Creatine, plainly

Creatine monohydrate is the most researched sports supplement there is, and the practical advice fits in a paragraph. Here it is, with the reasoning.

1. 01 Optional loading About 20 g a day, split, for five to seven days
2. 02 Or just start Around 3 to 5 g a day, saturation in three to four weeks
3. 03 Then keep going Same daily dose, timing does not matter much

What it actually does

It increases the phosphocreatine available in muscle, which supports short, high-intensity efforts — the last rep or two of a hard set, repeated sprints, the second half of a heavy session.

The effect on strength and lean mass across many trials is modest but real and unusually consistent. It is not a transformation; it is a few percent, reliably, for very little money.

Dose and form

Creatine monohydrate. The fancier forms cost more and have never convincingly outperformed it.

Three to five grams a day. Loading with around twenty grams daily for five to seven days saturates muscle faster; skipping the load reaches the same place in three to four weeks.

Timing barely matters. Daily consistency is the only thing that does.

The water-weight question

Creatine draws water into muscle cells, so the scale usually rises by a kilo or two in the first weeks. That is intramuscular water, not fat, and it is the mechanism working rather than a side effect to worry about.

It also means a scale jump when starting creatine is not a diet failure, which is worth knowing before it happens.

Safety, briefly

Creatine has been studied for decades in healthy adults with a strong safety record at standard doses. The old kidney-damage claim has not held up in healthy people.

Existing kidney disease is a different situation entirely and one for a doctor, not a supplement article.

Questions