Pure Gains // Advanced Creatine

Creatine is one of the most popular and widely studied ingredients we have in our preworkout.. Your body naturally creates creatine, but supplementing it can give you additional benefits compared to what you’ll see with just your natural production levels. Creatine leads to an increased work capacity and overall improved training. Creatine also helps your body increase lean muscle mass, and aids in the process by which muscles utilizing water.

Numerous studies have shown that betaine can improve BOTH strength and power, which is useful no matter what you’re training for. The most critical reaction where betaine performs this function is in the methylation of the amino acid homocysteine to form methionine. Methionine is important in the body's internal synthesis of creatine. So one way that betaine may boost muscle strength and size is by increasing creatine production in the body.

We’re going to focus on three benefits of agmatine sulfate; cardiovascular benefits, increased pumps, and improved mental capacity. Studies show that agmatine may benefit heart health by lowering blood pressure and blood sugar. It produces nitric oxide, which is a chemical that dilates arteries and improves overall circulation. These increased levels make it easier for the heart to pump blood throughout the body, including to your muscles during workouts. It also induces nitric oxide synthesis, which helps the blood vessels to relax and allows more blood to reach your muscles, leading to increased size and definition post-training. Most people focus on the muscle building benefits of agmatine sulfate, but there are mental boosts as well. It acts as a neurotransmitter, and research indicates that it may alleviate anxiety and depression while boosting your mood. It’s also stored in the hippocampus, which is the area of the brain associated with memory and cognition.

The consumption of leucine is one of the more effective ways to reverse exercise-induced protein degradation in muscle. Leucine intake has been shown to directly stimulate muscle protein synthesis and inhibit muscle protein breakdown, ultimately promoting muscle growth by activating the nutrient-sensing molecule mTOR. In fact, the muscle-building effect of leucine consumption has been shown in several studies to be most potent after resistance training.