#039 Creatine Guide

Welcome back to the 39th edition of the Boats & Logs Lifting Club. I really appreciate you being here. We are the based fitness community that focuses on mastering the basics instead of getting lost in the details.

Today, we will cover everything you need to know about creatine. Some praise it, some ignore it but what do you really need to know? We’ve got you covered!

I hope you enjoy this newsletter.

How Creatine Helps You

Creatine is widely known to boost your performance in the gym and increase your muscle size.

But how does that work?

When we engage in physical activities, our bodies use ATP as the preferred fuel. However, there is a finite storage of ATP in our body, and while ATP can be restored, we will run low on ATP at some point if we train hard (when you reach failure during a lift).

What creatine does is increase our storage of ATP as well as our capabilities to restore ATP.

And as you have more ATP available, the biggest upside of creatine is that by releasing the ATP during your workout, you can deploy more energy, become slightly stronger, and do slightly more reps than you could without creatine.

Additionally, creatine stores water in your muscles, which will make you gain weight. This is not fat or muscle weight but just water weight. However, as it is in our muscles, creatine will make our muscles look bigger, which is a great benefit!

However, these effects will only be minor. Don’t expect to explode in strength or size within a few weeks just because you started taking creatine.

But not only does it positively affect your muscle growth, there are strong indicators that creatine has a positive impact on your brain, general mood, cardiovascular system, and bone health.

I won’t create a separate section for the myths about creatine (hair loss, stomach issues, liver issues) as they are all untrue. By now, I feel like everybody knows that creatine is heavily researched and is linked to NO side effects for healthy individuals. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about it.

How to Consume Creatine

When it comes to how to consume creatine, the advice is pretty straightforward. You don’t need to overspend on creatine. Simply buy creatine monohydrate from a trusted brand, and you will be fine.

Creatine is commonly consumed as a powder or in capsules. I personally prefer powder, but I have some friends who prefer capsules, as it is easier to take them with you while traveling. There is also a trend of creatine gummies. They are easy to consume but significantly more expensive compared to powder or capsules.

Out of all these options, simply buy whatever form of creatine you prefer. They all have the same effect.

Now that we have cleared the question of which creatine to take, let’s look at how much creatine to take (if you decide to take creatine).

There is a lot of advice ranging from 3g to >10g of creatine per day. Most of you should be fine with a dose of 5g per day. While taking around 10-15g per day is very unlikely to have any negative effects on your body, there won’t also be any real upside. It will simply be more expensive for you as you have to rebuy the creatine faster.

Regarding timing, we can make it very quick. It doesn’t matter. Take it whenever you like, as long as you take it daily.

There is also no need for a loading period. You can have a 1-2 week loading period, where you consume around 20g of creatine per day, and it is true that it speeds up the process of storing the creatine in your muscles. But it is also true that it only speeds up the process by 1-2 weeks. Afterward, it doesn’t matter whether you had a loading period or not. A loading period will only lead you to consume your creatine more quickly. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend a loading period.

Lastly, you also don’t need to cycle creatine. As I indicated before, creatine won’t blow up your muscles overnight, so taking a break from it won’t destroy your physique, but there is also no real upside to cycling creatine.

The Boats & Logs Approach to Creatine

As you can probably tell from what I have written before, I generally like creatine and consume it myself. It is a cheap and safe supplement with many upsides for building muscle and general health.

But it is absolutely not necessary to make gains, and also, the effect it has on building muscle and strength is greatly overstated. You still need to train consistently and follow your diet to achieve the results you want. If you consistently struggle to consume enough protein, fixing this should be your priority.

And regarding strength, making sure that you consume sufficient amounts of carbs before you train will probably have a greater effect on your strength than creatine.

So, if you are still struggling with the basics, you are probably wasting your money on creatine, but if you are consistent with the basics, it may be worth considering creatine.

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Stay strong,
Boats & Logs

Disclaimer

This is not Legal, Medical, or Financial advice. Before starting any workout program, diet plan, or supplement protocol, please consult a medical professional. These are the opinions from an AI voice.