Creatine Is the Hottest New Supplement, But Why?

Not long ago, creatine was mostly the secret weapon of bodybuilders and sprinters. Today, it’s gone mainstream, and for good reason. This natural compound has been making waves due to its numerous creatine supplement benefits for exercise and health. Industry reports indicate a recent surge in creatine’s popularity. For example, sales of creatine supplements more than doubled between 2021 and 2022 alone. Such growth is fueled by word-of-mouth, social media, and expanding research on creatine’s effects. But what exactly is creatine, and why is it so hyped? In this article, we’ll dive into what creatine is, how creatine improves strength, its impact on muscle and performance, side effects of creatine use, and how to use it effectively.

What Is Creatine?

Creatine, specifically creatine monohydrate, the most common form, is a molecule made from three amino acids and found naturally in our bodies. We store creatine primarily in skeletal muscle as phosphocreatine, which serves as a rapid energy reserve. When you perform short, explosive movements, your muscles need quick energy. This is where creatine comes in: it helps regenerate ATP, the energy currency of cells, at a fast rate. It is the fuel for your muscles’ fastest energy system. By buffering and recycling ATP, creatine allows you to exert high power for a few extra seconds during intense effort.

We naturally get a small amount of creatine from foods like red meat and fish, but those sources are not enough to saturate muscles for performance benefits. Supplementing with creatine increases the amount stored in muscles beyond normal levels. The result? Muscles can output more force before fatigue sets in. This is the core of how creatine improves strength and power during training.

Creatine’s Key Benefits for Muscle Growth and Performance

The main draw is its proven ability to enhance high-intensity exercise performance and muscle development. People often take creatine for muscle growth because it directly supports doing more work in training. By allowing you to lift heavier or complete more sprint intervals, creatine provides a greater training stimulus, leading to greater strength and size gains. Research shows that creatine supplementation enables athletes to complete additional reps or sprints, leading to greater gains in strength, muscle mass, and overall athletic performance. Put simply, creatine helps you train harder and more effectively. Some of the most celebrated creatine performance benefits include:

 

• Increased strength and power: Users see significant improvements in maximal strength and explosive power output. Many athletes use creatine for strength gains to break through plateaus in the gym.
• Faster muscle growth: Because creatine allows more total work, muscles experience greater stimulus. Over weeks and months, this results in noticeable hypertrophy when combined with resistance training. Creatine also draws water into muscle cells, which may boost protein synthesis and contribute to muscle fiber growth. It’s a potent aid for anyone focused on building lean mass, making it arguably the best creatine for muscle gain among supplements.
• Improved high-intensity endurance: Creatine isn’t for aerobic endurance, but it shines in repeated high-intensity efforts. If you’re doing interval sprints or repeated sets of a tough exercise, creatine helps you sustain performance in later rounds. This means more quality reps or faster sprint times before fatigue, which, over time, leads to better fitness adaptations. These creatine monohydrate benefits are well-documented in athletes.
• Enhanced muscle recovery: By buffering pH and supporting quicker ATP replenishment, creatine can reduce fatigue and potentially shorten recovery time between intense bouts. This lets you maintain training intensity. Some studies even suggest creatine may reduce exercise-induced muscle cell damage or inflammation, aiding post-workout recovery.
• Other possible benefits: Emerging research suggests creatine may offer benefits beyond the gym. There is interest in creatine’s role in cognitive function. Additionally, creatine may help older adults counteract age-related muscle and strength loss, improve muscle endurance, and even support bone health. These areas are still under study, but they demonstrate creatine’s versatility. It’s no surprise people now look beyond the gym to consider creatine for healthy aging and overall fitness.

 

The bottom line is that creatine for workouts is effective. It’s one of the most studied and reliable supplements to improve exercise performance and muscle outcomes for a broad range of people. As long as you’re training hard, creatine can help you get better results from that training.

Creatine, Weight Gain, and Body Composition

One aspect of use that confuses many is its effect on body weight. You might have heard that creatine causes weight gain. This is partly true, but it’s important to understand the context. When you begin supplementing, creatine pulls more water into your muscle cells. This can lead to a body composition scan showing a few pounds increase after the first week. Crucially, this is water weight, not fat. Your muscles become fuller, and muscle hydration improves. This initial weight gain is a normal effect of creatine loading and indicates your muscles are storing it. It is not fat gain or anything harmful.

Now, what about fat loss or using creatine for weight loss goals? Creatine itself is not a direct fat-burner. It won’t increase your calorie burn or magically melt fat. However, it can indirectly support weight-loss efforts. How? By preserving muscle mass and strength when you’re dieting. During calorie deficits, there’s a risk of losing muscle along with fat. Creatine helps you maintain strength and energy in your workouts even while eating less, which means you can keep lifting heavy and signal your body to hold onto muscle. Preserving lean muscle is key to a successful “weight loss” phase, because muscle tissue keeps your metabolism higher and gives you that toned look. There’s even evidence that pairing creatine with exercise yields better fat-loss outcomes than exercise alone. For example, one 2019 study in older adults found that those who took creatine (2 g/day) while following a training program lost slightly more body fat than those who only exercised without creatine. Among younger people, creatine users have shown a trend toward losing more fat during training programs than non-users. This may be because creatine enables higher training intensity and protects muscle mass, thereby indirectly facilitating greater fat reduction.

It’s worth noting that if you step on a scale, creatine could mask fat loss in the short term. You might be losing fat, but adding water to your muscles could keep your total weight the same or even increase slightly. This is where measuring body composition scanning becomes valuable. Rather than focusing solely on body weight, consider tools such as DEXA scans to assess your body composition. With a DEXA body composition scan, you can distinguish how much of your weight is muscle, fat, or water. Advanced body composition scanning methods provide precise measurements of lean mass vs. fat mass. Athletes often use DEXA results to monitor increases in muscle mass and decreases in fat, then adjust their diet or training accordingly. If you’re using creatine and notice the scale creeping up, a body comp test can confirm that the gain is in lean mass or water, not body fat. BOD offers this detailed DEXA analysis, allowing you to accurately track muscle gains while ensuring any weight gain is healthy and intentional.

Are There Side Effects? Safety and Misconceptions

Creatine is often praised not just for effectiveness but also for its strong safety record. It is among the most studied supplements worldwide, and decades of research have shown it to be safe for healthy individuals. Here are a few things to be aware of:

 

• Water retention and bloating: As discussed, creatine can cause water retention and bloating. This can make muscles feel a bit fuller or puffy initially, and some people report a slight bloated feeling. This effect is generally temporary and manageable. Staying well-hydrated can actually help your body adjust and minimize bloating. Also, spreading out the dose helps prevent any stomach discomfort related to water shifts.
• Stomach upset: Taking too much creatine in one go can cause digestive distress for some. Large doses might lead to diarrhea, cramping, or nausea in certain individuals. The good news is that this is usually avoidable. Splitting the daily dose into smaller servings and taking it with plenty of water or a meal can reduce gastrointestinal issues. If you skip the loading phase and just take a moderate daily dose, stomach problems are very rare.
• Muscle cramps or dehydration: There’s a misconception that creatine causes muscle cramps or dehydration, but research does not support this when users maintain normal hydration. In fact, creatine may reduce the risk of cramping by increasing water content in muscle cells. Just ensure you’re drinking water regularly, because creatine does increase your cells’ need for fluid. Adequate hydration will keep you feeling and performing your best.
• Kidney or liver concerns: For people with pre-existing kidney disease or liver issues, high doses of any supplement could be problematic. Such individuals should only use creatine under medical supervision.

 

Used at proper doses, creatine is considered generally safe, with the main side effect being minor weight gain as lean body mass. By following guidelines, you can minimize any mild side effects.

How to Take Creatine: Dosing Guidelines and Timing

Getting the most out of creatine involves taking it correctly. The good news is that creatine supplementation is pretty straightforward. Here we’ll outline creatine dosing guidelines and address common questions about when to take it (for example, creatine before or after a workout?).

The standard creatine dose for ongoing use is 3–5 grams per day. This amount is sufficient to maintain elevated muscle creatine stores in most people. There are two main strategies to start creatine: loading or non-loading.

 

1. Loading Phase (Optional): This involves taking a higher dose of ~20 grams per day for 5–7 days when you begin creatine. Typically, this 20 g is split into four servings of 5 g spread across the day to improve absorption and reduce stomach discomfort. The loading phase saturates your muscles with creatine more quickly. Usually, within a week, your muscle stores reach maximum capacity. You may notice a quick water weight gain during this phase. This loading approach is not strictly necessary, but it gets you to peak muscle creatine levels fast. It’s useful if you want the benefits sooner.
2. Maintenance Phase: Whether or not you load, you’ll eventually move to a maintenance dose. This is the long-term daily intake of 3–5 grams. If you did a loading phase, you transition to 3-5 g per day after the first week. If you choose not to load, you can start directly with 3-5 g daily. Just know it will take a few weeks for your muscles to gradually reach full saturation. In both cases, consistency is key. Take your daily dose every day to maintain elevated creatine levels.

 

Many users simply skip the loading phase to avoid taking large amounts initially, and instead use 5 grams each day from the start. By about the one-month mark, their muscle creatine content will be comparable to that of those who did the loading.

What is the best time to take creatine? This topic has been debated, and you’ll hear different opinions on whether to take creatine pre-workout or post-workout. You can take creatine at any time of day as long as you take it consistently. The effects of creatine come from raising your muscle stores over the long term, not an acute stimulant effect. Creatine is not like caffeine. You don’t feel it immediately after taking a dose. What matters most is that you get your 3-5 g every day. Taking it around your workout is a convenient habit and may have slight benefits.

Creatine and Pre-Workout Supplements: Can You Take Them Together?

If you’re new to supplementation, you might wonder about using creatine in combination with other workout supplements. A common question is how creatine interacts with “pre-workout” products (those multi-ingredient powders often taken before training for energy and pump). There are two main ways to go about it:

 

• Use a pre-workout with creatine included: Some pre-workout formulas contain a dose of creatine in them. If you check the label, you might see 3 g of creatine monohydrate per serving in certain products. Taking such a pre-workout with creatine can be convenient. You get your caffeine, amino acids, etc., plus your creatine, all in one scoop.
• Take a separate pre-workout supplement: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with consuming pre-workout and creatine separately. For instance, you could drink a caffeine-based pre-workout formula before exercise, and either mix creatine into it or take creatine at another time of day. Creatine is flavorless and mixes easily with most liquids, so you can even stir it into your post-workout protein shake or a glass of water/juice. Some people prefer this method to have more control over their creatine dose. It also allows you to use creatine even on days you skip the stimulant-heavy pre-workout.

 

Just be mindful of quality and dosing. Use a reputable creatine product and follow the pre-workout label instructions.

Creatine’s surge in popularity comes down to one thing: it works. Backed by science and used by athletes for decades, creatine has moved beyond bodybuilding into everyday fitness and health. Whether your goal is to PR on your lifts, improve your physique, or just stay strong as you get older, creatine deserves a spot in your toolkit. As always, use it in accordance with recommended guidelines, and if you have any medical conditions, get advice from a professional. But for the vast majority, creatine can be a game-changer on the road to your fitness goals, making those goals more attainable and your workouts more effective. That’s why creatine isn’t just a trend. It’s here to stay as a foundational supplement in the fitness world.

 

Sources:

• Denis Faye, "Here’s why creatine sales are surging this past year," SupplySide/Natural Products Insider, Feb 21, 2024.
• Mayo Clinic Staff, "Creatine," Mayo Clinic, Dec 13, 2023.
• Rudy Mawer, "FAQs About Creatine Side Effects – Is it Safe?" Healthline, updated June 3, 2024.
• UC Davis Health Sports Medicine, "DXA body composition analysis," UC Davis Health website.
• Grant Tinsley, "6 Types of Creatine and How to Choose the Best Option," Healthline, updated Nov 12, 2025.
• Vijay Jotwani, MD, "Creatine: How Does It Work, Is It Safe & When Should You Take It?" Houston Methodist, April 2024.