The BEST Way To Use Creatine For Muscle Growth (4 STEPS)
The BEST Way To Use Creatine For Muscle Growth (4 STEPS)
Creatine is an effective and safe supplement to help you build stronger and bigger muscles. But science also reveals that, when it comes to how to take creatine, there’s a specific way to use it (e.g., creatine before or after workout?) to maximize its benefits and save money while you’re at it. Today, I’ll show you how to do just that in 4 easy steps. But before that, what is creatine? And what creatine benefits can you expect?
What is creatine? Creatine is a substance we naturally produce and use up as an energy source to power our muscles through the first 10 seconds or so of high intensity activities. Increasing our natural creatine levels through supplementation can provide a significant boost in power and strength during our workouts which overtime has been shown to translate to significantly greater muscle growth.
But it’s very easy to waste a bunch of money on creatine without fully reaping its benefits. The first step to avoiding that is to make sure you pick the right type of creatine. Let’s reference a 2021 review that analyzed 8 creatine types to determine which was most effective. It also broke down the costs per serving for the different forms of creatine, and found creatine monohydrate to be the cheapest. As it turns out, all 8 worked just as effectively at boosting muscle creatine levels. Meaning? Given that you could save over a dollar every single day from sticking to plain old creatine monohydrate, save your money and stick to that!
The next step in understanding how to take creatine is its dosage. What I’d recommend is stick to 3g per day, a little less than the typical scoop size, as that’s going to be more than enough for the vast majority of people. Those on the heavier side may benefit from just a slightly higher dose based on your bodyweight. Now with that being said, when you first start taking creatine, you may actually want to consider bumping up the dose far above this. This is where step 3 comes into play.
It takes time for creatine levels in your muscles to gradually increase and fully saturate. Depending on how fast you’d like to experience the benefits of creatine, there are 2 protocols you can use. The loading protocol saturates your muscles in 7 days, while the non-loading protocol takes about 3 to 4 weeks. The loading method is advantageous if you’d like to reap the benefits as quickly as possible. It’s also the protocol I’d recommend if you’re dieting. The only potential downside of a loading protocol could be some digestive distress from taking so much at once, but this seems to be mitigated if you space out your 20 grams over the day.
Step 4: when to take it and what to avoid taking it with to maximize its benefit. So, creatine before or after workout? Well, remember that creatine doesn’t have an immediate effect. This means that taking it pre-workout doesn’t provide any unique benefit. As for what to take it with, there is some evidence that taking creatine with carbohydrates and protein increases saturation levels more than just taking creatine on its own, but this only really makes a difference during the initial saturation phase.
That said, there is a small possibility that caffeine consumption may actually hinder the benefits of creatine. For now, the best recommendations are if you’re extremely concerned about the potential interference between caffeine and creatine, ditch regular caffeine consumption as creatine tends to provide greater benefits overtime. Instead, save your caffeine consumption just for times or workouts when you need it the most. But that can be a tough ask for many. In which case, a more suitable alternative is to simply avoid taking creatine and caffeine together. But again, research is far from conclusive.
Here are the main key points to get the most bang for your buck. Using creatine monohydrate, follow either the loading protocol or non-loading protocol to saturate your muscles and then take about 3g of it whenever you wish every day to maintain it. Then, after a few weeks, there are a few signs you want to look for to see if it’s working for you. It won’t work for everyone. But don’t worry, this is something I’m going to cover in a follow up video!
All that said, guys, creatine, just like any other supplement, is not magic. It doesn’t do the work for you. But when paired with the right training and nutrition plan, can help give you a bit of an edge. And if you’re looking for a simple yet effective science-based program you can trust, that shows you exactly how to train and how to eat to transform your body as efficiently as possible, then take the analysis quiz to discover which science-based program would be best for you and where your body is currently at below:
https://builtwithscience.com/your-potential-realized/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Video&utm_campaign=How+To+Use+Creatine+To+Build+Muscle+%285+Steps%29&utm_term=13%2F03%2F2022
Subscribe to my channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/jeremyethier/?sub_confirmation=1
3:53
0.03 * 170 = 5.1 not 2.3
Hey is it possible to take both creatine and protein powder at the same time ?
I am taking creatine 7-8 months
I am lean 😢
I do gym regular
Diet is normal home no fast food
is it ok if i take 15g a day for 7 days instead of 20g?
https://youtu.be/ICsO-EHI_vM?si=PO-6oGZ8AySF1Xp1
Is there any creatine or weight mass that doesn’t effect defecate? Because every time i used any of this, it affects my stomach.
Gotta get back on creatine!!! My dealer is in jail!!
I out my weight into the equation down in 5:52 and got 7grams per day
Am taking 4 grams
As I’m watching this I’m drinking my shake with creatine and caffeine
0.03 x 170=5.1
Creatine hcl is the only one that doesn’t make me nauseous
Turn your stupid music off.
ok so i drink water with creatine ? and for 3gram , how much water ?
For Best Results, Snort it
💯thx
if you use the loading method.. 9/12/3/6 does that mean you need to work out 4x a day???
0.03×172=5.76
Should we take creatine on rest days as well?
What if i take 10 grams first week and 3 grams every other week after , i think it’s better than 20 grams directly when u can have discomfort and dont know how ur body is gonna react. Think i will try out 10 grams
guys i have cardiac arrhythmia can i workout and take creatine normally? or its bad for my health?
I like taking it in the morning. Mix it in with my protein shake while i have my oats
Is there a method in-between e.g 6g of Creatine for 2 weeks to reach saturation and then dropping down to 3g after?
I have heard that there is a strong correlation between creatine and hair loss for men. Is that at all true?
Can you mix creatine with a protein shake and also mix in the shake glutamine? So protein, creatine and glutamine in one shake for post workout? Safe? Not safe? Beneficial or not? How about creatine mixed with l carnatine? Is that ok to mix together pre workout or in the moring ?
I took five grams the first time and it did hit me right away not sure what this guys saying. It definitely has some effects not saying it’s like caffeine but I felt something
bruh same, before workout makes me feel terrible i swear sp uncomfortable
Should I mix my creatine with my protein smoothie/shake? Or just ditch the protein powder?
Why does everyone keep saying taking creatine before workout boost your energy? Isn’t creatine a pre work out?
.03×170= 5.1 help
i’m 15 years old and going to the gym reguarly. i have been going now for about 1 month and would really like to start taking creatine. should i or should i wait a couple years?
Hope this helps clear up any confusion you may have had about taking creatine! What other supplements would you like me to cover? Comment below! And for those interested, you can check out the full written article here: https://builtwithscience.com/build-muscle-faster-creatine/
i think if u get 5 g before gym and 5 g after gym its best
loading has been proved to be more a marketing ploy – so it is said. gonna have to look into the caffeine effect, as that’s not good (I love coffeeeeeeeeeee).
This may be a really bad question but If I take Creatine and chug it with a big amount of water and pee right after will it still be fully absorbed?
That’s Popeyes Victoria.
Holy crap, my scoop size is 9.5g per serving. I got Transparent Labs Creatine Monohydrate with HMB. Should i take half of it or still use the full scoop?
Can i grow taller if i take creatine
3.7 I js checked for me soo looks like 3 is good
Hey Jeremy, my name is Tobbie and I’m from Nigeria.
I’m a skinny beginner, and after watching your videos, you honestly motivated me to finally start working out.
Your energy and passion really push me to believe I can do this! I would be so grateful if you could create a simple workout routine for someone like me, along with some diet advice.
I promise to stay consistent and give it my best.
Thanks for being such an inspiration—please keep doing what you do!
0.03 x 170lbs = 5.1g (which about the recommended amount) not 2.3g
0.03 X 170 = 5.1 not 2.3
175 pound male needs 3 or 4 grams of monohydrate a day. You may notice 5 to 10 percent gains in your progression goals.
The most effective supplement is patience.
I prefer to take creatine in pill form. Is this viable?
0.03×170 is 5.1 and not 2.3
So if i drink my morning coffee an hour before my creating dose shouldn’t be an issue ?;
what are those vests called.
I might be stupid, but im js hoping on. Is it better to take it with water like it says, or to js dry scoup since it doesnt rlly dissolve in water very well
dont forget to tell ppl it stores mostly muscles …..studies shows it stores in those areas even without working out..but you need to hava a job walking moving around .,..
Bro it is better to take Atom Creasure for good results