Creatine Phosphate keeps us moving!.

If you enjoy any form of movement from controlling the TV remote to high performance activity then you have two molecules to thank:  ATP and creatine.   Adenosine triphosphate or ATP (triphosphate = three phosphates) is the universal currency of energy in the human body as well as in all other living systems.  Every movement you make regardless how small requires an input of ATP.  All forms of muscle contraction consume ATP by removing the third phosphate and releasing ADP or Adenosine diphosphate (diphosphate = two phosphates).  ATP is chemical energy and plucking off the third phosphate releases that energy for you to run, jump, dance, swim and be active!

The majority of all our ATP currency is formed from the oxidation food (especially glucose) – thanks to the oxygen we inhale – and converted to carbon dioxide and water.  Much less ATP is produced in the absence of oxygen!  Just like a dollar bill in your pocket, ATP does not last long.  The turnover rate is very high and the typical ATP molecule is consumed within a minute following its formation.  A resting human can consume approximately 40kg of ATP in 24hrs and up to 0.5kg per minute during strenuous exercise.

Due to this high rate of ATP currency consumption, the amount of ATP available in muscle can be consumed in less than a second during high activity, leaving spent energy in the form of ADP.  Fortunately, our muscles contain a reservoir of replacement energy in the form of creatine phosphate.  Creatine phosphate can quickly replenish ATP from ADP by transferring its phosphate to ADP to make more ATP.  Creatine phosphate is THE main provider of replenished ATP during intensive and especially explosive activity.

One additional bit of interesting information is the enzyme responsible for moving the phosphate from creatine phosphate to ADP to form ATP is called Creatine Phospho Kinase or CPK.  CPK is very popular in heart muscle, brain and skeletal muscle – areas that MUST have energy at all time!  Hospitals often check for released CPK in the blood to test for stroke and heart attack, because the CPK belongs in the heart muscle cells and in the brain cells and not floating around in the blood due to breakage and leakage from the cells.

Stay healthy and Move Train Win!