Creatine Monohydrate Supplementation for Athletic Performance
Recommended Dosing Protocol
For athletic performance enhancement, use a loading phase of 20 g/day divided into four equal doses (5 g each) for 5-7 days, followed by a maintenance dose of 3-5 g/day as a single dose. 1
Loading Phase (Days 1-7)
- Dose: 20 g/day divided into four equal doses of 5 g each 1, 2
- Duration: 5-7 days 1, 2
- Purpose: Rapidly saturates muscle creatine stores, increasing total muscle creatine content by 10-30% and phosphocreatine stores by 10-40% 3
- Expected effect: Body mass increase of 1-2 kg due to intracellular water retention 1
Maintenance Phase (Day 8 onwards)
- Dose: 3-5 g/day as a single dose 1, 4
- Duration: Continue throughout the supplementation period 1
- Note: Muscle creatine levels return to baseline approximately 4-6 weeks after cessation 1
Optimization Strategy
To maximize muscle creatine uptake, consume creatine with approximately 50 g of protein and carbohydrate together. 1 This combination stimulates insulin release and enhances creatine transport into muscle cells 1.
Performance Benefits
Creatine supplementation is most effective for:
- High-intensity, short-duration activities with improvements in maximal power/strength (5-15%), work performed during maximal effort contractions (5-15%), and repetitive sprint performance (5-15%) 3
- Resistance training adaptations with greater gains in strength and fat-free mass during training periods 3
- Not effective for endurance sports or prolonged aerobic activities 2
Alternative Dosing Without Loading Phase
If you prefer to skip the loading phase, use 3-5 g/day from the start, though muscle saturation will take approximately 3-4 weeks longer to achieve. 5 This approach is equally effective but requires more time to reach peak muscle creatine stores 5.
Safety Considerations
- Short-term use (up to 8 weeks at high doses) and long-term use (up to 5 years at maintenance doses) appear safe in healthy individuals 6, 5
- Common side effects include weight gain (from water retention), and rarely gastrointestinal distress, cramping, or dizziness 2
- Creatine monohydrate is the most studied and recommended form—other forms have not demonstrated superior efficacy or safety 5
- Theoretical concerns about renal dysfunction exist, but evidence is limited to isolated case reports in the literature 2
Important Caveats
- Approximately 30% of studies show no significant performance benefit, suggesting individual response variability 3
- Performance improvements are more consistently demonstrated in laboratory settings than in field-based sports activities 2
- Quality control of commercial products varies—contaminants from manufacturing (dicyandiamide, dihydrotriazines, creatinine) may be present in variable amounts 4