Creatine 101: What Every Macro Tracker Should Know

TL;DR

• Creatine monohydrate is the cheapest, most researched, and most effective strength supplement on the market
• 3-5g per day, every day, with no loading phase needed — loading just gets you there faster
• Makes the scale go up 1-2kg in the first couple of weeks due to intramuscular water, not fat
• Doesn’t need to be timed with workouts, doesn’t need cycling, doesn’t need fancy versions
• Minimal to zero caloric impact — you don’t need to track it as part of your macros

If you track macros and lift weights, creatine is the one supplement that’s actually worth taking. It’s been studied in hundreds of trials. The science is boring in the best way — it works, it’s safe, it’s cheap.

But it also comes with a lot of confusion: loading phases, timing, cycling, “creatine HCL vs monohydrate,” whether it causes water retention, whether it ruins your cut. Let’s sort through all of it.

What Creatine Actually Does

Creatine is a compound your body makes naturally and stores mostly in muscle. It helps regenerate ATP, which is the energy currency your cells use during short bursts of effort — sprinting, lifting, jumping.

The Mechanism in Plain English

• Your muscles use ATP for every contraction
• ATP is quickly depleted in heavy effort (5-10 seconds of max work)
• Creatine helps you make more ATP faster from ADP
• More available ATP means more reps before failure
• More reps over time means more muscle

What to Expect

Supplementing creatine increases how much is stored in your muscles. This translates to:

• More reps before fatigue on heavy sets
• Slightly more power per rep
• Faster recovery between sets
• Over months, more muscle gained vs not supplementing

Effect sizes are modest but real. Expect 5-10% strength gains above what you’d get without it, and meaningfully more muscle over months and years. If you’re trying to build muscle while staying lean, see our guide to body recomposition — creatine is one of the few supplements that genuinely helps.

The Forms: Don’t Overthink It

You’ll see dozens of creatine products in any supplement shop.

The Options

Form	Cost	Evidence	Verdict
Creatine monohydrate	Cheapest	Strongest	Buy this
Creatine HCL	3-5x more	Weak	Skip
Creatine ethyl ester	3x more	Weak	Skip
Buffered creatine (Kre-Alkalyn)	2-3x more	Weak	Skip
Creatine nitrate	4x more	Weak	Skip
Creatine magnesium chelate	3-5x more	Weak	Skip

The Recommendation

Buy monohydrate, usually labelled “micronised” (slightly better dissolution in water). That’s it. The fancier forms are marketing dressed up as science. Hundreds of studies on monohydrate; the new forms are comparison-to-monohydrate studies that show equivalent or worse results.

Where to Buy

• UK budget options: MyProtein, Bulk, Sci-MX — around £15-25 for 500g
• Supermarkets: Holland & Barrett stocks creatine, slightly pricier
• Avoid: Pre-packed 100g tubs at GNC, protein shake blends with undisclosed creatine amounts

How Much, How Often

Maintenance Dose

3-5g per day, every day.

Some evidence suggests larger people (90kg+) do marginally better at 5g, smaller people can get by on 3g. If in doubt, 5g is safe and cheap.

Loading Phase (Optional)

20g per day for 5-7 days, split into 4 doses of 5g, then drop to 3-5g per day.

The loading phase saturates your muscles faster (about one week vs three to four without loading). Results are identical after a month whether you loaded or not.

Skip Loading If

• You get GI upset from high doses (bloating, diarrhoea)
• You’re impatient but not THAT impatient
• You just don’t want to mess about

Just Take 5g Forever

This is what most long-term users do. No loading, no cycling, no thinking about it. 5g daily, forever. Simple, effective, no downside.

Timing Doesn’t Matter Much

There are studies showing post-workout timing is marginally better than pre-workout. The difference is small — far less important than what you eat before and after a workout overall.

When to Take It

• With your morning coffee
• With a meal
• In your protein shake
• Before or after training
• Literally whenever you’ll remember

What Actually Matters

Consistency matters way more than timing. If you miss a day, take it the next day. Don’t worry about “stacking” missed doses — just resume your normal schedule.

Does It Need Water?

You don’t need to chug gallons. Normal hydration is fine. Creatine doesn’t dehydrate you — that’s a myth. If anything, it helps your muscles hold water, which is part of the point.

That said, make sure you’re drinking enough water generally. 2-3 litres a day is a good baseline if you’re training.

The Scale Effect

Here’s where creatine intersects with macro tracking in a confusing way.

What Happens

Creatine pulls water into your muscle cells (intramuscular water, not subcutaneous). This makes your muscles slightly fuller and, yes, heavier. In the first 1-2 weeks of supplementing, most people see their scale weight go up by 1-2kg.

This Is Not Fat Gain

It’s water in your muscle, which is what you want. Your muscles literally look fuller and perform better because of it.

Managing This if You’re in a Cut

If you’re in a fat loss phase, the early water retention can be psychologically annoying — you’re trying to see the scale drop, and creatine makes it pause or reverse for a couple of weeks. Two approaches work:

1. Start creatine at the start of your cut. The water weight comes on early and stabilises before you’re tracking weekly progress.
2. Start it on maintenance or bulk. No data confusion during a cut.

Some people avoid creatine during a cut specifically to get cleaner scale data. This is personal preference — you’ll still lose fat, the scale just gets noisy for a bit.

What the Scale Does Over Time

Week	Typical Scale Change (on Creatine)
Week 1	+1-2kg (water)
Week 2	Stable at elevated weight
Week 3+	Resumes normal diet-driven pattern

After week 2, the water weight is baked in and the scale moves based on your actual deficit or surplus again. If a stalled scale during your cut is making you doubt your progress, our piece on why the scale plateaus and how to break through covers what’s noise vs. what’s a real stall.

Cycling: Don’t

You don’t need to cycle creatine. Take it continuously, forever, as long as you want the benefits.

Why People Think Cycling Is Needed

The idea came from comparisons with hormonal supplements (where cycling is important). Creatine is not hormonal. Your body doesn’t meaningfully downregulate its own production while you supplement.

What Happens If You Stop?

• Muscle creatine stores drop over 2-4 weeks
• Your natural production resumes normal levels
• You lose the performance edge
• The extra intramuscular water goes

Stopping is fine if you want to stop. But there’s no reason to cycle on and off.

Side Effects

For the vast majority of people: none.

Possible Minor Issues

• Mild GI upset from high doses or loading (solved by lowering dose or skipping loading)
• Water retention (intended, but some aesthetically don’t love it)
• Muscle cramps (rare, often misattributed to dehydration not creatine)

What the Research Actually Says

Decades of human studies show:

• No evidence of kidney damage in healthy individuals
• No evidence of liver damage
• No hormonal disruption
• Safe for long-term use

When to Check With a Doctor

• Existing kidney disease (creatine waste products are processed by kidneys)
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding (insufficient data, not necessarily harmful)
• On prescription medications affecting kidney function

For a healthy adult, creatine is one of the safest supplements ever studied.

Does Creatine Affect Your Macros?

Minimal. Creatine has no significant macronutrient content.

The Caloric Reality

• Creatine is an amino acid derivative
• You’re taking 3-5g per day
• The caloric contribution is essentially zero (under 10 calories)
• It contains no meaningful protein, carbs, or fat for tracking purposes

You don’t need to log it as part of your daily macros in Chowdown or anywhere else.

Who Should Take It

Definitely Worth It For

• Anyone doing resistance training
• Sprinters, jumpers, team sport athletes
• Anyone trying to build muscle
• Anyone trying to preserve muscle during a cut

Still Useful For

• Vegans and vegetarians — baseline creatine stores are lower since meat is a natural source
• Older adults (50+) — some evidence for cognitive and muscle-preservation benefits
• Women doing strength training — same benefits as men, no hormonal effects

Probably Don’t Bother

• Pure endurance athletes (minimal benefit, extra water weight might hurt at the elite level — see our macro guide for runners and endurance athletes for what actually moves the needle)
• If you don’t train hard at all

Common Questions

Can I mix it with whey protein?

Yes. Stir it into your shake. Taste isn’t affected much. If you’re not sure which protein powder to pair it with, our complete guide to protein powder types walks through whey, casein, and plant options.

Does creatine work better with carbs?

Slight uptake boost, but not enough to matter. Don’t force carbs with it.

What about creatine during Ramadan or intermittent fasting?

Take it once daily during your eating window. Timing doesn’t matter enough to disrupt your protocol.

Will creatine make me look “puffy”?

It adds intramuscular water, which typically makes muscles look fuller and more defined, not puffy. Subcutaneous water (under the skin) is what makes you look puffy — creatine doesn’t cause that.

How long before I notice effects?

Strength improvements usually within 2-4 weeks. Scale weight goes up in week 1.

Should I take it on rest days?

Yes. Daily consistency is what matters.

The Bottom Line

Creatine monohydrate, 3-5g daily, any time, for as long as you want. About £15-25 for 500g (which lasts 100+ days). You don’t need the fancy versions, the loading phase, or the cycling protocols.

If you’re tracking macros and lifting, it’s the closest thing to a free lunch in sports nutrition. Just account for the couple of kilos of intramuscular water in the first few weeks and don’t let it throw off your progress tracking.