Every week our coaches at Peak Fitness in Orem read the actual studies behind a popular training or nutrition claim and boil them down to what holds up and what to do with it. Here's No. 01.
What the evidence shows
- Creatine raises muscle creatine stores by 20–40%.
- It improves hard, repeated efforts like sprints, heavy sets and HYROX stations by roughly 10–20%.
- Plain creatine monohydrate is the most studied and most effective form.
Myth check
- The early jump on the scale is water stored inside your muscles, not fat.
- No kidney harm has been found in healthy people at these doses.
- The hair-loss scare traces back to one small 2009 study that measured a hormone, not hair, and it was never replicated.
The protocol
- →3–5 g a day, every day, at any time of day.
- →Loading (20 g a day for 5–7 days) is optional. It just gets you there faster.
Not medical advice. If you have kidney disease or a medical condition, talk to your doctor first.
Sources
- Kreider et al. ISSN position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2017
- Antonio et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2021
- van der Merwe et al. Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players. Clin J Sport Med, 2009