something called adenosine diphosphate ADB to release energy so that you can push and actually contract your muscles and work hard when your weight load feels heavy.
Number three as I said, most creatine is stored in the muscles as phosphate creatine, and it donates a phosphate to ADP, recycling it back into ATP, giving your muscles more immediate energy. It's like this beautiful recycling so that your muscles have the fuel they need And don't worry about the science lesson.
I just want you to kind of understand the basics, because sometimes clients come to me and they think that creatine is an organic aid. And while it is technically it's not typical in the sense that it's a stimulant or that it's anything unnatural or manmade, it's actually a very natural substance. Then number four, this conversion allows you to perform more reps or push harder or recover better and faster between your sets.
So it's just like fueling your muscle in the best way so that you can perform better. Did you know that for a limited time, you can learn exactly what I teach my most successful clients to strategically add 5 pounds of lean muscle in the next five months? I'll walk you through the precise adjustments to your training, your nutrition, and your cardio so that your body is primed and positioned to build lean, strong muscle.
The kind that lasts and you can get this live recorded workshop for free. It's a $20 value. It's called the optimized for Muscle Lab in order to get it for free. Simply post a review of my podcast. Grab a screenshot and upload it at Holly Perkins for review. This is a limited time offer, so don't wait. It normally sells for $20 and this is your chance to get it at no cost.
00:11:34.170 — 00:27:17.570
So in other words, creatine essentially increases your muscles capacity to produce energy quickly. In some ways, it's the fuel your muscles use to contract better. Because of this, it actually makes you stronger. You'll feel more powerful when you push the leg, press sled, and therefore you'll be able to make better progress in your workouts in general because you feel and actually are stronger during your workout.
When I first started using creatine for my workouts, I was in my 40s and I could not believe the difference that it made. And this was back in the days when I don't think I knew a single other woman that was using creatine. I've always been very interested in what the men and bodybuilders do in their practice, and I always just kind of believed, well, if it works for them, let me see if it could work for me.
And that is really why I started using creatine, and I was blown away by how beneficial it was. Back then I only used it before my workouts, but now I use it and recommend it daily regardless of workouts, and I'll talk about that more in a minute. Research has shown that creatine is not just for strength. It has multiple effects, especially relevant for women over 40, including number one muscle growth.
By allowing you to lift heavier or perform more repetitions, it indirectly increases muscle size and strength. It helps you perform better. Number two bone health. Some evidence suggests that it may support bone density, especially when it's combined with resistance training and number three, brain health.
Creatine is also used by your brain for energy. Remember how I said it's stored in the brain? And studies indicate potential cognitive benefits, especially during mental fatigue. And these days, what woman doesn't have mental fatigue, right. If you're over 40 or in your 50s, you know the struggle is real.
There is a real shift in quick thinking, clear thinking and just brain power in general. Creatine is now being used as a treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. It's that valuable to the brain. I notice a huge benefit during any of my writing intensive days, or when I have to really use my brain during the day, I see a big boost.
And lastly, recovery. Creatine may reduce muscle damage. I believe it does and improve recovery after intense exercise. Another misunderstanding is that creatine is dangerous in any way. So old school thinking is that it's harmful for your kidneys. So as always, I've linked quite a bit of research in the show notes below if you're curious.
And regarding safety. Numerous organizations and studies have proven that creatine is both safe and effective, and the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Position stands dates that there is no scientific evidence that the short or long term use of creatine monohydrate has any detrimental effects on otherwise healthy individuals.
To date, several hundred peer reviewed research studies have been conducted to evaluate the efficacy of creatine monohydrate supplementation in improving exercise performance. Nearly 70% of these studies have reported a significant improvement in exercise capacity, while the other studies have generally reported non-significant gains and performance.
So either way, they're showing gains. It's just the degree. While it's still inconclusive, the existing research on creatine suggests that it's a powerful tool capable of increasing brain creatine stores, which may help in cognitive functioning, particularly during times of metabolic stress, and that would be sleep deprivation.
I know that's so common for a lot of my clients hypoxia, mental fatigue, and even traumatic brain injury. TBI, which is also common in some people who have had accidents and sports injuries and both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. While more research is needed, we do believe that creatine is going to be a very powerful supplement to battle the various forms of cognitive decline.
So the question becomes, can we use creatine preemptively to avoid the cognitive decline? When a new client joins the body composition project, they often say that they're interested in wanting to begin creatine. But they had been reluctant because they didn't understand all of the important details like when and how to take it.
So let me share how I help my clients use creatine to improve health, wellness, and performance. First, there are various forms of creatine, including creatine monohydrate. That's the most popular that you'll hear about most frequently creatine, HDL, creatine ethyl ester, and buffered creatine, which is also known as alkaline.
Now listen, the smarty pants supplement marketing companies will tell you why one version is better than the other, and I once got sucked into the marketing hype too. In the end, after years of experimentation, I didn't see any additional benefits when I used the more expensive designer versions, if you will.
Most pros, like me, know that creatine monohydrate is the gold standard for a reason. It works, it's inexpensive, and it is vastly studied. I personally use and recommend creatine monohydrate, and more specifically. I use and recommend the Micronesia version, and I have found that I don't see any issues with bloating or water attention when we use that form.
I would say that one in about 30 women tell me that they noticed some water retention in general in the first 2 to 3 weeks, but that it subsides after they stay consistent with it and their body adapts. When it comes to delivery methods, you'll find powders, capsules, pills, gummies, and even beverages as options.
So I'll share my thoughts here and what I tell my clients. But the truth is, you're a big girl and you are free to make your own decision in terms of your preference here, the first thing to think about though, is how you actually want to ingest it. And that's something that's very preferential, right? Some women don't want to or really even can't swallow pills, and therefore a powder or a beverage or a gummy might be best for her.
While another woman doesn't want to use a powder and would actually prefer a capsule or a tablet. So I'm going to break it down the way that I see it. If there are no limitations and you're open to using any delivery method, I suggest first taking a look at the cost per serving. Now I will review dosing in a minute and what exactly a serving is, but you'll most likely be taking between 3 and 5g of creatine per day.
Therefore, be sure to look at the packaging to determine your price per serving. And here's why. I'm a practical type of person. So I buy a 2 pound container of powder from a prominent brand, and a five gram serving costs me just $0.23. Now that's a powder. For a minute, I was interested in trying a gummy version, because the addition of the carbohydrate that they put into these gummies in the form of sugar is actually very helpful when you're taking creatine.
And I personally loved the portability, so I'll talk about it in a moment. But when I take a dry powder, I am pretty much always combining it with some carbohydrate. So the gummy version seemed like a really great idea to me. But the cost per five gram serving of the gummies is $1.86 per serving. That makes it around $56 per month if you take it every day.
And so for me, it doesn't really matter. I'd rather be economical and save my money there. But if cost isn't a big issue for you and you prefer to take a different version, take the one that you want. The next big question is when to take it. And in general there are two protocols. Number one, if you want to test the waters, you're a little nervous and you want to start slowly.
You could take creatine only on your strength training days. This is what I used to do. And in this case, I recommend taking it 1 to 2 hours before your workout so that you get the palpable benefits of that improvement in strength and also performance. Number two, in general, I do recommend taking it every day now, regardless of your activity, because it really is so good for just general energy, stamina, and brain power.
If you're someone like me who really struggles with energy on the regular, or you feel like you're often dragging through your days, this might be something that could be really helpful for you each day. I love taking it every single day, and I really do feel a difference on the days when I don't take it. So in this case, you would be taking it every day in the morning or 1 to 2 hours before your workout, if that's later in the day.
In short, it doesn't really matter when you take it if you're taking it every day. If I'm not going to work out in the morning, I will save it and make sure I take it after lunch before my workout. Personally, I do recommend taking it in the morning or before your workouts because that's when you're going to get the benefits during your workout or during your day.
Other voices out there might say to take creatine as a recovery method, and you would take it after your workout. Personally, I don't find that as beneficial and I want to feel the benefit during my workout. When it comes to how you actually take it. You really can't go wrong because there are suggestions that it's better taken in the absence of other proteins and with carbs.
And then there are other suggestions out there that its best with proteins and during a meal. So therefore I really feel like take it when you'll take it personally. After a lot of experimentation with myself and my clients, I like to take it away from other proteins and with some carbs. So I might mix my powder in with two ounces of pomegranate juice, or I will often just dry scoop it and then eat some fruit.
So if that's an unfamiliar term for you, dry scooping is when you literally just take a scoop of it and you dump the powder in your mouth, and then you rinse it down with water. When I first saw it done, I was like, ooh, oh gosh, there's no way I could do that. But then I realized it's actually quite economical time wise, because I can just dump it in and swallow it.
And the truth is, it doesn't taste bad now. It's not Kool-Aid, but it really doesn't taste like much of anything. And I just flush it down with water and it's done. And then I can choose or eat whatever carbohydrates that I want. In terms of dosing, there are two protocols hotly debated. Number one, the first and old school recommendation is doing what's called a loading phase, where you take a big amount for about seven days so that you're able to fully saturate your muscles with creatine.
And in this situation, you would take about 20g per day, where you split that up into four doses throughout the day for about a week. And some research suggests that this is the most effective. And like I said, this is kind of the tried and true old school protocol. But then there is research that also suggests that you can achieve the same exact effect after 3 to 4 weeks by taking a normal serving of 3 to 5g per day.
In this case, you just want to make sure that if you're going to do it, you start and you do it consistently to meet full muscle saturation. But honestly, again, I kind of feel like you can't go wrong. And I'm not so convinced of this concept of muscle saturation. Now, who am I to challenge research, right
But I will say there were times when I never went through a loading phase, and I went straight to taking it only three times per week before my workouts. And without a doubt, I definitely felt the benefits. It was clear as day, and so I've never really felt that a loading phase is particularly necessary, especially if you're concerned about water retention or any kind of bloating.
Do your own research here. But what I teach and what I've practiced is that if you're just going to start it and you're open to taking it every day, just start with a 3 to 5g per day and stay consistent with it. Now, if you want a deep dive on creatine and dosing, please listen to episode 13. Creatine for women in midlife, the one supplement that rules them all.
Because I have a different angle on creatine there, and I really do dive deep on getting your dosing right. And there you have it. You can now consider yourself a creatine expert for women over 40 to improve health and wellness. I hope that you enjoyed this episode. I hope that it helped to dispel some of the myths and misunderstandings about creatine.
You might still feel a little bit intimidated about taking creatine, and I will say that I personally believe it to be a powerful thing to consider adding to your health, fitness and wellness protocols. If you still feel a bit unsure. Check the links in my show notes and do your own research. Because I do believe that creatine will one day be as universally accepted as vitamin C, and honestly, I can't wait to see that day.
I hope you enjoyed this episode, and make sure that you stay tuned for another brand new one on Tuesday of next week. Stay strong my friend!
00:27:20.970 — 00:27:42.530
Thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode. I am so happy that you're here and I hope you loved it. If you did, please take a moment to subscribe, share with your friends and leave a review. And if you want more from me, check out my blog and coaching programs over at Holly perkins.com. That's all for now.
I'll see you next week.