When it comes to A-listed supplements creatine is top of the list, being one of the most researched and evidence-based ergogenic aids on the market. A multitude of studies have shown it can increase strength, power, and lean muscle mass in a range of different athletes across various sporting modalities. Also, creatine can positively influence cognition, including short-term memory and reasoning, and combat athletes who routinely supplement have been shown to have lower rates of TBIs.
The purpose of creatine in the body is to form creatine phosphate, which can rapidly regenerate ATP from ADP through phosphate donation. Creatine supplementation will “saturate” your muscle creatine stores, which can assist you in being more explosive, powerful, and stronger during exercise. As you can see by the graph illustrated, this is because creatine phosphate is used as the very first energy source when you perform an exercise at maximal effort, such as a 100m sprint or 1RM squat.
The recommendations are to consume 0.03g/kg of bodyweight per day, which for most people equates to a daily dose of 3-5g creatine. You can simply start with this and expect muscle creatine stores to be saturated within ~30 days, however if you’d like increase the rate of situation you can consider a “loading phase”. This would involve consuming 20-25 grams of creatine per day for 5-7 days (split into 4-5 x 5g boluses). After this you can do a "maintenance" phase, which means consuming 5 grams of creatine every day following.
Creatine doesn't need to be cycled and is very safe, however some people may experience slight water retention when they start to use the supplement. This shouldn’t be of any concern, as when creatine is stored within our skeletal muscle it will draw in some fluid intramuscularly. Bear in mind that muscles are already ~70% water, so creatine will likely just promote a “fuller” look within your muscle bellies.
*Creatine can be sourced from the diet through meat products. However, to consume the same amount of creatine as you would from supplementation you would need to eat ~4-5kg of chicken/beef per day... we think most of us can agree creatine powder is more practical!