Creatine HCL

Creatine HCL is a different form of creatine supplement that is made by attaching a hydrochloride (HCL) group to creatine to enhance its stability. This makes it more soluble, and your body will be less susceptible to water retention and gastrointestinal issues.

So, if you’re looking for an alternative to creatine monohydrate or would like something that has the same benefits for your body without any adverse effects, keep reading to find out more about creatine HCL.

What Is Creatine HCL?

Creatine HCL is a form of creatine attached to a hydrochloride group to increase aqueous solubility and enhance stability. It was created to be a form of creatine that mixes better with liquid and is therefore retained better by the body, with the same benefits and applications as creatine monohydrate.

When supplemented with HCL, the body can break the creatine down faster and more easily. The faster absorption results in less water retention, which diminishes one of creatine monohydrate’s least favorable side effects.

What Is The Theory Behind Creatine HCL?

Theoretically, creatine HCL was formulated as a supplement that would mix well with liquids, enhance absorption and eliminate the two most common complaints associated with creatine monohydrate, namely water retention and gastrointestinal stress.

Attaching the HCL group allows the creatine supplement’s ph levels to be lower and, by being more acidic, it becomes more soluble in fluids. Therefore, it mixes better than creatine monohydrate, and less creatine remains in the intestine when ingested. When creatine is left in the intestines, water is drawn into them.

Creatine remaining within the intestines, subcutaneous water retention, and gastrointestinal diseases from stomach aches and diarrhea are significantly less likely. And what’s also great is that less creatine HCL is required to achieve the same results that you would with creatine monohydrate. This means smaller dosages, which means your supplements last longer, which means you save money!

What Are The Benefits Of Creatine HCL Supplementation?

So, you’re probably aware of the benefits of creatine monohydrate and what it does to your athletic performance. But is creatine HCL any different? Let’s look at some of the main benefits of creatine HCL.

Enhanced Absorption And Less Water Retention

Creatine HCL was designed to provide the same benefits as creatine monohydrate but mix better with liquids. Consequently, its absorption and retention are improved. The creatine HCL patent reports its aqueous solubility to be 150mg/mL-1. Compared to creatine monohydrate and citrate salt (±10-15mg/mL-1), its aqueous solubility is roughly 10 times higher (1).

Research into the aqueous solubility of creatine derivatives confirmed that the claims made in the creatine HCL patent were justified (1). It found that the aqueous solubility of the creatine hydrochloride was significantly (38 times) more than that of creatine monohydrate.

Another study found it to be in a highly acidic state, at ph 1.0, and that its absorption rate to be increased by 60% (2). It is concluded that this is due to enhanced solubility and increased permeability under acidic conditions.

The stability of the creatine in acidic media intends to improve oral absorption compared to when creatine is ingested on its own (2).

Furthermore, as a result of the better absorption, the amount of creatine required to achieve desired effects is reduced, which reduces the risk of gastrointestinal effects – a common side effect associated with creatine monohydrate (3). However, the risk of contracting diarrhea may be increased if taken in a single dose of 10 grams or more (4).

Improved Athletic Performance And Body Composition

In addition to the enhanced absorption, more studies have shown that a 4g dose of creation HCL supplements for seven days in healthy, resistance-trained men led to changes in body composition in recreational weightlifters between creatine HCL doses (5).

All subjects experienced significant increases in 1RM (repeat max) leg presses. And results did not find differences between groups. Both groups experienced decreased fat mass, while fat-free mass increased significantly among the creatine HCL group (5).

Counter Argument

However, these performance-enhancing effects have not been validated in all studies. Some research has found no difference in the total training volume between creatine HCL and placebo groups (6).

A likely explanation for this is that subjects took only a single dosage of creatine HCL 30 minutes before exercise, so the supplementation was not sufficient to hit the system. Even though creatine HCL should be absorbed faster, it is too short a period for results to be noteworthy.

Another study produced data suggesting that neither form of creatine helped increase 1RM lifts or vertical jump height when taken over six days (7). The study contained a very small sample size, limiting the credibility of the results.

You should also note that subjects didn’t exercise during the six-day loading phase. 1RM and vertical jump also did not mimic the ATP-PCR system. Increasing ATP is the main benefit for creatine supplementation, and, therefore, the real benefits for creatine supplementation are not experienced without the increased training volume.

The changes in 1RM and power outcome result from increased training volume.

Further Benefits of Creatine Supplementation

Bearing in mind the arguments for and against athletic performance, let’s explore some more benefits of supplementing your diet with creatine.

Increases Muscle ATP Energy

Increasing creatine content in the muscles will yield the primary benefit of raised ATP energy levels. As a naturally occurring compound, creatine (or methylguanidine-acetic acid) is synthesized from arginine, glycine, and methionine.

Most of the total creatine found within the body exists within skeletal muscle, with about 65% in a phosphorylated form as phosphocreatine (8). Phosphocreatine is critical for muscle energetics and muscle contradiction during high-intensity exercise. The contraction and relaxation of muscles are fueled by free energy that the phosphorylation of ATP.

And the function of the body's muscle is dependent on the availability of ATP (8).

Research has also found that mixed muscle phosphocreatine could be increased by increasing total creatine concentration, which occurs after the ingestion of creatine monohydrate.

The research demonstrated that 5g of creatin taken 4-6 times a day for several consecutive days would improve skeletal muscle creatine concentration by roughly 25mmol per kilogram, with some 30% of that coming in the form of phosphocreatine (9).

More research confirmed this hypothesis, showing that five days of ingestion of 5g creatine decreased fatigue by up to 6% during repeated bouts of maximal, isokinetic knee-extensor exercise (10).

Another study found no difference in peak torque production during workouts following the ingestion of a placebo both before and after a workout. But when replacing the placebo with creatine, muscle peak torque production was better in all subjects (11).

Results from a different study also indicated that creatine supplementation enhances muscle phosphocreatine concentration degradation during exercise, strongly indicating improved exercise performance and the availability of ATP (12). Phosphocreatine is crucial for ATP re-synthesis and high-intensity exercise performance.

Stimulates Protein Synthesis

Creatine has also been shown to stimulate the synthesis rate of two critical contractile proteins, actin and myosin heavy chain, in skeletal muscle. However, it has been found only to improve synthesis, not inhibit degradation (13).

Decreases Lactic Acid Build-Up

Research has demonstrated that incremental cycling tends to raise the lactic threshold and decrease lactate by supplementing your diet with creatine (14). Therefore, creatine has the potential to benefit endurance athletes.

Effects Of Creatine Supplementation On Performance And Training Adaptations

Furthermore, short-term creatine supplementation has shown improvements in maximal power or strength by between 5 and 15%, along with single-effort sprint performance (1-5%) and the work performed in repetitive sprint performances by 5-15%. The results also found it to promote significant gains in strength, fat-free mass, and performance in high-intensity exercise tasks (15).

Creatine Supplementation For Muscle Mass

Research has shown creatine supplementation to positively affect resistance training, strength gains, and hypertrophy (16). In addition to this, it appears to be the most effective nutritional supplement on the market to improve lean muscle mass and anaerobic capacity (16).

Several hundred peer-reviewed studies have explored its effects, and almost 70% of these studies have reported significant improvements in exercise capacity and performance (16).

How Is Creatine HCL Different From Creatine Monohydrate?

Creatine comprises three different amino acids, namely glycine, arginine, and methionine. In its form as creatine HCL, where the creatine molecule is attached to a hydrochloride group, it differs from creatine monohydrate, which is attached to a water molecule. It has more acidic qualities and is easier to mix with fluids, enhancing absorption.

Research has found the absorption rate to be 38 times higher and that the intestines absorb 60% more creatine. However, note that comparisons between the performance benefits of creatine HCL in comparison to creatine monohydrate have not been extensively researched, but fitness coaches have reported better results among their weightlifting trainees.

However, it is reasonable to assume that creatine HCL benefits are similar to those of creatine monohydrate, just without the adverse side effects.

Is Creatine HCL Safe?

Creatine has been extensively studied and found to be safe to use, but most studies focus on creatine monohydrate. Creatine HCL is not attached to a water molecule but rather an HCL group.

Presently, creatine monohydrate is studied more extensively and found to be a clinically effective nutritional supplement in terms of muscle mass gains and improved high-intensity exercise capacity.

The International Society of Sports Nutrition found that creatine supplementation like creatine ethyl ester and creatine HCL needed more research, similar extensive research conducted on creatine monohydrate (17).

Monohydrate, however, is safe and beneficial regarding injury prevention and the management of certain medical conditions within the correct guidelines (18).

Furthermore, there is no scientific evidence indicating that creatine monohydrate has any detrimental effects in the short and long term.

How To Take Creatine HCL

As the most commonly used supplement, creatine is consumed in powdered form but can also be taken as a pill or liquid. Manufacturers recommend a creatine HCL dosage of between 750mg and 15000mg per day, which you can take in two doses. It is most commonly taken pre-or post-workout, or, in the case of double dosages, per-, and post-workout.

Conclusion

There is no question that creatine HCL is one of the most promising supplements you can find on the market. There is a lot of positive research demonstrating its benefits within the fitness and sporting industries. However, the research isn’t as extensive as its supplementary cousin, creatine monohydrate.

Research has found that it has better absorption rates than creatine monohydrate, making it as effective, without the side effects of gastrointestinal issues and water retention.