Energy balance
Creatine monohydrate supplementation (5g/day for 5-7 days, followed by 3-5g/day maintenance) significantly increases intramuscular creatine and phosphocreatine stores, leading to enhanced high-intensity exercise performance, greater training adaptations, and increased lean body mass in athletes.
Take 5 grams of creatine monohydrate four times a day for 5-7 days to saturate your muscles, then switch to 3-5 grams daily to maintain levels. This is the most proven supplement for increasing strength and power output. It is safe, legal, and does not cause kidney damage or cramping as commonly feared.
Studies have consistently shown that creatine supplementation increases intramuscular creatine concentrations which may help explain the observed improvements in high intensity exercise performance leading to greater training adaptations... The most effective way to increase muscle creatine stores is to ingest 5 g of creatine monohydrate (or approximately 0.3 g/kg body weight) four times daily for 5–7 days... Once muscle creatine stores are fully saturated, creatine stores can generally be maintained by ingesting 3–5 g/day
Why this rating
The paper is a position stand by the ISSN summarizing a large body of evidence, calling it the 'most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available'.
Source
International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine
Richard B. Kreider et al. · Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2017
DOI 10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z
More from this paper
- Creatine supplementation reduces the incidence of musculoskeletal injuries, dehydration, and muscle cramping in athletes during training and competition.Good
- Creatine supplementation has potential therapeutic benefits in various clinical populations, including neurodegenerative diseases, creatine synthesis deficiencies, and brain/spinal cord injury.Good
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