Best form of creatine for mitochondrial support?

[TJ_Fitz]

What form of creatine is best for supporting our mitochondria, or helping re-energize muscles? I ask in hope that this can help my tight muscles to relax. Is that a realistic expectation? Also, can you recommend other supplements that might help to relax tight muscles?

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Background:

I recently read Cort's article Mitochondrial Enhancers for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Fibromyalgia Pt. I: D-Ribose, CoQ10 and PQQ and this quote really caught my eye (@Cort, where is Pt. II?):

Even at rest, our muscles are affected by low energy levels. Because it takes more energy to relax a muscle than contract it, the muscle tension and pain many of us feel could be due to low energy levels in the muscles.

I've been having a lot of pain and stiffness in my right shoulder and elbow because of tight tissues, so it was very relevant. I searched for more information and found this:

Creatine phosphate is a molecule that can store energy in its phosphate bonds. In a resting muscle, excess ATP transfers its energy to creatine, producing ADP and creatine phosphate. This acts as an energy reserve that can be used to quickly create more ATP. When the muscle starts to contract and needs energy, creatine phosphate transfers its phosphate back to ADP to form ATP and creatine.

...and this:

After death, the membranes of muscle cells become more permeable to calcium ions. Living muscle cells expend energy to transport calcium ions to the outside of the cells. The calcium ions that flow into the muscle cells promote the cross-bridge attachment between actin and myosin, two types of fibers that work together in muscle contraction. The muscle fibers ratchet shorter and shorter until they are fully contracted or as long as the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and the energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) are present. However, muscles need ATP in order to release from a contracted state (it is used to pump the calcium out of the cells so the fibers can unlatch from each other).

In a sense, tight muscles are like rigor mortis! I think that supplementing with creatine could help re-energize depleted/rigored muscle tissues, since we are probably very low in ATP but swimming in ADP, provided that we've been pacing properly (e.g. not going into anaerobic respiration). My hope is that, if I have plenty of creatine phospate available in my muscle tissues, that will power them through the relaxation process, instead of leaving them stuck in a chronically short position.

 

[Remy]

Just plain old creatine works best. There has never been any good evidence that any of the other forms work better and they all cost more.

I'm not sure I've ever noticed it helping with tight muscles. It would also depend on why they are tight. For example, I get tight traps/coathanger pain due to dysautonomia.

I would look at minerals like magnesium and calcium, as well as baking soda (bicarbonate) as well.

 

[TJ_Fitz]

Just plain old creatine works best. There has never been any good evidence that any of the other forms work better and they all cost more.

I'm not sure I've ever noticed it helping with tight muscles. It would also depend on why they are tight. For example, I get tight traps/coathanger pain due to dysautonomia.

I would look at minerals like magnesium and calcium, as well as baking soda (bicarbonate) as well.

That's what I ended up getting. It's a booger to get it dissolved, though!