Sources checked on 26 September 2026. This article is general information and does not replace advice from your doctor.
Short answer: creatine is the most researched supplement for strength training, and it works. It tops up your muscles' fast energy store for short, hard efforts, so you can squeeze more reps out of heavy sets, and combined with strength training it gives you on average a bit more strength and about a kilo (2 lb) more lean mass than training alone. The dose is 3-5 grams of creatine monohydrate a day at any time of day, and you don't need to load. Research shows it is safe for healthy adults. Your weight may go up by a kilo or two in the first weeks, and that is water in the muscles, not fat.
You've probably heard all of it: a gym friend says creatine is the only tub that actually works, someone else heard it wrecks your kidneys or makes your hair fall out, and the label tells you to load 20 grams a day for a week. This guide goes through which of those claims hold up. It is based on meta-analyses, the position stand of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) and the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). There are no product links or brand recommendations here.
What does creatine do in your muscles?
Creatine is a compound your body makes on its own and that you also get from meat and fish. About 95 percent of the creatine in your body sits in your muscles, and roughly two thirds of that is stored as phosphocreatine. Phosphocreatine is the muscle's fastest energy reserve: it regenerates ATP, the cell's energy molecule, during short, hard efforts like a heavy set, a sprint or a jump.
A normal mixed diet gives you about 1-2 grams of creatine a day, which leaves your muscle stores around 60-80 percent full. Supplementing raises those stores by 20-40 percent. You can't realistically get there with food, because a pound (450 g) of raw beef or salmon only contains about 1-2 grams. Vegetarians have lower stores on average, so a supplement raises theirs more than usual.
The benefit is indirect. Creatine doesn't build muscle by itself. When you can do more reps on heavy sets, your total training volume goes up and the muscle gets a bigger growth stimulus. That's why the effect shows up most clearly alongside strength training and is close to zero without it.
Creatine benefits according to research
What creatine does and doesn't do: strength of evidence
| Effect | Evidence | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Strength in short efforts | Strong | A small but consistent boost to squat, leg press and bench press, 113 studies in two meta-analyses |
| Muscle mass with strength training | Strong | About 1.1 kg (2.4 lb) more lean mass than training alone |
| Repeated sprints and jumps | Strong, EFSA confirms cause and effect | 3 g a day is enough |
| Muscle mass without training | No effect | A tub doesn't replace training |
| Endurance performance | Not enough evidence | No reason to start for endurance alone |
| Muscle function in older adults | Moderate | Works with strength training, not on its own |
| Memory and the brain | Preliminary | Small effects in small studies |
Strength. Two meta-analyses by Lanhers and colleagues pooled randomized, placebo-controlled trials on creatine and strength efforts lasting under three minutes. The lower-body analysis covered 60 studies and about 1,300 participants, the upper-body analysis 53 studies and about 1,100 participants. Creatine improved strength in the squat, leg press and bench press. The effect size was about 0.3, small but consistent, and it held regardless of age, sex, activity level, dosing and duration.
Muscle mass. In a meta-analysis by Delpino and colleagues (35 studies, 1,192 participants), creatine plus strength training added on average 1.1 kg (2.4 lb) more lean mass than strength training with a placebo, at every age. Without training there was no difference. Some of the early weight gain is water, but in a 12-week trial muscle fiber size also increased while fat mass stayed the same.
The regulator's view. EFSA has confirmed a cause and effect relationship between creatine and improved performance in short-term, high-intensity, repeated exercise bouts at 3 grams a day. For endurance performance, EFSA did not find enough evidence. So creatine is a supplement for lifters, sprinters and team sport players, not for marathon runners.
Other areas, with caveats. In older adults, creatine combined with strength training appears to support muscle mass, strength and physical function, but on its own the effect is small. Research on the brain and memory consists mostly of small studies: a meta-analysis by Xu and colleagues (16 studies, 492 people) found a small effect on memory, attention and processing speed but not on overall cognition, and the authors themselves call for larger trials. These are not yet good reasons to start taking creatine.
Do beginners need creatine?
Not first. What creatine adds is small compared with what consistent training and enough protein do in the first months. Keep this order: first a program that works and 2-3 sessions a week, then enough protein, and only then creatine if you want it. Creatine won't harm a beginner, but it won't fix a program that isn't progressing either.
Creatine side effects and myths
More than a thousand studies have been published on creatine, and according to the ISSN position stand the only consistently reported side effect is weight gain. Even in long-term studies with doses of up to 30 grams a day for five years, creatine has been well tolerated. Here are the most common concerns one by one.
Common creatine claims and what research says
| Claim | According to research |
|---|---|
| Creatine makes you fat | Weight goes up from water in the muscles, fat mass doesn't increase |
| Creatine strains your kidneys | Not in healthy people at recommended doses. Blood creatinine can rise without kidney problems |
| Creatine makes your hair fall out | No evidence. In a 12-week randomized trial, hair and DHT stayed the same |
| Creatine is a steroid | It isn't. A different substance that works in a different way |
| Creatine causes cramps | Not in controlled studies, if anything the opposite |
| You have to load creatine | You don't. 3-5 g a day fills your stores in about four weeks |
Does creatine make you gain fat?
No. Creatine pulls water into muscle cells, and during a loading week body weight typically goes up 1-3 kg (2-7 lb), almost all of it water. Without loading the increase is slower. In randomized trials lasting from one week to two years, fat mass did not increase. If you're tracking your weight on a diet, don't read the first weeks' bump as failure: compare the trend after a month.
Is creatine bad for your kidneys?
Not for healthy people at recommended doses. Controlled trials have not shown any decline in kidney function. The myth goes back to a 1998 case report of a young man who had already had kidney disease for eight years and was on immunosuppressant medication. Later case reports follow the same pattern: pre-existing kidney disease, medications, other supplements, anabolic steroids or even doses a hundred times the recommended amount.
One thing worth knowing: creatine and creatinine are different things. Creatinine is a breakdown product of creatine, and blood creatinine is used as a marker of kidney function. A creatine supplement can raise that number, much like eating a lot of meat does, without anything being wrong with your kidneys. When you have blood work done, tell your doctor you take creatine so the result isn't misread.
Does creatine cause hair loss?
The concern comes from a single 2009 study in which DHT levels rose in rugby players during three weeks of creatine. The result has never been replicated, and the study didn't look at hair at all. In a randomized trial published in 2025, 5 grams of creatine a day for 12 weeks did not change DHT, hair density or hair thickness compared with placebo. Creatine isn't an anabolic steroid either: its chemical structure and the way it works are completely different.
Stomach issues, dehydration and cramps
Stomach issues mostly come from large single doses: more than 10 grams at once can cause diarrhea, which is why a loading dose is split into four 5-gram servings. The recommended 3-5 grams a day is well tolerated in studies. The claim that creatine causes dehydration and muscle cramps hasn't held up in controlled research. Over an American football season played in hot, humid conditions, the players taking creatine actually had fewer cramps and less dehydration than the others.
Creatine dosage: loading or 3-5 g a day?
There are two ways to start creatine, and both end up in the same place. The only difference is how fast your muscle stores fill up.
Two ways to start creatine
| Method | Dose | Stores full | Good when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loading | 20 g a day (4 × 5 g) for 5-7 days, then 3-5 g a day | in about a week | you need the benefit fast, for example before a competition |
| No loading | 3-5 g a day from the start | in about 4 weeks | you plan to take creatine long term and want to avoid stomach issues and quick weight gain |
In Hultman's classic study, muscle creatine rose by about 20 percent both with six days of 20-gram loading and with 28 days of 3 grams a day. Loading is a shortcut, not a requirement, and for most people the best choice is to start straight at 3-5 grams. Large athletes training hard may need 5-10 grams a day to maintain their stores, but for a regular gym-goer 3-5 grams is enough.
When should you take creatine?
Whenever you'll remember it every day. Creatine doesn't kick in an hour later like caffeine: the benefit comes from full stores that build up over weeks. Timing around training has been studied, and some studies hint at a small edge when taken after training, but a review concluded the evidence is too weak to draw conclusions. Take your dose on rest days as usual. Taking it with a meal is a good default, since carbohydrate and protein have improved creatine uptake into muscle in studies.
Monohydrate is all you need
Creatine monohydrate is the most researched form, it's inexpensive, and it is almost 88 percent creatine by weight. For pricier forms such as creatine ethyl ester, buffered creatine or creatine nitrate, there is no peer-reviewed study showing they raise muscle creatine more than monohydrate does. Raw material purity varies: some products have been found to contain manufacturing by-products and heavy metals. Choose a product whose maker states where the raw material comes from and how pure it is.
The powder keeps for years when dry, but in liquid creatine slowly breaks down into creatinine. Mix your dose right before drinking it and don't prepare drinks days in advance. A tablet, capsule or creatine gummy does the same job as long as the daily serving really contains 3-5 grams of creatine. Check the grams per serving on the label: if you need a handful of capsules or gummies for one dose, powder is often the easier way to get the full amount.
Creatine and coffee
There are about ten studies on combining caffeine and creatine, and the results are mixed. In a couple of studies, daily caffeine during a loading phase blunted creatine's benefit, in most it didn't, and in one the combination even worked better. No harm has been shown from a normal morning coffee alongside a 3-5 gram daily dose. You can even stir creatine into coffee or tea as long as you drink it right away, since warm liquid dissolves the powder better. If your stomach is sensitive, take creatine and strong coffee at different times.
Do you need to cycle off creatine?
No. If you stop, your muscle stores return to baseline in 4-6 weeks, and studies haven't found that your body's own creatine production stays suppressed. Breaks aren't needed for protection, but they aren't harmful either.
Creatine for women
Creatine works for women too, but the effect on muscle mass has been smaller in studies. In Delpino's meta-analysis, lean mass increased by 1.5 kg with creatine in men and by 0.3 kg in women, and the difference in women was not statistically significant. Several studies in younger women report benefits for strength and performance, though not all of them do.
After menopause the evidence looks more promising. Combined with strength training, creatine has increased muscle mass, strength and everyday physical function, and in a year-long study it slowed bone loss at the hip. Without training, two years of creatine had no effect on muscle mass or bone. The message is the same as for everyone else: creatine boosts training, it doesn't replace it.
The dose for women is the same 3-5 grams a day. Fear of weight gain is a common reason to skip creatine, but the gain is water in the muscle cells, not fat, and without loading it comes on more slowly.
Who should check with a doctor first?
For healthy adults, research shows creatine is safe. In these situations, talk to your doctor before you start:
- Kidney disease or reduced kidney function. Most studies have been done in healthy people, and reported adverse cases have often involved existing kidney disease.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Creatine during pregnancy has only been studied in animals, and there are no controlled human trials. Bring it up with your doctor or midwife rather than starting on your own.
- Regular medication, especially if the medicine affects your kidneys.
- Under 18. Studies in adolescents haven't found harm, but there is less research than in adults. For a teenager, the basics of training, food and sleep come first.
- A history of eating disorders. The weight gain from creatine is water, but if the number on the scale is hard for you, talk to your care team first.
How to track your creatine use in practice
Creatine works through full muscle stores, and without loading they fill up in about four weeks only if you take a dose every day. One missed day won't empty them, but if you skip often they fill more slowly. That's why taking it consistently every day matters more than the time of day or the brand. Three practical tips:
- Tie the dose to something you do every day: breakfast, your morning coffee or an evening snack. Tying it only to training doesn't work, because you'll skip it on rest days.
- Check off the dose in the same place where you track your training and food. After a month you'll see how many days you actually took it.
- Judge the effect after 4-6 weeks at the earliest, from your training log: are the weights or reps going up on the same exercises? In the first weeks the scale mostly tells you about water. See also how progressive overload shows up in real training data.
In SisuLift you do this on the Supplements tab of the Nutrition page, and creatine is the most common item there: more than half of the users who track their supplements have it in their stack (as of 26 September 2026). Creatine has a ready-made quick pick that suggests 5 grams in the morning, and you can change the dose, form and time. You check off a dose with one tap, and if it's still unchecked at its time, the app sends you a reminder, never between 10pm and 8am. The view shows how many of the last 30 days you took it. You log your workouts in the same app, so both your doses and your progress on the bar are in one place. Supplement tracking and reminders are part of Premium and included in the 14-day free trial.
Sources
The ISSN position stand was funded by a dietary supplement industry association, and some authors of it and of the Antonio review have industry ties. That's why this guide also relies on the meta-analyses by Lanhers and colleagues and on the EFSA opinion.
- Kreider RB et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 14:18.
- Antonio J et al. (2021). Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 18:13.
- Lanhers C et al. (2015). Creatine supplementation and lower limb strength performance: a systematic review and meta-analyses. Sports Medicine 45:1285-1294.
- Lanhers C et al. (2017). Creatine supplementation and upper limb strength performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine 47:163-173.
- Delpino FM et al. (2022). Influence of age, sex, and type of exercise on the efficacy of creatine supplementation on lean body mass: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Nutrition 103-104:111791.
- EFSA NDA Panel (2011). Scientific opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to creatine and increase in physical performance during short-term, high intensity, repeated exercise bouts. EFSA Journal 9(7):2303.
- Hultman E et al. (1996). Muscle creatine loading in men. Journal of Applied Physiology 81:232-237.
- Ribeiro F et al. (2021). Timing of creatine supplementation around exercise: a real concern? Nutrients 13:2844.
- Elosegui S et al. (2022). Interaction between caffeine and creatine when used as concurrent ergogenic supplements: a systematic review. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 32:285-295.
- Lak M et al. (2025). Does creatine cause hair loss? A 12-week randomized controlled trial. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 22:2495229.
- Xu C et al. (2024). The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Nutrition 11:1424972.
→ Read also: How much protein per day | Progressive overload in real data | Protein calculator