Research
Mixed
Creatine supplementation (3-5 g/day maintenance or 20 g/day loading) is safe and effective for increasing lean body mass and high-intensity exercise performance in physique athletes.
Take 3-5 grams of creatine monohydrate every day. You can take it anytime. If you want to saturate your muscles faster, take 20g/day for a week, then switch to 5g/day. It is safe and one of the most effective supplements for strength and muscle mass.
StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
no legal dietary supplement has been shown to enhance training performance as robustly and reliably as creatine
Why this rating
Extensively studied with consistent results showing performance and mass gains.
Source
Nutritional Recommendations for Physique Athletes
Brandon M. Roberts et al. · Journal of Human Kinetics · 2020
DOI 10.2478/hukin-2019-0096
narrative_reviewCited 61×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Physique athletes should consume 1.8-2.7 g/kg/day of protein (up to 3.5 g/kg for hunger mitigation) to preserve lean mass and manage satiety during caloric deficits.Good
- Fat intake should be maintained at 10-25% of total calories during contest preparation to allow for adequate carbohydrate intake for performance, avoiding very low fat for long periods.Moderate
- Consuming 4-5 protein boluses per day, with one near training and one before sleep, optimizes muscle protein synthesis without requiring precise peri-workout carbohydrate timing.Moderate
Related findings · Mixed
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- Severely protein-deficient diets (2–3% energy) induce lean body mass loss and metabolic imbalance, whereas adequate protein intake (0.66 g/kg/d minimum) is a prerequisite for maintaining muscle, bone, and physiological function.Strong
- For patients with Class III obesity (BMI >39.9 kg/m2), metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) is significantly more effective than any currently approved medication, with BilioPancreatic Diversion (BPD) showing the highest estimated weight loss.Strong
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