Power Your Workout with Creatine Malate

Written By: Steven Cleark

Published on: April 3, 2023

Expert Review By: Brandon Davies&

Fact Checked

READ MORE

Expert Recommended

READ MORE

This guide teaches you:

• What creatine malate is
• What are the benefits of using creatine malate
• Various sources of creatine malate
• How creatine malate is different from other types of creatine
• How to choose the best creatine malate in the market
• How creatine malate works
• How to take and whether you should cycle creatine malate
• What are the potential side effects of creatine malate

What is Creatine Malate?

Creatine malate is a solution for getting that energy boost for your workout. Just as the name creatine malate suggests, this supplement combines creatine and malic acid. Creatine and malic are natural substances occurring independently and can only exist together through synthesis. Therefore, creatine malate is a synthetic supplement that enhances your body's absorption of creatine while reducing the bloating associated with taking creatine. 

Creatine alone is challenging to digest in the body. This is why you are likely going to feel bloated after ingesting creatine. However, malic acid in creatine malate solves this apparent discomfort by increasing your adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels. Increased ATP levels increase the absorption of creatine into your body. Other ingredients that help with creatine absorption include vitamins and amino acids.

Benefits of Using Creatine Malate

• Improved workout - Using creatine malate may improve your efficiency and effectiveness during training. This high energy level is achieved when creatine malate enhances your ATP resynthesis process, which is responsible for increased training stimulus and regeneration. 
• Muscle growth - Creatine malate has that top-notch anabolic effect that enhances your muscle growth. This supplement may be ideal for you if you want muscle enlargement and gain muscle mass. 
• Increased physical strength - Increased physical strength is also an effect of the anabolic process. Therefore, using creatine malate guarantees you will feel that extra physical strength. 
• Muscle regeneration - Muscle regeneration is just as significant as muscle growth. After a heavy workout, your muscle fibers are exhausted and need to regenerate. The exhaustion comes from the continuous contraction and relaxation of your muscle during workouts.

Other benefits of creatine malate include:

• Reduced muscle acidification
• Improved performance for athletes
• Improved performance endurance
• Increased aerobic endurance 
• Reduction of muscle cramps

If you are looking for a trusted store to purchase some of the best creatine multi-blends, ripped.com has got you covered. At ripped, we offer the top best products to meet your need. These products are approved with standard marks of quality and contain all the macro and micronutrients your body needs with zero artificial flavors, colorants, and sweeteners, which you should avoid. 

Best Creatine Malate Product for 2023

Gym Molly: Pro Pre-Workout Blue Raspberry Lemonade 30 Servings

This is a pre-workout creatine malate supplement. It has been considered an evolution of what pre-workout supplements should be. This supplement aims to provide you with that energy burst, power up, and endurance that you have been looking for in a supplement. It comprises 6000 mg of citrulline malate; that is, 4000 mg of L-Citrulline bonded at a cellular level with 2000 mg of malic acid and 1500 mg of creatine hydrochloride that you need for the fundamental gains in muscle mass and strength.

Sources of Creatine Malate

As discussed above, creatine malate is a synthesized supplement from creatine and malic acid. This means that it is unlikely that you will find a natural source that contains both of these ingredients.  Creatine itself can be found in the following sources:

• Your body - The human body generates its own creatine. 
• Food sources - When you ingest foods rich in protein, your body definitely gets a dose of creatine. Since creatine is stored in the skeletal muscles, you will get some creatine into your body when you eat foods like meats (beef, chicken, and fish.) 

On the other hand, malic acid can be found in citrus fruits. 

How Creatine Malate Differs From Other Forms of Creatine

Although most creatine supplements give you the same benefits, such as energy boost and gaining mass, there is a fundamental difference. It is essential to remember that all creatine-based supplements contain creatine, which is monohydrate. However, the difference between these regular creatine supplements and the creatine malate supplement lies in the ingredient used to increase creatine absorption.

Most other creatine supplements are a mixture of amino acids, vitamins, and other nutrients to improve uptake into the muscles of these creatine supplements. In contrast to these supplements, the creatine malate composition is a cocktail; of creatine and malic acid combined at a cellular level. As discussed previously, the malic acid performs the same function as the amino acid and vitamins in the other products. 

On matters of cost and pricing, creatine malate is slightly more expensive than other creatine-based supplements. This is mainly because of the claims that a dose of creatine malate leads to rapid weight gain and muscle development. However, studies are yet to establish whether these claims are valid. 

Here is a snippet of other creatine supplements and how they compare to creatine malate:

Creatine Monohydrate vs. Creatine Malate

This is the most common creatine supplement on the market. The term ‘mono’ in monohydrate means one. A supplement is created by synthesizing one molecule of water with one molecule of creatine. There are instances where the water may be removed to develop creatine anhydrous, arguably 100% creatine in weight. The water molecule performs the same function as malic acid by increasing absorption of creatine through increased solubility. However, creatine malate may be a better choice over creatine monohydrate for you since this supplement combines creatine monohydrate with malic acid.

Creatine Ethyl Ester vs. Creatine Malate

Let us face it, by now, we have already established that the best creatine is one that your body can easily absorb. Although unfounded, claims suggest that creatine ethyl-ester has a reasonable absorption rate compared to monohydrate. However, you are better off using creatine malate since studies have shown that creatine ethyl ester is worse at kicking up the creatine content in your blood and muscle. 

Creatine Hydrochloride vs. Creatine Malate

Arguably, this is a popular creatine supplement among manufacturers and supplement users. This popularity stems from the HCL component, which increases the solubility of this supplement. There is a close relationship between solubility and absorption. However, unlike creatine malate, no studies support any claims for the human body's high absorption of creatine hydrochloride. 

Creatine Magnesium Chelate vs. Creatine Malate

Creatine magnesium chelate is one of the creatine-based supplements. This unique supplement is chelated with magnesium. This supplement chelates the magnesium to the creatine molecule. In simple terms, chelation refers to the bonding of molecules.

Solubility and absorption are the selling points of creatine supplements. Scientific studies support this position as well. While there are several distinctive creatine supplements, insufficient studies support most of the supplement's effectiveness. It is best to rely on proven supplements like creatine malate as opposed to novel yet promising creatine supplements. 

Which is Better: Creatine or Citrulline Malate?

Citrulline malate plays a crucial role in enabling your body to release nitric oxide, which is an active compound that enhances blood vessel dilation. This process is important because it gives you the much-needed muscle pump for revolutionizing your workout experience. Creatine also increases the fluid volume in your muscle for the desired muscle pump. However, creatine achieves this by increasing the quantity of water drawn into your muscles. 

To this end, creatine and citrulline malate are all about giving you that unmistakable pump. Citrulline also accelerates your body's recovery time after an intense workout. So which one should you use and is better than the other?

There are subtle differences between citrulline and creatine, which is the ability to increase performance. There is a close relationship between muscle pumps and improved performance; you can gauge your performance over the number of pumps you can get. As you have read above, these supplements ‘irrigate’ your muscles by increasing your muscle blood and water volume, influencing your muscle pumps. However, with these sublime differences, there has to be a winner between these supplements. And the winner is citrulline malate.

Citrulline has the edge over creatine because it will also enhance your performance and the number of reps you can do. In essence, this is the product you want to have for an effective gym time if you are an endurance exercise enthusiast after building. Apart from elevating your game, citrulline also does a better job of increasing your body’s recovery post-exercise. 

Tri Creatine Malate

Ideally, creatine malate is a compound formed from one creatine molecule and a molecule of malic acid. So, what happens when you mix more than one molecule of creatine with one molecule of malic acid? Tri-creatine malate is a compound of three creatine molecules bonded with a malic acid molecule. This type of creatine malate supplement bolsters athletic performance, including strength and endurance. Studies have also indicated that using this supplement can potentially improve brain health.

Di-Creatine Malate

This is similar to tri-creatine malate; however, the key difference is that it contains only two molecules of creatine instead of three. Using di-creatine malate has benefits such as improving cognitive processing and enhancing your training experience, and it is perfect for gymgoers, fitness enthusiasts, and athletes. 

What to Look for in a Creatine Malate

You are probably wondering what your creatine malate composition is. Creatine malate or tri-creatine malate contains a creatine monohydrate. Creatine monohydrate is a derivative of glycine, arginine, and methionine. These three compounds produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for muscle movement. 

Nutritional Composition and its Role in Muscle Growth and Recovery

Every gram of creatine malate contains about 3 grams of creatine to 1 gram of malic acid. You should always ensure that your creatine has creatine monohydrate. This compound is what you need to revolutionize your workout. Creatine monohydrate will give your body a burst of energy and your muscles with torque while maintaining testosterone-free levels and lowering chances of catabolism. Additionally, a monohydrate will enhance your bodily outlook giving you that fabulous physique. 

Furthermore, your creatine malate should contain malic acid. Malic acid is an essential nutrient in the Krebs energy cycle and a catalyst in the degeneration process of creatine for easy absorption into the bloodstream. Krebs cycle is also known as the citric cycle. This is the process where your body produces energy for your cells. The energy generated in this cycle is crucial in powering your workout performance. 

Generally, taking creatine malate is good for you since you benefit from the two macronutrients (creatine and malic acid). 

Summarily, creatine is protein-based. Protein is a leading bodybuilding nutrient; thus, having a dose of protein goes a long way in ensuring that your muscle grows and rejuvenates post your workout, depending on the duration of the relevant workout.

Moreover, you will experience an optimal increase in endurance. 

Micro Nutrients in Creatine Malate

• Carnosyn - This nutrient performs the same function as Beta-Alanine. It increases your exercise performance, provides faster muscle growth, guarantees training endurance, reduces fatigue, and hastens your recovery time.
• BCCA InstaAminos - This nutrient supports carnosyn in reducing muscle fatigue, damage, and energy loss.

Before digging into your pockets, you should look out for these nutritional profiles when buying a tri-creatine malate.

How Creatine Malate Works

How Creatine Malate is Metabolized in the Body?

Your body is always at work to convert and process the solid foods and drinks we take into forms that our bodies can use. This process is called metabolism. When you take creatine supplements like creatine malate to boost your performance, the body builds or gains muscle mass; it is in a form that your body cannot readily use. Your body must break down the creatine supplement into a useful form. 

Studies have established that metabolizing creatine is enzyme intensive. To best metabolize creatine for your use, your body must produce the enzyme arginine. However, as it is, the amount of this enzyme produced by your body is insufficient to synthesize extra doses of creatine ingested from supplements. Most of your body tissues do not secrete crucial enzymes.

Furthermore, arginine biosynthesis takes place in the Kidney. Yet, the leading organ in the metabolic process is the liver.

Due to enzyme inadequacies, the creatine you consume is unlikely to be broken down, dissolved, and absorbed into the body. This is why creatine malate may be a better option for you. This is primarily because it comes with malic acid, which addresses the enzymes inadequacies by breaking down creatine into a soluble form that your body can absorb efficiently and effectively.

The Role of Creatine Malate in Energy Production

Commonly referred to as a muscle energizer, creatine is a popular source of energy for workout enthusiasts. Creatine is a compound that is a nitrogenous organic acid with sources including glycine, L-arginine, and S-adenosyl-L-methionine, which plays a crucial role in energy transfer in the form of phosphocreatine. 

Creatine provides you with a burst of energy by maintaining your ATP levels since ATP is a high-energy molecule with three powerful bonds. Whenever your body or muscles requires energy, one bond breaks, producing electrical energy that helps with your muscles' movement. It is important to remember that ATP works only when the three phosphates are bonded. 

Losing one phosphate band necessitates a replacement. This is where creatine comes in. Creatine is a supplement that helps your body not run out of phosphate molecules, which are vital in replacing the used-up phosphates. Your ATP will always have a bond of three phosphates to provide energy as you carry out endurance exercises.   

The effects of Creatine Malate on muscle strength and performance

Strength and performance are like siamese twins. The more strength you have, the better your performance in terms of longevity during workouts. Optimizing your muscle strength and performance is about taking supplements that enhance your anabolic effect. Creatine malate provides you with a load of protein that is synthesized into amino acids. Amino acids boost your muscle volume and also physical strength. Creatine provides you with phosphates that ensure a constant burst of energy from ATP action within your muscle tissue.

Dosage and Usage of Creatine Malate

The recommended dosage for Creatine Malate

Just how much creatine malate should you take as a dose? This is an essential question because supplement use is about leveraging optimally on your desired goals. The right amount of tri-creatine malate will allow you to bodybuild, lose weight, or power up your performance. On average, the tri-creatine you should take ranges between 10 to 15 grams for every dose.

Importantly, you should always check the critical ingredients because your dosage will vary depending on the ingredients used in manufacturing your creatine malate supplement. 

How to Take Creatine Malate for Best Results

You already know how much creatine to take per dosage. However, how many dosages can you and should you take? The simple answer is that it varies. The long answer is different; people are at liberty to choose a creatine malate supplement ingestion plan that suits their needs. 

If you are a gym, fitness, bodybuilding, or workout enthusiast, creatine malate for pre-workout is recommended. 

Generally, people take tri-creatine malate supplements in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

The underlying objective of taking creatine is to promote your body's ability to produce ATP. 

How to mix Creatine Malate with Other Supplements Properly?

Can you mix creatine malate and supplements? Yes, you can! Sometimes you may not get all that you need in your creatine malate. You can mix it up for optimal results. You can take several supplements with creatine malate for optimal results. However, please note that you should exercise plenty of caution when using other supplements together with creatine malate.

Since creatine is a protein-based supplement, you should probably avoid stacking it with supplements containing creatine in any form or protein as an ingredient. Too much protein could poison your body instead of giving you that desirable physique.

It is highly recommended that the supplements to stack with your creatine supplement are multivitamins, fibers, and other supplements with digestive benefits. 

Recommended Best Supplements to Stack with Creatine Malate

• MHP: Activite Sports Multivitamin 120 Tablets

This is a medically tested antioxidant and nitric oxide booster multivitamin. When you stack this supplement with your creatine malate, it provides your body with essential nutrients vital to your normal bodily function. Also, this supplement promotes recovery and immune function. 

• MP Essentials: Multi-V 30 30 Servings

This is a multivitamin recommended for athletes. Since athletes undertake endurance training causing their bodies to end up in an anabolic state, this is a state where your body needs to rejuvenate. The solution to rapid rejuvenation is stacking your creatine malate with this multivitamin.

Creatine Malate and Weightlifting

Weightlifting is a high-intensity exercise. High-intensity exercises demand high energy. Your regular whole-meal food rich in creatine cannot provide you with enough energy to enhance your weightlifting performance. You can complement it with a dose of creatine malate supplement. Besides the energy boost, creatine allows your body to pull water into your muscle, increasing protein synthesis, an energy-giving and body-building nutrient. 

In addition, creatine malate catalysis produces adenosine triphosphate, which is excellent for muscle expansion and growth. An increased creatine presence in your body equates to increased ATP production. 

Always remember that muscle growth and weight lifting are correlated. It can be helpful to start your routines by taking pre-workout creatine malate, exercising, including weight lifting, and postworkout supplements for muscle rejuvenation. This cycle will get your muscle to enlarge and increase in volume.

Creatine Malate and Athletic Performance

Athletes use creatine supplements to boost their performance. This is because there are studies that have supported the vitality of creatine in enhancing performance during high-intensity training.

Creatine ensures your body has more energy to keep you going. One of the earliest studies conducted in 2003 discovered that creatine supplementation might improve performance involving short periods of extremely powerful activity like repeated bouts which athletes usually do. 

There are other studies that have supported this position. For instance, in 2012, a study revealed that using creatine has the following benefits:

• Amplifies the effects of resistance training on strength and body mass
• Increasing the quality and benefits of short prints which are performed by short races athletes like 100 meters stints.
• Elevates your aerobic performance 
• Improves strength and power and helps you gain a lean mass.   

Creatine Malate and Fat Loss

You have probably heard people talking about weight loss programs. Adverts on social media and on television are also preaching weight loss programs and supplements. This is mainly because we live in a world where keeping a lean mass and cutting weight is a top priority for most people. 

If you are a gym and fitness enthusiast, then you have heard your gym friends talk about endurance exercises for losing weight. Arguably, this is one of the most popular mechanisms for weight reduction. 

This section seeks to ask that one million dollar question of whether or not you can use creatine malate to accelerate your weight loss program. 

Studies have shown that endurance and resistance training can help you achieve optimal weight loss. However, going long in your training requires an energy kick-up. Creatine malate provides you with that energy burst that you need to go and last longer in your training. 

It is important to understand that creatine metabolism is of the essence in adipose tissue biogenetics. Most fats in your body are stored in the adipose tissue. Biologically, energy is a by-product of fat breakdown. This means that as creatine increases the phosphate molecules in your body for energy transportation, it not only helps you by giving you the energy for endurance training but also helps burn up your fats while at it. 

How to Cycle Creatine Malate

Creatine malate cycling refers to the state where you have a particular routine for taking your creatine malate. For instance, you may choose to have your creatine every weekday, not weekends, or vice versa. 

Creatine malate cycling effectively ensures consistent intake of creatine malate for your bodily development goal. 

You can use various routines for creatine malate provided you stay within the recommended 10-15 grams of creatine malate per dose. However, please remember that it is not mandatory that you cycle and load on your creatine malate. 

Recommended Cycle for Creatine Malate

The recommended cycle for creatine malate should be about 6 to 8 weeks with a break of 2 to 4 weeks. always remember that during this period, you are not supposed to take any creatine-based or rich supplements. There is no harm if you wish to prolong your no-creatine period longer than 4 weeks. 

Creatine Malate and Women

Can women take creatine malate? Yes, creatine malate is perfectly safe for women's consumption and use. Creatine pre-workout supplement was created for all athletes, including women. 

However, you should always look out for labels that may have disclaimers against women's use. This is particularly because today's supplement market is driven by the target audience: men.

Generally, creatine malate is designed for both female athletes and male athletes. As a woman, your creatine doses should range between 10-15 grams per dose, just like your male counterparts. 

Although this supplement’s long-term use in adult humans is generally safe, studies are yet to establish whether creatine malate is good for the health of pregnant women and fetal development. 

Creatine Malate and Age Specific

Creatine supplements provide an array of benefits for older adults. Taking creatine may help you carry on with your day-to-day activities, thus helping you to have a better quality of life. Studies have shown that adults between 50-70 years of age have shown tremendous development of lean mass when they use creatine malate as opposed to their counterparts who do not use creatine supplements.

Importantly, evidence has shown that middle-aged people who use creatine-based supplements such as creatine malate are at a lower risk of suffering from type two diabetes.

Recommended Age-Appropriate Dosages for Creatine Malate

 A high dosage over a short period of time is highly recommended and considered safe for older adults. If you are an older adult, here are some recommended dosages that you could try:

• 20 grams each day for 7 days, followed by 10 grams for a similar period of 7 days

Or

• 20 grams each day for 10 days, followed by 4 grams per day for the following 20 days. 

Possible Side Effects of Creatine Malate

Creatine malate is generally safe and effective for your use. The chances of you getting side effects are ordinarily low. This is because creatine malate is a GRAS-approved product by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is an expert approval badge and a mark of safety and quality. 

Overall, you should always check with your doctor before using creatine malate as a supplement. 

Precautions for Individuals With Pre-existing Health Conditions

Generally, creatine malate is safe for use. However, if you have underlying conditions such as kidney disease or high blood pressure, there are precautionary measures that you must undertake. Studies have shown that if you have a history of kidney stones, then an unsafe use of creatine malate may lead to the recurrence of kidney stones. Overall, it is advisable that you do not use this supplement when you have kidney stones. Use this supplement only after consulting your doctor if you have such underlying conditions. 

This logic also applies to people with high blood pressure. It is advisable that you use only appropriate doses of creatine since high doses are known to worsen your blood pressure.

Takeaway

If you are looking for creatine supplements to power your workout, then creatine malate has all your needs covered. Also known as tri-creatine malate, this supplement provides you with the burst of energy required for your endurance workout, bodybuilding, weightlifting, weight loss, and physical strength that you crave as an athlete, gym, bodybuilding, or fitness enthusiast. 

Being a GRAS-affirmed product, creatine malate can be used by older adults, middle-aged adults, men, and women to realize their fitness goals with minimal to zero side effects. 

Lastly, remember that you are what you eat. Taking the right supplement will do your body a lot of good. The goal is to pick the legal and approved creatine malate to meet your desires. 

References 

• Buford, T. W., Kreider, R. B., Stout, J. R., Greenwood, M., Campbell, B., Spano, M., ... & Antonio, J. (2007). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 4(1), 6. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-4-6
• Cooper, R., Naclerio, F., Allgrove, J., & Jimenez, A. (2012). Creatine supplementation with specific view to exercise/sports performance: an update. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 9(1), 33. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-9-33
• Buford, T. W., Kreider, R. B., Stout, J. R., Greenwood, M., Campbell, B., Spano, M., ... & Antonio, J. (2007). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 4(1), 6. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-4-6
• Candow, D. G., & Chilibeck, P. D. (2008). Creatine supplementation reduces muscle inactivation and clinical symptoms in older men with knee osteoarthritis. Journal of Rheumatology, 35(11), 2258-2264. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.080502
• Williams, M. H., & Branch, J. D. (1998). Creatine supplementation and exercise performance: an update. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 17(3), 216-234. doi: 10.1080/07315724.1998.10718745
• Peeters, B. M., Lantz, C. D., Mayhew, J. L., & Sayers, S. P. (2017). Creatine monohydrate supplementation and exercise performance: a review of the literature. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 31(4), 944-954. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001662
• Jäger, R., Harris, R. C., Purpura, M., & Francaux, M. (2007). Comparison of new forms of creatine in raising plasma creatine levels. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 4(1), 17. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-4-17
• Selsby, J. T., & DiSilvestro, R. A. (2003). Devor ST. Supplemental creatine and creatine plus bicarbonate: influence on muscle performance during repeated bouts of maximal isokinetic cycling. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 17(2), 382-388.
• International Society of Sports Nutrition. (2022). Position Stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. Retrieved from https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-021-00466-3
• National Institutes of Health. (2022). Creatine: fact sheet for health professionals. Retrieved from https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Creatine-HealthProfessional/