Creatine is one of the most studied, researched and publicly supported supplements on the market. Second perhaps only to caffeine in both its popularity and effectiveness.
Creatine is often praised for its versatility, offering benefits ranging from muscle building and performance enhancement to cognitive boosts such as improved memory and stress tolerance. It’s affordable, widely accessible, and has minimal side effects, making it a supplement with few reasons not to add it to your routine.
But when it comes to building muscle, how effective is creatine? Well, a massive new meta-analysis (lab talk for “multiple study studies”) has cut through the marketing hype to reveal how much weight you should gain from supplementing with creatine, and how much body fat, on average, you can expect to lose.
Let’s take a look.
A study
analysis published in The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, sought to determine the effect of creatine supplementation on changes in body composition using resistance training in adults under 50 years of age. After reviewing nearly 1,700 records, the researchers took data from the 12 strongest studies and compared the results.
Results: How much can I gain from creatine?
On average, based on research data, trainees with experience using creatine are:
Lean mass gain: 1.1 kg
Fat loss: 0.7 kg
Fat loss cannot necessarily be directly attributed to creatine supplementation and is more than likely due to increased energy expenditure due to increased activity and increased muscle mass. That being said, fat loss is fat loss, whether or not it is a direct result of ingesting creatine.
One common criticism of the “benefits” of creatine is that the vast majority of added lean mass is in the form of intramuscular water. While this is mostly true, it should be noted that muscle is generally about 76% water, so added water weight is still a good thing. If this looks like like a bigger muscle and acts like a stronger muscle, we’re splitting hairs to say it’s “just water weight.”
What does this mean for us?
These numbers can help us be realistic about our expectations for creatine supplements.
These results are broad averages, so it’s important to note that individual responses to creatine supplementation can vary greatly. Some people, called non-responders, may experience minimal benefits, while hyper-responders may experience significant benefits. This variability is largely dependent on your body’s natural ability to store creatine. Those who naturally store less creatine may benefit more from supplementation, while those with higher creatine stores may see less pronounced effects.
Should I be taking creatine?
Even if these numbers bother you, it’s important to remember that creatine remains one of the most effective, well-studied, and safest options for increasing performance in the gym and in sports. Aside from things like protein shakes and caffeinated beverages, creatine is really the low-hanging fruit for increasing your muscle mass, increasing your strength, and increasing your power.
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With nearly 18 years in the health and fitness industry as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breathing coach, and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life researching how to help people improve their bodies and minds.
As our fitness editor, he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable, and reliable training information, whether it’s writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, diving deep into the science behind muscle building and fat loss, or the psychology of performance and recovery.
Constantly expanding his knowledge base through seminars and courses, Andrew loves both the practical and the theoretical and regularly challenges his training with everything from Crossfit and strength competitions to ultramarathons to multiple 24-hour training sessions and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.
You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey or just hold up the “free pizza” sign and wait for him to appear.
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