This Is The Best Time to Take Creatine, According to Science
Creatine is the best-selling sports supplement in history. Introduced in 1993, it’s become as much a part of gym culture as dumbbells or spandex. It’s also perhaps the most researched dietary supplement, with decades of mainstream use and hundreds of academic studies behind it. But the decades since its debut have done little to clear up misinformation on the subject. Athletes and everyday users still wonder: when to take creatine, how to drink creatine, what to look for in the best creatine, and what's the deal with creatine loading?
Foods high in creatine and supplements in the form of pills or powders, have long been used to help grow muscles when used alongside arm exercises, leg day routines, and back workouts.
Here’s the real deal on the supplement, sans the sales pitch.
What Is Creatine?
Creatine monohydrate is a chemical naturally produced in the body and stored in muscle. It can also be obtained by eating fish and high-protein meats (particularly beef). As a sports supplement, it’s primarily sold in powder form (it’s white).
A whole weight room’s worth of studies shows that creatine supplements can increase muscle gains, aid recovery, and boost strength. This amino acid, usually taken as a powder mixed with water, ramps up the production of ATP, which supplies extra fuel. This helps athletes exercise longer and harder, leading to greater strength and mass gains.
How Creatine Works
The fuel your body makes from the carbs, protein, and fat you eat is called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This is the energy source that drives muscle contractions. When you work out, muscle contractions cause one of the phosphates in ATP molecules to oxidize, converting it to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), which is useless to the body unless it can be changed back into ATP.
This is where creatine comes in. Creatine monohydrate contains phosphate. It works with ADP to make ATP again. When your muscles are refueled with ATP, you’ll be able to perform extra reps and experience stronger muscle contractions during training.
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Is Creatine Safe?
“Creatine wouldn't have survived on the market for 20 years if it had dangerous side effects,” says Stu Phillips, PhD, a kinesiologist and outside expert for the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. “There's not a whole lot of evidence for any serious negatives.”
One caveat: Don't take creatine if you have a kidney condition, says Phillips. However, for healthy individuals, decades of research demonstrate no adverse effects from recommended dosages of creatine supplements on kidney health.
Not all creatine sources are equal. If you want to try creatine, first find a quality powder or pill. “Only buy creatine from a reputable manufacturer and reputable supplement store,” says Brian Quebbemann, MD, founder of The N.E.W. Program in Newport Beach, CA. “What matters is the purity and concentration, so read the label. If a supplement has a low concentration of pure creatine or creatine monohydrate, you'll need to ingest more to get the same benefit.”
How to Drink Creatine
When shopping for creatine you'll most likely come across the supplement in either powder or pill form. Regardless of what form you take, it's essential to drink creatine with plenty of water. While recommendations on the amount you need can vary, most brands recommend consuming at least eight ounces of water with a 5g serving.
According to the Mayo Clinic, men need roughly 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids per day on average while women need only 11.5 cups (2.7 liters). While this is a good place to start, people who are active and sweat more will need to up their water intake, especially if they're taking supplements like creatine, which pull water into muscle tissue to make them bigger and stronger. If you do decide to add creatine to your diet, the eight ounces of water you mix with your creatine supplement should be added on top of your daily water goal.
Creatine monohydrate can be purchased in plain form by itself or as part of a formula that contains other ingredients. Be wary of fancy creatine products that promise better results. There is no reliable research to show that other creatine formulations have any advantage over plain creatine monohydrate.
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When Should I Take Creatine?
While research has proven that creatine is safe to use and effective at helping individuals gain strength, the age-old question remains—when should you take creatine? You have a few options. You can take it at any time throughout the day, right before you exercise, shortly after you exercise, or split into multiple doses throughout your day.
Fans of post-workout creatine point to a 2013 study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. In it, 19 male recreational bodybuilders were randomly divided into two groups. One group took 5g of creatine monohydrate before workouts, and another group took the same amount of creatine immediately following their workouts. The men trained five days a week for four weeks and consumed 1.9g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. While creatine boosted strength and muscle mass among all men in the study, those who took creatine after working out gained more lean mass and increased their bench press one-rep max more than men who took the supplement pre-workout.
However, that study is seen as just one data point in a set of mixed results. A 2021 review in Nutrients found that while consuming creatine post-exercise provides a benefit, it’s unclear whether that post-workout is optimal. Further, the researchers questioned if workout timing mattered at all—though they stated that in general consuming creatine closer to exercise is better. The authors also explored why exactly that might be. While their findings were inconclusive, they suggested that exercise and its effects on muscle tissue improved the delivery of creatine.
Another review, published in 2022 by Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, concluded that there was insufficient evidence to claim that either taking creatine before or after exercise provided greater benefit.
Bottom Line: The jury is still out on when the perfect time to take creatine is. However, all studies and reviews agree on a few things: Creatine is effective and consuming it within two hours before or after exercise may increase effectiveness, but more research is needed.
Shana Novak
How Much Creatine Should I Take?
Research shows that a daily serving of 3 to 5g (??that’s 0.1 g/kg of body mass/day) of creatine monohydrate leads to the most effective results. This dosage is also recommended by the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Larger supplement doses may be used initially to load creatine, but the body’s capacity for creatine has a limit and any surplus passes through (and out of) your system.
The typical prescription is to “load” creatine for five days by ingesting 20 grams per day (broken up into doses of 3 to 5 grams per serving).
Afterward, a maintenance dose of 3 to 5 grams can be taken to keep muscle creatine levels high. However, Chris Mohr, Ph.D., a nutritionist and author, says this is unnecessary. “You can start with the maintenance dose of 5 grams per day, and you’ll reap the same benefits.”
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What Is the Best Way to Take Creatine?
You can take creatine by dissolving it in a beverage, blending it in a smoothie or protein shake, or taking it alone in a capsule form. There's no one way that's better than the other, just make sure you’re measuring out the proper dosage.
FAQs on the Best Time to Take Creatine
Can I Mix Creatine With Protein?
While creatine is an amino acid, the building blocks of protein, it doesn’t double as a protein supplement. However, there’s no harm in combining creatine with a post-workout protein shake. Many athletes prefer the simplicity of combining the two supplements. Make a protein shake with the best protein shake for weight loss, cleanest protein powder, best protein powder to build muscle, and/or best whey isolate protein powder.
Can I Take Creatine on an Empty Stomach?
Studies into this have found mixed results. Some studies suggest taking creatine with carbs can help boost effectiveness for building muscle, but others suggest that this has no effect. Some nutritionists also suggest spreading your creatine dosage out throughout the day and combining it with a meal with carbs where possible—and drinking plenty of water.
Can I Skip Creatine for a Day?
Research suggests that creatine stores can remain high if creatine supplementation is skipped here and there, but it is not recommended to skip creatine supplementation. Even on rest days, creatine should still be taken to maintain creatine stores in the muscles. Just know that it is okay if you accidentally forget to take creatine one day.
Should I Load Creatine?
Loading creatine may be the quickest method of increasing creatine stores in the muscles. It simply entails consuming about 0.3 g/kg/day (~20-25g/day) of creatine monohydrate for the first 5-7 days. However, as we said, taking the standard dosage will have the same effect—getting your creatine stores topped off—after about 30 days. The most important aspect of creatine supplementation is to take 3 to 5g/day for maintenance of creatine stores.
Can Creatine Affect Sleep?
Studies continue to suggest that creatine may play a role in improving cognitive function. Specifically, research is ongoing to determine what effect, if any, creatine has on sleep. A few human studies have shown creatine to improve mood, balance, and reaction time after periods of sleep deprivation. At this time, more research is needed to determine any direct effects of creatine on sleep markers, such as quality of sleep.
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