Research
Energy balance
Creatine supplementation increases strength, performance in short-duration high-intensity exercises, and total force by increasing ATP availability and potentially enhancing satellite cell differentiation.
If you do high-intensity or short-duration exercise, creatine is a safe and effective way to boost strength and performance. You do not need to worry about kidney damage or cramping if you are healthy.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
As a PES, creatine increases strength, performance in short-duration and high-intensity exercises, number of repetitions and total force. These effects may result from either increased availability of ATP leading to a greater energy reserve for exercise or a better adaption to a more intense training. It is also hypothesized that creatine enhances satellite cell (muscle stem cell) differentiation and mitotic activity.
Why this rating
The paper is a review citing multiple studies, but notes long-term safety data is limited.
Source
Improvement of physical training by performance‐enhancing substances
Cem Erdoğan · Acta Physiologica · 2020
DOI 10.1111/apha.13517
narrative_reviewCited 4×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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