Creatine Monohydrate: The Most Studied Supplement in History (and Why You Should Take It)

We are going to be direct with you: if you spend any amount of time in the gym and you are not taking creatine, you are leaving results on the table. That is not a sales pitch. That is what the research says, and the research on creatine is not thin or ambiguous. We are talking about hundreds of peer-reviewed studies conducted over more than three decades, involving thousands of participants, with remarkably consistent findings.

Creatine monohydrate is not a sexy supplement. Nobody is making viral TikToks about it. There is no "biohacker" angle, no exotic origin story, no revolutionary new delivery system that justifies a 400% markup. It is a white powder that you put in water and drink. Five grams a day. That is the whole protocol.

And yet, despite being the most studied supplement in the history of sports nutrition, creatine is still surrounded by myths, confusion, and genuinely bad advice. People still think it damages your kidneys. People still think you need to "cycle" it. People still pay triple the price for creatine HCl because an Instagram ad told them monohydrate is outdated. None of that is supported by published evidence.

So we wrote this guide. Not because the world needs another creatine article, but because most of the existing ones either bury the useful information under affiliate links or get basic facts wrong. We are going to walk through exactly how creatine works, what the research actually says, how to dose it, which forms are worth your money (spoiler: monohydrate), and what you can realistically expect from supplementation.

What Creatine Actually Is

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound made from three amino acids: arginine, glycine, and methionine. Your body produces about 1-2 grams of creatine per day, primarily in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. You also get creatine from food, mostly red meat and fish. A pound of raw beef contains roughly 2 grams of creatine. A pound of raw herring has about 3-4 grams.

About 95% of the creatine in your body is stored in skeletal muscle, with the remaining 5% distributed across the brain, kidneys, and liver. Of that muscle-stored creatine, roughly two-thirds exists as phosphocreatine (creatine bound to a phosphate group) and one-third as free creatine.

This distinction matters because phosphocreatine is the form that directly participates in energy production during high-intensity exercise. When you supplement with creatine monohydrate, you are increasing both your free creatine and phosphocreatine stores, which expands your capacity to produce energy during short, intense efforts.

The average person who eats a mixed diet (including meat) has muscle creatine stores that are about 60-80% saturated. Supplementation can push that saturation up to the 100% ceiling. Vegetarians and vegans, who get very little dietary creatine, tend to have lower baseline stores and often see even larger benefits from supplementation.

How Creatine Works: The Phosphocreatine System

To understand why creatine supplementation works, you need a quick overview of how your muscles produce energy. We will keep this brief and practical.

Your muscles run on adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Every time a muscle fiber contracts, it breaks a phosphate group off an ATP molecule, converting it to ADP (adenosine diphosphate) and releasing energy. The problem is your muscles only store enough ATP for roughly 8-10 seconds of maximal effort. After that, you need to regenerate ATP from other sources, and you need to do it fast.

This is where the phosphocreatine system comes in. It is the fastest pathway your body has for regenerating ATP. Phosphocreatine donates its phosphate group to ADP, converting it back to ATP almost instantaneously. The enzyme that catalyzes this reaction is called creatine kinase, and the whole process happens without requiring oxygen -- which is why it dominates energy production during anaerobic efforts like heavy lifting, sprinting, and jumping.

The catch is that phosphocreatine stores are also limited. During an all-out sprint or a heavy set of squats, your phosphocreatine gets depleted within 10-15 seconds. Once those stores are drained, your body shifts to slower energy systems (glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation), and the intensity you can sustain drops.

Here is the key insight: when you supplement with creatine and increase your intramuscular phosphocreatine stores, you extend the window during which this fast energy system can operate. You get a few more seconds of peak power output. In practical terms, that might mean two extra reps on a heavy set, a slightly faster sprint repeat, or better power output at the end of a high-intensity interval.

Those extra reps accumulate over weeks and months of training. More total training volume at a given intensity leads to greater adaptations in strength and muscle size. Creatine does not make you stronger in a direct pharmacological sense. It increases your capacity to do the work that makes you stronger.

The Resynthesis Window

Phosphocreatine resynthesis happens during rest periods between sets. Complete replenishment takes about 3-5 minutes, with roughly 85% recovery happening in the first 2 minutes. When you supplement with creatine, some research suggests the resynthesis rate may be slightly faster, which could improve performance during repeated high-intensity bouts with short rest intervals (Buford et al., 2007).

This is one reason creatine tends to show its biggest performance effects in protocols involving repeated sets or intervals rather than single-effort maximum tests. If you are doing one set of one rep and then sitting down for 10 minutes, creatine is not going to do much. If you are doing 5 sets of 5 with 2-minute rest periods, the accumulated benefit across sets becomes meaningful.

The Research Base (It Is Enormous)

We keep saying creatine is the most studied supplement in history, so let us back that up with specifics.

The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) published a comprehensive position stand on creatine supplementation in 2017 (Kreider et al., 2017). This was not a single study. It was a systematic review of the entire body of creatine research, and it drew on over 500 peer-reviewed studies. Their conclusions were unambiguous:

• Creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes for increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass during training
• Creatine monohydrate supplementation is not only safe, but has been reported to have a number of therapeutic benefits in healthy and diseased populations ranging from infants to the elderly
• There is no compelling scientific evidence that the short- or long-term use of creatine monohydrate has any detrimental effects on otherwise healthy individuals

Branch (2003) published a meta-analysis covering 100 studies and found that creatine supplementation produced an average increase of 8% in strength and 14% in the number of repetitions performed at a given percentage of max. These are meaningful, practical differences that accumulate over training cycles.

Rawson and Volek (2003) reviewed the effects of creatine supplementation on strength and power in their meta-analysis and concluded that the average increase in muscle strength (measured across various protocols including 1RM, isometric force, and endurance reps) was 8% greater in creatine-supplemented groups compared to placebo, while the increase in weightlifting performance was 14% greater.

That is not one promising study at a single university. That is the aggregate finding from hundreds of studies conducted by independent research groups around the world. The consistency of the data is what makes creatine remarkable. You will be hard-pressed to find another supplement where the effect sizes are this consistent across this many studies, populations, and protocols.

Benefits for Strength and Muscle

The primary, well-established benefits of creatine supplementation for strength training include:

Increased Strength and Power Output

The data is consistent across dozens of studies: creatine supplementation combined with resistance training produces greater increases in maximal strength compared to resistance training alone. The effect is most pronounced in compound movements (squat, bench press, deadlift) and in rep ranges where the phosphocreatine system dominates energy production (roughly 1-10 reps at high intensity).

Greater Training Volume

Because creatine helps you maintain power output for slightly longer, you can accumulate more total volume at a given intensity. Over the course of a training session, this might mean 5-10% more total reps performed. Over weeks of training, this adds up to a meaningful difference in the total stimulus applied to the muscle.

Increased Lean Body Mass

Studies consistently show that creatine supplementation during resistance training leads to greater gains in lean body mass compared to training with placebo. Part of this is increased intracellular water (more on that later), but multiple studies measuring muscle fiber cross-sectional area have confirmed actual muscle hypertrophy beyond the water effect.

There is also evidence that creatine may enhance satellite cell activity and increase myonuclear number, which could have long-term implications for muscle growth potential (Kreider et al., 2017). Satellite cells are the precursor cells that donate their nuclei to muscle fibers, supporting repair and growth. More nuclei per fiber means greater capacity for protein synthesis.

Improved Recovery Between Sets

Faster phosphocreatine resynthesis during rest periods means you start each subsequent set with more available energy. This is especially relevant for training protocols with moderate rest periods (60-120 seconds) and for sports that involve repeated sprints or explosive efforts.

Benefits for Your Brain

This is the area of creatine research that has gotten increasingly interesting over the past decade. Your brain, despite being only about 2% of your body weight, consumes roughly 20% of your total energy. It relies heavily on ATP, and it has its own phosphocreatine stores to buffer energy demands during periods of high cognitive activity.

Rae et al. (2003) published a study in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B that gave healthy volunteers either creatine (5g/day for six weeks) or placebo and then tested them on working memory and processing speed tasks. The creatine group showed significant improvements in both measures. The effect was substantial -- working memory scores improved by roughly 20% compared to placebo.

Avgerinos et al. (2018) conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of six randomized controlled trials examining creatine supplementation and cognitive function. Their findings showed that creatine supplementation improved short-term memory and reasoning, with stronger effects observed under conditions of stress -- specifically, sleep deprivation and mental fatigue.

The cognitive benefit angle is particularly relevant for a few groups:

• Vegetarians and vegans -- Because they get essentially zero dietary creatine, their brain creatine stores may be lower. Several studies have shown that the cognitive benefits of supplementation are more pronounced in people who do not eat meat.
• Older adults -- Age-related cognitive decline is associated with reduced brain energy metabolism. Creatine supplementation has shown promise in improving cognitive performance in older populations, though the research here is still developing.
• People under acute stress or sleep deprivation -- The meta-analysis data suggests creatine is most beneficial for cognitive performance when the brain is under energetic stress. If you are well-rested and unstressed, the cognitive boost may be minimal. If you slept five hours and have a demanding day ahead, the phosphocreatine buffer in your brain becomes more relevant.

We want to be clear about the maturity of this research. The cognitive data is promising but not nearly as extensive as the exercise performance data. We have hundreds of exercise studies and a relative handful of cognitive studies. The direction of the evidence is consistent and encouraging, but we would not recommend creatine primarily as a cognitive supplement just yet. Think of the brain benefits as a meaningful bonus on top of the well-established physical performance benefits.

Dosing: Loading, Maintenance, and the 5g Consensus

The ISSN position stand (Kreider et al., 2017) describes two evidence-based protocols for creatine supplementation:

Protocol 1: Loading Phase Followed by Maintenance

Take 20 grams per day (divided into 4 doses of 5 grams each) for 5-7 days. This rapidly saturates your muscle creatine stores, typically achieving full saturation within one week. After the loading phase, switch to a maintenance dose of 3-5 grams per day.

The loading protocol gets your stores to their ceiling faster, which means you start experiencing the full benefits sooner. The downside is that 20 grams of creatine per day can cause GI discomfort, bloating, and a rapid initial increase in body weight from water retention. Splitting the dose into 4 servings and taking each with food helps mitigate the digestive issues.

Protocol 2: Maintenance Only (No Loading)

Take 3-5 grams per day from day one. Your muscle creatine stores will reach full saturation in approximately 3-4 weeks. The endpoint is the same as the loading protocol -- you just get there more gradually.

This is the approach we recommend for most people. There is no functional advantage to loading unless you need the benefits immediately (for instance, if a competition is coming up in two weeks). For the average lifter who plans to take creatine indefinitely, starting with 5 grams daily and letting saturation build naturally is simpler, causes fewer side effects, and arrives at the same destination.

The 5g Consensus

Five grams per day is the dose that appears most frequently in the research and is the standard recommendation from the ISSN. For context:

• Under 140 lbs body weight: 3 grams per day is likely sufficient for saturation
• 140-200 lbs body weight: 5 grams per day is the standard recommendation
• Over 200 lbs with significant muscle mass: Some researchers have suggested 5-10 grams per day may be warranted, though the evidence for doses above 5g in maintenance is limited

The practical recommendation is simple: take 5 grams per day. A kitchen teaspoon, slightly rounded, is close enough. You do not need to be precise to the milligram. Consistency matters far more than exactness.

Do You Need to Cycle Creatine?

No. There is no evidence that cycling creatine provides any benefit. Your body does not develop a tolerance to creatine. Long-term supplementation has not been shown to suppress your body's natural creatine production in any meaningful way. The ISSN position stand explicitly states that long-term creatine supplementation (up to 5 years in the studies reviewed) does not appear to have any adverse effects.

Take it every day. Do not stop and start. Do not take it only on training days. Daily supplementation maintains your intramuscular creatine stores at their ceiling, which is the entire point.

Creatine Forms Compared: Monohydrate vs. Everything Else

The supplement industry has produced a remarkable number of alternative creatine forms over the past 20 years, each marketed as an improvement over plain monohydrate. The marketing budgets behind these forms are significant. The research supporting their superiority is not.

Here is an honest comparison:

The pattern is clear. Every alternative form costs more than monohydrate. None have demonstrated superior performance outcomes in controlled research. Some are actually worse. The entire "premium creatine form" category exists because of marketing, not science.

Creatine monohydrate is the form used in the overwhelming majority of published research. When a study says creatine supplementation improves performance, they used monohydrate. The evidence base belongs to monohydrate. Other forms are borrowing the credibility of monohydrate research while charging you more for an unproven reformulation.

For a detailed comparison of specific products and our tested recommendations, check our Best Creatine Supplements in 2026 review.

Timing: Does It Matter When You Take It?

This is one of those questions that gets way more attention than it deserves. The short answer: no, timing does not meaningfully matter. Take creatine whenever it is convenient for you to take it consistently.

The longer answer: a few studies have looked at pre-workout vs. post-workout creatine timing. Antonio and Ciccone (2013) found a slight advantage for post-workout supplementation in terms of lean mass and strength gains over a 4-week period. However, the effect was small, the study was short, and other research has not consistently replicated the finding.

The reason timing is largely irrelevant comes back to how creatine works. You are not taking creatine for an acute, immediate effect during your workout (unlike caffeine, for example). You are taking creatine to maintain saturated intramuscular stores over time. Whether you add to those stores at 7 AM or 7 PM or right after your workout does not change the fact that your muscles are full of creatine when you train.

Think of it like filling a water tank. It does not matter what time of day you add water. What matters is that the tank stays full. As long as you are taking your 5 grams daily without skipping days, the timing is irrelevant.

Common timing strategies that all work equally well:

• Mixed into your morning coffee or water
• Added to a protein shake
• Thrown into a pre-workout drink
• Stirred into water and taken with a meal
• Taken post-workout with a shake or food

Pick whichever option makes you most likely to remember to take it every single day. That is the optimal timing protocol.

Water Retention: Myths vs. Facts

The "creatine makes you bloated" narrative is one of the most persistent and most misunderstood topics in sports nutrition. Here is what is actually happening.

Fact: Creatine Increases Intracellular Water

When creatine is stored in muscle cells, it draws water in with it through osmosis. This is intracellular water -- water inside the muscle cell, not water sitting under your skin or in your abdominal cavity. This increase in cell hydration is actually a beneficial process. Cell swelling is a known stimulus for protein synthesis, and it contributes to the hypertrophic signaling cascade.

Fact: You Will Likely Gain 2-4 Pounds Initially

Most people see a 2-4 pound increase in body weight during the first 1-2 weeks of creatine supplementation, especially if they use a loading protocol. This is almost entirely water weight. It is not fat. It is not even particularly visible to most people. Your muscles may look slightly fuller -- many lifters consider this a positive cosmetic effect.

Myth: Creatine Makes You Look Puffy or Bloated

Subcutaneous water retention (water between the skin and muscle that creates a soft, bloated appearance) has not been demonstrated as a consistent effect of creatine supplementation in controlled studies. The water is going into the muscle cells, not under your skin. If anything, increased intracellular hydration tends to make muscles look more full and defined, not less.

Some people do experience GI bloating during the loading phase due to the large bolus doses of creatine sitting in the stomach and intestines. This is a digestive issue, not a body composition issue, and it resolves after the loading phase ends (or does not occur at all if you skip loading and go straight to 5g/day maintenance).

Myth: The Weight You Gain on Creatine Is "Not Real"

This one is strange because it is half-true. The initial weight gain is water, which is real weight but not muscle tissue or fat. However, over weeks and months of training with creatine supplementation, the additional training volume you can accumulate does lead to real increases in muscle protein and lean tissue that are independent of water retention. Multiple studies measuring muscle fiber cross-sectional area have confirmed genuine hypertrophy with creatine supplementation beyond the water effect.

What to Expect Practically

In the first two weeks, expect a 2-4 pound bump on the scale. Do not panic. Do not adjust your calories. After the initial period, your weight will stabilize at this slightly higher baseline. From there, any additional weight changes are from your diet and training, not from the creatine.

If you are actively trying to make weight for a sport with weight classes, creatine supplementation is still fine -- you just need to account for the water weight when planning your weight management strategy. Many combat sport athletes and powerlifters supplement with creatine year-round and simply factor the extra 2-4 pounds into their weight cut timing.

Safety Profile: What Decades of Research Tell Us

Creatine monohydrate has been used as a supplement since the early 1990s and has been studied in controlled research for over 30 years. The safety data is more extensive than what exists for most over-the-counter medications.

The ISSN position stand (Kreider et al., 2017) reviewed studies examining creatine supplementation ranging from weeks to years and concluded that there is no compelling evidence of adverse health effects in healthy individuals at recommended doses. Let us go through the specific concerns people raise:

Kidney Function

This is the most common safety concern, and it has been addressed repeatedly in the literature. Creatine supplementation does increase serum creatinine levels. Creatinine is a breakdown product of creatine, and it is commonly used as a marker for kidney function in blood tests. Higher creatinine levels can make it look like your kidneys are struggling, but this is a measurement artifact, not actual kidney damage.

Multiple studies have directly measured kidney function (using more sensitive markers like cystatin C and actual glomerular filtration rate) in creatine users and found no impairment. A study by Poortmans and Francaux (2000) measured kidney function in athletes taking creatine for months to years and found no negative effects.

The important caveat: if you have pre-existing kidney disease or significantly impaired kidney function, talk to your doctor before supplementing with creatine. The safety data applies to healthy kidneys. For people with compromised renal function, the calculus may be different.

Liver Function

No adverse effects on liver function have been demonstrated in published research on creatine supplementation. The liver is involved in creatine synthesis, but supplementation does not appear to stress liver function in healthy individuals.

Dehydration and Muscle Cramps

This concern comes from the fact that creatine draws water into muscle cells, which theoretically could dehydrate surrounding tissues. In practice, controlled studies have not found increased rates of dehydration, cramping, or heat illness in creatine users compared to non-users (Lopez et al., 2009). Some data actually suggests creatine may reduce the incidence of cramping and heat-related illness.

That said, staying adequately hydrated is always good practice, and it is especially sensible when taking a supplement that increases intracellular water demands. Drink your water.

Hair Loss

A single study (van der Merwe et al., 2009) found that creatine supplementation increased dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels in college-age rugby players. DHT is linked to androgenic alopecia in genetically susceptible individuals. This study has not been replicated, and subsequent studies examining hormonal responses to creatine have not found meaningful changes in testosterone or DHT.

We wrote about this more extensively in our creatine review, but the honest answer is: the current weight of evidence does not support the claim that creatine causes hair loss. One small study found a hormonal change that could theoretically contribute to hair loss in genetically predisposed individuals. That is a far cry from "creatine causes hair loss." But we cannot definitively rule it out either, because the specific mechanism has not been studied enough to close the question entirely.

GI Distress

Some people do experience stomach discomfort, diarrhea, or nausea with creatine supplementation, particularly during the loading phase. This is typically a function of dose size and can be managed by:

• Skipping the loading phase and using 5g/day from the start
• Taking creatine with food rather than on an empty stomach
• Splitting the dose into two 2.5g servings if 5g at once causes issues
• Ensuring you drink adequate water with each dose
• Using micronized creatine, which dissolves more readily

If these strategies do not resolve GI issues, creatine HCl is a reasonable alternative due to its higher solubility and smaller particle size.

Who Should Take Creatine (and Who Should Talk to a Doctor First)

Based on the research, creatine supplementation is appropriate and potentially beneficial for:

• Anyone doing resistance training -- The performance and body composition benefits are well-established across age groups and experience levels.
• Athletes in power and sprint sports -- Football, basketball, soccer, track sprints, swimming sprints, combat sports, and any sport involving repeated bursts of high-intensity effort.
• Vegetarians and vegans -- Lower baseline creatine stores mean potentially larger benefits from supplementation, for both physical and cognitive performance.
• Older adults -- Creatine combined with resistance training has shown promising results for maintaining muscle mass, strength, and bone mineral density in aging populations. The cognitive benefits are also particularly relevant here.
• Anyone interested in the cognitive benefits -- Especially if you experience periods of sleep deprivation, high stress, or demanding cognitive workloads.

You should consult a doctor before supplementing if you have:

• Pre-existing kidney disease or impaired renal function
• A liver condition
• A history of compartment syndrome
• Any condition where fluid retention could be problematic (certain cardiovascular conditions, for example)

Creatine supplementation has been studied in adolescents and appears safe, though the research in this age group is less extensive than in adults. The American Academy of Pediatrics has not issued a clear endorsement or prohibition. If you are a parent considering creatine for a teenage athlete, a conversation with their physician is warranted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does creatine expire?

Creatine monohydrate is extremely stable in powder form. Most products have a shelf life of 2-3 years, but properly stored (cool, dry, sealed container) creatine remains effective well beyond that. If the powder still looks and smells normal -- no clumping from moisture, no discoloration, no off smells -- it is almost certainly fine.

Can women take creatine?

Yes. Creatine is not a hormone and does not have androgenic effects. The performance benefits, safety profile, and dosing recommendations are the same for women as for men. Research in female athletes and active women consistently shows the same pattern of improved strength and power output with supplementation. The weight gain from water retention tends to be slightly less in women (1-2 pounds on average vs. 2-4 in men), likely due to differences in total muscle mass.

Should I take creatine on rest days?

Yes. Every day. The goal is to maintain saturated intramuscular creatine stores at all times. Skipping rest days would allow those stores to gradually deplete, which defeats the purpose. Think of it like a daily vitamin. You take it regardless of whether you are training that day.

Can I mix creatine with anything?

Creatine mixes fine with water, juice, coffee, protein shakes, pre-workout drinks, and basically any liquid. It is tasteless and odorless in its unflavored form. Heat does not degrade creatine at the temperatures you would encounter in a hot coffee or warm beverage. Early concerns about caffeine interfering with creatine absorption have not been consistently supported in more recent research.

How long until I notice results?

If you use a loading protocol, you may notice a slight improvement in training performance within 5-7 days (along with the initial water weight gain). With maintenance dosing only, full saturation takes about 3-4 weeks, so any performance benefit will take at least that long to manifest. The effects are also subtle -- creatine is not going to make you feel like a different person in the gym. You might get one or two extra reps on heavy sets. Over months of training, that compounds into measurably greater progress.

What happens if I stop taking creatine?

Your intramuscular creatine stores will return to pre-supplementation levels over the course of 4-6 weeks. You will lose the water weight (2-4 pounds). You will lose the marginal training performance advantage. You will not lose muscle or strength that you built while supplementing -- those adaptations are real tissue changes. You simply lose the ongoing performance boost.

Is creatine a steroid?

No. Creatine is not a steroid, not a hormone, and not an anabolic agent. It is a naturally occurring compound found in food and produced by your body. It works by supporting energy metabolism, not by altering hormone levels. Creatine is legal in all sports governing bodies, not banned by WADA, NCAA, IOC, or any major athletic organization.

Can I take creatine while cutting?

Yes, and there is actually a good argument for it. During a caloric deficit, maintaining training performance is harder because your body has less available energy. Creatine helps buffer that performance decline by keeping your phosphocreatine stores topped off. Additionally, the anti-catabolic effects of creatine (through cell hydration signaling and potentially satellite cell activation) may help preserve lean mass during a cut. The 2-4 pounds of water weight can be confusing if you are tracking scale weight closely, but it is not interfering with fat loss.

The Bottom Line

Creatine monohydrate is the single most validated supplement in sports nutrition history. The evidence is not ambiguous, preliminary, or limited to specific populations. Hundreds of studies across three decades consistently show that 3-5 grams per day increases strength, power output, and lean body mass when combined with training. Emerging research also supports benefits for brain function, particularly under conditions of stress and sleep deprivation.

It costs less than a dollar a day at standard dosing. It has an extensive safety profile. No other form of creatine has shown any advantage over plain monohydrate in peer-reviewed research. You do not need to load, cycle, or time it precisely. Just take 5 grams a day, every day, and keep training.

If you are looking for specific product recommendations, we tested and ranked seven popular creatine supplements in our Best Creatine in 2026 review. If you are trying to figure out the rest of your supplement stack, our guides on daily protein requirements and pre-workout supplements cover the other two supplements we think are actually worth taking.

The supplement industry profits from complexity. Creatine is simple. Buy monohydrate, take five grams, and stop overthinking it.

References

1. Kreider, R.B., Kalman, D.S., Antonio, J., et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14(18).
2. Buford, T.W., Kreider, R.B., Stout, J.R., et al. (2007). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 4(6).
3. Branch, J.D. (2003). Effect of creatine supplementation on body composition and performance: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 13(2), 198-226.
4. Rawson, E.S. & Volek, J.S. (2003). Effects of creatine supplementation and resistance training on muscle strength and weightlifting performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 17(4), 822-831.
5. Rae, C., Digney, A.L., McEwan, S.R., & Bates, T.C. (2003). Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 270(1529), 2147-2150.
6. Avgerinos, K.I., Spyrou, N., Bougioukas, K.I., et al. (2018). Effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function of healthy individuals: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Experimental Gerontology, 108, 166-173.
7. Poortmans, J.R. & Francaux, M. (2000). Adverse effects of creatine supplementation: fact or fiction? Sports Medicine, 30(3), 155-170.
8. Antonio, J. & Ciccone, V. (2013). The effects of pre versus post workout supplementation of creatine monohydrate on body composition and strength. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 10(1), 36.