How many times should you take creatine a week?
When we use the term "creatine loading", we're talking about a higher initial dose of creatine for 5-7 days before a lower "maintenance" dose. Typically, this looks like 20 grams divided into four equal doses for a week (5 grams taken four times per day), followed by 3-5 grams per day thereafter.
You should never miss a full day. If you do, then double up the next day. If you miss more than 3 days, reload otherwise taking the daily maintenance dose will require a couple of weeks to get you back where you should have been to maximize benefit.
Nothing happens if you miss a dose of creatine, your body stores it so its fine if you miss a dose of creatine.
Creatine is absorbed into the blood from the intestine with similar kinetics to glucose with the maximum blood creatine at about two hours after the dose. That's why some suggest taking 5grams four times a day to speed up loading. One dose a week will have no effect.
Studies suggest that 5 g of creatine monohydrate four or five times daily for 5–7 days is the most effective way to increase your muscle creatine levels. Recommended amounts may vary depending on your weight ( 1 , 2 , 3).
- kidney damage.
- liver damage.
- kidney stones.
- weight gain.
- bloating.
- dehydration.
- muscle cramps.
- digestive concerns.
When used orally at appropriate doses, creatine is likely safe to take for up to five years.
Taking the two together does not appear to offer additional benefits for muscle and strength gains. However, if you'd like to try both and are looking to increase muscle mass and performance in the gym or on the field, taking whey protein and creatine together is safe and effective.
You can stop supplementing anytime you want. But your muscles' creatine levels will start to deplete about two weeks after you stop taking it. In 4-6 weeks, the extra creatine will wash out of your muscles altogether, and your body will be back at producing its baseline level of 1-2 grams a day.
Creatine results kick in after roughly 2-4 weeks, depending on dose and personal response. They also begin to wear off, as you establish a new normal within the body, after around six weeks. The difference here is that you're maintaining levels at a healthy, optimal state, rather than addressing a deficiency.
Does creatine affect sleep?
Key takeaways. Creatine supplementation increases creatine stores in the brain. By reducing the accumulation of adenosine and adenosine triphosphate in the brain during wakefulness, creatine supplementation seems to reduce sleep depth, duration, and “rebound sleep” after sleep deprivation.
Creatine and Water
Therefore, proper hydration is essential. As previously mentioned, 6-8 cups of water are the average drinking amount when out of training. However, when supplementing with creatine, you should drink an additional 8-10 cups of water daily, or slightly more, depending on your exercise regimen.
On average, you may expect to gain 1–2% of body mass during the loading phase — which is partially water weight ( 8 ). Still, increases in total body water due to supplementing with creatine is short term and typically resolves a few weeks after the loading phase ( 11 ).
You may gain anywhere from two to five pounds during your first week of creatine supplementation due to water retention. Creatine helps increase muscle mass by drawing extra water into the muscle cells, causing you to retain fluid.
If you've started taking creatine, you should know if it works for you in about a week. If your training volume increases, it's working for you. If not, you're probably a non-responder, and taking the powder isn't going to help you. Diet is important.
You can safely take creatine long-term for up to five years. Science has demonstrated that as long as you stick to the recommended daily dose, your body can easily tolerate creatine.
Supplementing with creatine can increase muscle creatine levels by up to 30%, says Ethier. As a result, our muscles have more creatine to power them with, which means you can do more reps at high intensities (leading to more muscle mass over time).
If you regularly weight train and are looking to add muscle, creatine supplements may provide faster results while improving gym performance.
- Weight gain.
- Muscle cramps.
- Muscle strains and pulls.
- Stomach upset.
- Diarrhea.
- Dizziness.
- High blood pressure.
- Liver dysfunction.
Creatine is the world's most effective supplement for adding muscle mass ( 1 , 27 ). Taking it for as few as 5–7 days has been shown to significantly increase lean body weight and muscle size. This initial rise is caused by increases in the water content of your muscles ( 15 , 17 ).
Is it worth to take creatine?
Creatine supplementation is safe and effective. Scientific evidence supports the use of creatine monohydrate supplements to increase sports performance and increase lean body mass. It can also promote overall muscle health, aid in ATP production, and even support healthy brain function.
The Creatine Cycle
This means in total you have been supplementing with creatine for a total of 8 weeks. Then it is important to stop taking creatine. You should pause your creatine supplementation for anywhere between 7 to 14 days (preferably 2 weeks), before beginning again to take creatine.
Yes, you can get stronger without taking a creatine supplement. However, since creatine has proven to have significant performance benefits, you should aim to consume 1-2g of creatine per day through natural food sources, such as eating red meats and fish, if you don't take a creatine supplement.
Whether BCAAs or creatine is better will depend on your fitness goals, as well as your diet. If your workouts are based on endurance, BCAAs might be more beneficial for you. If your workouts are intensity or power-based, creatine may be the better choice.
Creatine supplementation plus resistance exercise increases fat-free mass and strength. Based on the magnitude inferences it appears that consuming creatine immediately post-workout is superior to pre-workout vis a vis body composition and strength.
While creatine will help build lean muscle, it is not properly and amino acid, nor is it a whole protein. Whey protein, on the other hand, is a whole protein. Whey protein will give you the full range of amino acids for muscle protein synthesis. It is also extremely accessible to your metabolism.
Similar to losing strength, it's hard to say if you will lose lean muscle mass. But, the muscle size will likely appear smaller due to losing the water weight gain.
However, one of the biggest disadvantages of creatine is the fact that since it helps draw water into the cells, it can cause water retention, and thus bloating. Due to this extra water weight, if you take creatine in your cutting phase, you might notice your muscles look 'puffier' and you might even gain weight.
Is It Safe? Taking a superdose of 20,000mg of creatine for four or five days is safe but unnecessary, says nutrition adviser Chris Mohr. Research suggests that your strength gains will catch up after 30 days. For a consistent strength boost, go steady.
The most common complaint associated with taking a creatine supplement is stomach discomfort due to bloating. This feeling of being bloated, or having a distended stomach, most often occurs when you first start taking this supplement during the creatine loading phase.
What is the best way to absorb creatine?
"Muscle creatine levels are elevated to a much greater extent when creatine is taken with carbohydrates or with carbohydrates and protein than when taken alone." In fact, you can see how taking it with carbs and protein almost doubles absorption when compared to taking creatine alone.
Avoid taking creatine with alcohol or caffeine, since they're both diuretics that can cause dehydration. Also, if you have kidney or liver disease, talk with your doctor before taking creatine. Creatine doesn't work for everyone, but you can try it out to see how it works for your body.
There is no known link between creatine and acne, or any evidence that creatine can make acne worse. In fact, creatine is considered one of the safest and most effective supplements to help you build muscle.
Negative changes in mood or anxiety following supplementation with creatine have been documented in two human trials (Roitman et al., 2007; Volek et al., 2000) and one animal experiment (Allen et al., 2010).
Conclusion. If you take creatine, it is important to monitor how much water you drink. If you don't, this can lead to some adverse effects such as dehydration, muscle cramps and heat exhaustion. So be sure to make an effort to stay extra hydrated when taking creatine.
The creatine loading phase involves taking approximately 20g of creatine per day (4 servings x 5g) for 5-7 days. During the loading phase, you should take creatine in the morning, lunch and/or post-workout, depending on when you train.
Also known as fluid retention, creatine can cause rapid water weight because the supplement draws water into your muscles' cells. Your muscles will hold onto this water, resulting in bloating or puffiness around your arms, legs, or stomach. Your muscles may even appear bigger, even if you've just begun your training.
Under 120 pounds: 3 grams. 121-200 pounds: 5 grams. Over 200 pounds: 8 grams.
So, you can definitely take creatine if you don't go to the gym or if you're not trying to get 'big'. For people who don't work out, the benefits are mainly that creatine will give you that energy boost for any day-to-day movement, and will also improve brain function.
While you are supplementing with creatine, your total serum creatine levels and the amount of creatine stored in your muscles increase. When you stop taking creatine, these levels drop, which might cause some side effects, including fatigue, muscle weakness, weight loss and decreased natural creatine production.
Can you take creatine 2 times a week?
The creatine groups also increased strength to a greater extent than placebo groups. There was no difference between the 2 and 3 day per week creatine groups. The findings indicate frequency of creatine intake is not as important as the amount of creatine.
We recommend using creatine continuously. The recommended daily dose is between 3 and 5 grams. Continuous creatine intake – on exercise and training days as well as training-free days – promotes increased performance and muscle-building.
You can stop supplementing anytime you want. But your muscles' creatine levels will start to deplete about two weeks after you stop taking it. In 4-6 weeks, the extra creatine will wash out of your muscles altogether, and your body will be back at producing its baseline level of 1-2 grams a day.
Since creatine does not act upon any receptors and there is no known 'creatine sensitivity' because of this there is no need to take a break from creatine. Products are usually cycled because your body developers a tolerance to them – this does not apply to creatine supplementation.
Our calculation is based on this scale:
Under 120 pounds: 3 grams. 121-200 pounds: 5 grams. Over 200 pounds: 8 grams.
When used orally at appropriate doses, creatine is likely safe to take for up to five years.
If you've started taking creatine, you should know if it works for you in about a week. If your training volume increases, it's working for you. If not, you're probably a non-responder, and taking the powder isn't going to help you. Diet is important.
Key takeaways. Creatine supplementation increases creatine stores in the brain. By reducing the accumulation of adenosine and adenosine triphosphate in the brain during wakefulness, creatine supplementation seems to reduce sleep depth, duration, and “rebound sleep” after sleep deprivation.