Creatine is one of the most popular supplements for most people, next to quality protein. There are plenty of studies that have shown many positive effects on both recovery and strength performance of athletes. For many years, creatine monohydrate was considered the best choice.
Recently, however, creatine HCl, or creatine hydrochloride, has also become increasingly popular. Naturally, we decided to try this product right away and today you can see what we think about it and if this new form of creatine is any better than the proven classic.
Content of the review
Prom-IN certainly needs no introduction. In their repertoire we can find, among other things, various forms of creatine. But we will focus on the HCl form and look at the reasons why it is better than other variants.
Why is hydrochloride better than monohydrate?
Each capsule in the package contains 100% creatine in the form of hydrochloride. This has several advantages over the more popular monohydrate. The biggest advantage is the elimination of various digestive problems and cramps that somemonohydrate users have suffered from after ingestion, or excessive water retention, for example.
From my point of view, the ease of dosing is also a huge advantage. In the case of monohydrate, it is important to dose it together with carbohydrates so that the body can process it better. Not only can this pose a problem for someone who has to watch their daily calorie intake, but it also gets very annoying after a while.
Since hydrochloride is easier to digest, it is not a problem to dose it separately. On the other hand, it is fair to point out that creatine in HCl form is a bit more expensive and besides that it also has a very bitter taste, which definitely cannot be considered a positive. However, this problem can be easily solved by dosing in capsules.
A simple dosage that saves a lot of time
A single daily dose of creatine HCl is a good solubility and therefore better absorptionThis is considerably less than the aforementioned monohydrate. In the case of Prom-IN Creatine HCl, this dose is 2 capsules, which can be taken with plain water. The manufacturer recommends taking these capsules after training.
However, since I am not a big fan of pre-workout pre-workoutsI also took two capsules before training to take advantage of the energizing effect that hydrochloride offers. If you take the recommended dosage, the whole pack will last you for 120 days, if you decide to adjust the dosage, this time will be halved.
Is it worth the extra cost?
If I had to pick the biggest disadvantage of this product compared to regular monohydrate, it would be the price. However, the higher price is of course related to the better effect. per dose are quite acceptable considering the effects offered and the price/quality ratioe, I think that Prom-IN hydrochloride has set the bar quite high and only a small number of products on the market can match it in this respect.
Is the HCl form effective?
The effectiveness of this product is undoubtedly an essential criterion for evaluation. As I have already pointed out in the previous paragraphs, the HCl form is indeed very effective. The answer to the question of whether it is really better than monohydrate is quite simple. Yes. Due to its better bioavailability, the body can process it better and the subsequent effect is understandably much more pronounced.
From my personal experience I can say that thanks to hydrochloride I felt much better recovery and increase in strength performance after training. This form of creatine of course has effects that we have discussed in more detail in a separate articlen article from the Supplements Under Scrutiny series, but you will primarily feel these workout-related positives.
Since my training mostly consists of a combination of athletic and strength training, I have to say that I have felt the positive effect in both cases. Even after a hard day of training, my muscles didn't ache as much as they used to, so I was stillI was able to do a running workout the next day.
When I took Creatine HCl long term, I also registered the increase in strength that comes with recovery. I was able to lift an average of 10kg more on basic exercises after completing strength training. Of course, it's clear that it's not all creatine, but in terms of effectiveness I really have nothing to complain about.
Final summary
My overall impression of this product is very positive indeed. The HCl form has a number of benefits that make it a truly quality creatine that is definitely worth trying. Apart from the great effectiveness, I consider the dosing to be the biggest advantage, as it is quick and easy. Although the price is higher than most competing products, it matches the higher quality. From my point of view, this is a very high quality supplement that I can highly recommend.
That's all for today. Feel free to let us know in the comments what you think of this form of creatine, or contact us with your questions.