Hi,
I’ve been taking 5g of creatine daily for the past 2 months. Before that, I’ve also been taking creatine on and off for years.
I’ve never noticed much of a different during the times that I take it vs when I don’t take it. My friends who take Creatine claim that they’re able to feel less fatigued, and life more weight at the gym. They also mention the “swole” effect.
I don’t notice any of those in myself. I was wondering if it’s time to stop buying Creatine if it doesn’t help me at all. But it’s possible that I’m not noticing the effects as well. Is there a way I could measure whether Creatine has an effect on my body and performance?
1 Like
Short of a muscle biopsy and identical twin…not really. Supplemental creatine probably works to some measurable degree in about 1/2 of folks. It could be more or less, as one of the few studies looking at response rate claims ~ 2/3 have a measurable response, but this data isn’t exactly iron-clad. Response rate seems to go up if a person has lower baseline levels of creatine stored in their muscles, as well as if they take the correct dose daily vs. another dosing schedule.
Still, we don’t know how “placebo-you” would’ve done with their training compared to “creatine-you”, which makes it hard to know what, if any, of your gainzZz are attributable to creatine. Creatine doesn’t really cause noticeable muscle swelling, weight gain (of any kind), etc.
While I think most people who say they can feel it are telling the truth, it’s hard to know what’s between the ears and what’s physiological.
My take?
Creatine is cheap, safe, and is likely to improve performance (and maybe health). Seems like a no brainer to take it for most folks, though it’s not essential either. The effects are modest, at best.
Just my 0.02.
-Jordan
2 Likes
Agreed. It’s possible that I’m not noticing much because I’m still in Block I of the beginner template. Maybe the effects will be more pronounced when I add more volume in subsequent blocks. I’ll continue to take it for now. Thanks, Jordan.