Creatine 101
Guide to the most well-researched supplement in the world.
I started lifting my freshman year of high school. I was always a strong kid, so I stood out in the weight room among some of the older and bigger athletes at our school.
After a few weeks of lifting, I noticed some guys taking supplements.
I asked a few guys what they were taking. “What is that?” I asked, referring to a sketchy white container, peaking out of their gym bag.
“Creatine,” he said. “Helps me lift more,” he said, pacing back and forth between sets.
“How does it do that?” I asked.
“I don’t really know bro. I just take it. Can you spot me on this last set?” he said, wiggling under the bar and onto the bench.
From that day forward, I bummed creatine off of a few dudes in the gym. 5 milligrams here and there.
By my sophomore year, I was a walking advertisement for GNC. I had a full-blown supplement stack of pre-workout, BCAAs, creatine, and protein powder and I loved every second of it. But there was an issue.
I had no idea what these supplements were made of or why I was taking them. I was just following what all the other meatheads in the gym were doing.
This brings us to today.
Ten years later, I have now consumed 1,000s of milligrams of creatine and achieved many athletic feats: 11% body fat, a 1,000-pound club, and one of the top 10% CrossFitters in the world. Yet, I still don't entirely understand what creatine is and how it works.
The other day, a coworker asked me about creatine. The only thing I could tell him was that “It helps me lift more.” I didn’t know much else than that!
So here I was, having taken a supplement for almost half of my life, and not entirely understanding what it was all about. So, after years of recommending creatine without valid reasoning, I’m writing a post explaining why you should take creatine.
Take a seat at Creatine 101 where you’ll learn:
What is creatine?
Why you should take creatine?
How much creatine should you take?
And how you know if creatine is working.
Let's get into it.
What is creatine?
Creatine is a substance found naturally in your body. Half of your body’s creatine stores come from the food you eat - especially red meat and seafood - and the rest is made in your liver and kidneys. 95% of it is stored in the muscles in the form of phosphocreatine and 5% is found in the brain and other areas.
If you recently got a blood test, you might have realized that creatine is something that shows up on that test. If you are someone who naturally eats a lot of creatine, and then begins supplementing, it's likely your creatine levels will be very high. For example, I got bloodwork back in May, and my levels were off the charts.
Those who consume a creatine-dense diet may experience fewer benefits from supplementation. But more on this later.
Why should you take creatine?
Ah, the question we’ve all been waiting for. Researchers refer to creatine as “the top supplement for performance in the gym and “the most effective supplement on the market.”
The TL;DR?
Creatine is the real MVP.
Here’re three reasons why.
1 - Improved muscular endurance.
Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to perform repetitive contractions against a force for an extended period of time. Whenever I think of muscular endurance, I think of the CrossFit workout Fran.
Fran is 21-15-9 of thrusters and pull-ups: 21 thrusters, 21 pull-ups, 15 thrusters, 15 pull-ups, 9 thrusters, and 9 pull-ups. Fran is the ultimate test of muscular endurance. If you’ve ever done Fran before, you know what I mean.
You finish that last set of pull-ups, your forearms and biceps are pulsing, your legs are on fire, and you can’t catch your breath for your life.
A common sticking point for people when they complete Fran is they have to take breaks on each of the movements. For example, breaking up their sets of thrusters or pull-ups because their muscles begin to feel fatigued.
It’s good to note that muscular endurance is not the same as aerobic endurance.
Aerobic endurance is your ability to exercise at moderate intensity for an extended period of time.
Muscular endurance is your ability to exercise the same muscle or group of muscles for an extended period of time.
While aerobic endurance measures intensity over time, muscular endurance measures your muscles' ability to contract repeatedly over time.
When doing Fran, people often experience muscular fatigue before they feel endurance fatigue. In other words, they need to take breaks because their muscles are tired, not because they can’t catch their breath.
When you take creatine, your muscles are able to sustain fatigue for a longer period of time, rather than if you are not taking creatine. Therefore, you are able to exercise your muscles for a longer period of time, ultimately increasing your strength.
This leads us to the second reason you should take creatine.
2 - Increased muscle mass.
Creatine improves your muscular endurance. Therefore, you are able to increase the number of reps you can achieve in your training.
Many creatine studies show a 5 to 15% increase in both maximal strength and maximal work output during sets of maximal effort.
3 - Improved cognitive function.
For a long time, creatine has only been studied for its physical performance benefits. Most recently, scientists have been researching the cognitive benefits of creatine. They found that creatine supplementation can enhance your cognitive ability and prevent cognitive decline.
How much creatine should you take?
If you Google “How much creatine I should take?” you’ll probably come across a few pages that talk about a “loading phase.” That’s when you take an obscene amount of creatine over a few weeks for the purpose of helping your body “load up” on creatine.
Well, contrary to popular belief you don’t need to do that.
I’d recommend taking 5 grams per day and skipping the loading phase.
How do you know if creatine is working?
I’ve been on and off of creatine my whole life. I’ll take it for a few months, question whether or not it's working, but finish the container because I don’t want to waste it, and then not buy another container for a few more months until someone convinces me to start supplementing it again.
I’m convinced creatine has many benefits, and I’m ready to start supplementing it again. But this time, I don’t want to just take it just because someone on Instagram told me. This time, I want to know that it is working and how it is working by measuring the effects of creatine on my body.
Since you’re reading this, I figured you’d be interested as well.
Here are three ways to tell if creatine is working for you.
1 - Increase in strength.
A review of 22 creatine studies compared resistance training with creatine and resistance training alone. The results found an average increase in strength of 8% in those who supplemented creatine.
So how might you test this on your own?
I feel like the best way to test the effects of creatine is by following a standard strength program.
Let’s use the Wendler 5/3/1 program.
The Wendler 5/3/1 is an extremely popular strength program focused on the three main powerlifting movements: bench, squat, and deadlift. It is structured in four week cycles. I’d recommend completing one cycle off creatine and one cycle on creatine.
While you complete these cycles, document the weight you are lifting. At the end of the two cycles, compare the increase in your one rep max during the first cycle to the increase during your second cycle.
You should see an increase regardless due to the nature of the program, but you should see a slight increase during the second cycle in which you are on creatine.
Disclaimer: I haven’t tried this yet, but this is how I would attempt to measure creatine and its effects on my strength. However, I do plan on testing this out in a few months once my garage gym is built. More on that in future posts.
2 - Ability to complete more reps.
Let’s say you’re following the Wendler 5/3/1. It’s a press day, so at the end of your workout, you have to do 5 sets of 10 pull-ups. When you are not taking creatine, you might only be able to do 7 pull-ups in each set before having to take a break.
However, when taking creatine, you might notice that you are able to squeeze out one to three more reps per set.
In other words, when taking creating, your muscles will not fatigue as easily. You will have that extra energy to push out those last few reps.
3 - Increase in body weight (water weight).
Creatine supplementation can result in rapid weight gain. For example, a study of 13 athletes observed that supplementing .01 grams of creatine per pound of body weight for 7 days led to an increase in total body weight of 2.3 pounds or 1 to 2% of overall body mass.
So, if you’re gaining weight while taking creatine, understand two things:
Don’t freak out! Every time I start supplementing creatine, I wig myself out because I see the scale going up and wonder if I am getting fat. Rest assured, you’re not getting fat, it’s just the creatine influencing the amount of water your muscles retain.
Creatine is working! If you notice you’ve gained some weight, congratulations. Creatine is doing its job!
It’s important to note that those who eat a creatine-dense diet of red meat and seafood might experience less of an overall effect of creatine than those who do not eat a creatine-dense diet. Those who eat a creatine-dense diet might already be reaping the benefits of consuming more creatine.
It’s not to say that creatine supplementation will not work for those who eat a creatine-dense diet, but just to say that you might not experience as drastic of an effect as your friend who does not eat a creatine-dense diet.
Creatine is one of the most researched supplements on the market and offers various benefits: 1) increased muscular endurance, so you can work out longer and harder, 2) improved muscle mass, so you can lift more and look better and 3) improved cognitive function, so you can focus better.
Among millions of garbage supplements, the fitness industry pushes out every year, creatine is the one you should actually consider taking.