Creatine: when to take it?

raven56706

Was suggested by a few to take this creatine as it was reviewed well and such. Question is, before, there used to be a loading phase and whatever phase. Now I hear that some just take it anytime during the day and just do your workout.

What is the right method for taking creatine? Anytime during the day of your workout, before your workout, or after?

Was suggested by a few to take this creatine as it was reviewed well and such. Question is, before, there used to be a loading phase and whatever phase. Now I hear that some just take it anytime during the day and just do your workout.

What is the right method for taking creatine? Anytime during the day of your workout, before your workout, or after?

AnnPT77

I don't have a bunch of theoretical knowledge. I just started taking creatine (couple of months back), did the loading dose, tolerated it fine. What I read was to make sure to drink/eat ample fluids with it (common advice to mix it in a beverage); and combine it with a meal or snack because some people experience mild digestive distress otherwise.

The brand I use is a powder with a slightly sandy texture, and I couldn't think of any beverage I wanted to mix that with. I put my daily amount in a small amount (20g) of plain yogurt, eat it alongside my breakfast or lunch (which has plenty of fluids).

I may've had some extra muscle cramps early on, but I'm not sure, and no other noticeable negative effects. The reason I'm not sure about muscle cramps was that it turned demonically hot here very quickly, and outdoor exercises (rowing boats, cycling) are my fun things. I do drink ample fluids around the exercise, but since we didn't have a slow increase in outdoor temps this year as usual, the cramps may've been from hydration and electrolyte balance issues rather than the creatine. Wasn't a big deal, in any case.

Best wishes!

Retroguy2000

You don't need to load it. After 28 days you'll have the same amount in your system anyway. If you want the boost faster, load, otherwise save the money.

As for when, afaict it doesn't matter, though conventional wisdom believes within an hour before or after workout is ideal.

JBanx256

You don't need to load. Supplement companies will tell you otherwise because, guess what, you'll be using more of their product if you load. It's completely unnecessary:
Effects of Low-Dose Creatine Monohydrate on Muscle Strength and Endurance. Neto et al. (2018)
"This study lends support to the notion that you can gain the ergogenic benefits of creatine supplementation without a loading phase in a reasonably short time period, taking a dose as low as ~3g/day." - Dr. Eric Helms

Timing is irrelevant. However, there MAY be some degree of interference between caffeine & creatine when taken together (a lot of pre-workouts include both):
Effects of Creatine and Caffeine Supplementation During Resistance Training on Body Composition, Strength, Endurance, Rating of Perceived Exertion and Fatigue in Trained Young Adults. Pakulak et al. (2021)
"Only creatine (in the absence of caffeine) significantly increased knee extensor hypertrophy. For the long list of additional outcomes, no significant between-group differences were observed." - Dr. Eric Trexler

rippedwriter1

Exactly,

The only people benefiting from "loading" are the people selling the stuff.

It reminds me of the old weight gainers--they were actually fat gainers--they used to sell, back-in-the-day.

If you mixed four scoops--and the scoops were huge--with four cups of whole milk--you will get a certain amount of calories.

Yea, and you would burn through the can in a blink of an eye.

Same goes for creatine, for my money--3 to 5 grams taken anytime of day--although post workout is a good time to take it.

The good news is, from my research creatine is one of the safest, most studied things on the planet.

With that said, plenty of muscle and strength has been built over the years with just good food and hard work