Creatine: The Only Supplement Almost Everyone Should Take
Three decades of research, hundreds of trials. Here's the short version on creatine monohydrate.
If you take one supplement, take creatine monohydrate.
What it does
- Increases phosphocreatine stores in muscle → more ATP for short, hard efforts.
- 5–15% improvement in strength and power output across most training studies.
- Emerging evidence for cognitive benefits, especially under sleep deprivation.
How to take it
- 3–5g per day, every day.
- Timing doesn't matter. Pick a time you'll remember.
- No loading phase needed unless you want saturation in 5–7 days instead of 3–4 weeks.
- Monohydrate. Not HCl, not "buffered", not anything fancier. Monohydrate is cheaper and works better.
Side effects
Water retention inside muscle cells (this is the point). That's it. Three decades of safety data.