Does Creatine Make You Gain Weight?

Want to add 50 pounds to your max deadlift?

Creatine! Looking to shave a second off of your 100-meter dash?

Creatine! Need to build a physique that a prime Ronnie Coleman would be envious of?

Creatine! Looking to win the lotto?

Cre…. Yeah, creatine can’t help you with that, but if you have fitness goals in mind, creatine is the perfect supplement for you.

Next to whey protein concentrate, creatine is the most popular health and fitness supplement currently on the market, and this has been the case for well over two decades now.

This natural, affordable, highly effective fitness supplement is a key ingredient in virtually every bodybuilder and strength athlete’s supplement stack, and rightly so.

Because so many people use creatine for health and fitness purposes, the majority of them use it to help improve their physiques.

Naturally, there are some concerns regarding its effects and potential side effects, especially in terms of weight gain.

So, does creatine make you gain weight, or is this just a myth?

Keep reading for the answer, and to find out exactly why creatine is such a hugely popular supplement in the fitness community.

What Precisely Is Creatine?

Creatine is a powdered supplement, usually sold in the form of monohydrate, that is either flavored and artificially sweetened, or flavorless.

It can be added to liquid beverages and consumed to provide numerous health, fitness, and athletic beverages.

Speaking in a more scientific sense, however, creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid produced within the body to synthesize a molecule known as Adenosine Triphosphate, or ATP for short.

Creatine is primarily produced within the liver and the kidneys and is formed as a result of a reaction with other amino acids, which are: methionine, arginine, and glycine.

The vast majority of the body’s natural creatine reserves are stored within the skeletal muscle system.

95% of it is stored here within the muscles, in the form of creatine phosphate. The remaining 5% is stored within the brain, liver, and kidneys.

ATP is very important for exercise, and the muscles in general, because ATP is used by the muscles as an energy source.

ATP powers the cells in the muscles, giving them more energy and therefore making them more efficient.

This means you can lift more weight, perform more reps, run faster, jump higher, rebound, or exercise for longer before you get tired.

Creatine isn’t a source of energy itself, like say, glucose is, but it does enable the body to produce more ATP which is then used as an energy source for the muscles.

What’s The Science Behind How Creatine Works?

It’s easy for us to say that creatine helps your body to produce more energy, but can we back up what we’re saying, or is this more hot air?

Well, yes we can, so get ready for a mini science lesson.

As well as being produced in the body, mainly by the liver and kidneys, your pancreas can also produce creatine in small amounts. It is also naturally present in some seafood and in red meat.

Once consumed, your body uses creatine to make ATP, which the muscles use as a key energy source. But how is this possible?

When you orally consume creatine, usually in liquid form after mixing the powder with water or a beverage of your choice (preferably a healthy one), it molecularly bonds to a phosphate molecule where it creates a derivative of creatine called phosphocreatine.

The body uses phosphocreatine to produce ATP, just like fossil fuels such as crude oil and hydrocarbons are used to make gasoline.

Now, you may be wondering why we need creatine supplements if the body naturally produces creatine, and the reason is simply that it is not enough.

Your body gets through ATP in around 10 seconds when you exercise.

Those who produce less ATP have less energy are generally weaker, and grow fatigued when exercising much quicker than those with higher amounts of ATP in their systems.

Creatine is needed for basic everyday functions and physiological processes, though it also plays a key role in muscle function.

The Creatine phosphate promotes athletic performance by acting as a donor, where it donates its phosphate group to ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate).

Here it helps to replenish ATP reserves. It gives your body what it needs to produce more energy for the muscles, in the form of ATP.

The more energy that the muscles have, the more productive your workouts will be. ATP helps you to exercise harder, and longer before you grow tired.

Creatine is the difference between fatiguing when you reach 8 reps, and fatiguing when you reach 9 or even 10 reps. Those extra reps, as Arnold, once famously said, are what makes the body grow.

Does Creatine Make You Gain Weight?

If you feel as if you need a bit of a boost in the gym, or perhaps your training has hit a plateau and you’re not sure how to break through, a supplement such as creatine could be the solution.

Before taking any new supplements, however, it pays to know the effects and possible side effects. This is part of the reason why people are so concerned about whether or not creatine causes weight gain.

Well, yes it does, but not in the way that you may have thought. Here are a few ways in which creatine may cause weight gain.

Water Retention

First and foremost, if you are planning on competing as a bodybuilder, creatine is not a supplement that you should use while cutting.

The aim of a cut, also known as a ‘shred’ is to burn as much body fat as possible, retain as much muscle mass, and look as full, muscular, lean, Ottermode, ripped, vascular, and defined as you possibly can.

Most bodybuilders will avoid consuming too much water, or foods high in sodium that cause water retention, in the lead-up to a contest, because water retention can make you look bloated, flat, puffy, and undefined.

Even if you have single-digit body fat percentages, if you are holding water your physique will look watery and you won’t look full or be able to see your definition.

As a bodybuilder, this is the last thing that you want after months of dieting and training.

Creatine can cause water retention as it helps to draw more water into the cells that form the muscles, causing them to expand and look bigger and fuller.

Sure, this will make your muscles look bigger, but it will also cause you to look and feel bloated and puffy. The water in the muscles is important as it will help your cells to function properly, and also will help avoid dehydration.

Some people also do what is known as ‘creatine loading’ where they’ll consume as much as 5x the amount of creatine for the first week, to help saturate the muscles with creatine.

This extra fluid intake, and fluid retention, means that you’ll be peeing a lot more, plus you will likely be holding and retaining more water as well.

Muscle Growth

Creatine is the second most popular bodybuilding supplement on the market today, next to whey protein.

Needless to say, as it is so popular among bodybuilders, it has been found to help build a considerable amount of muscle.

If your goal is to bulk up and build muscle, creatine is the perfect supplement for you.

Creatine does not assist with muscle growth in the same way that whey protein does, but it does help with building muscle, and here’s a look at how.

Creatine helps your muscles to work harder when you exercise, by giving them more fuel in the form of ATP.

If your muscles have more energy and can work harder, you can lift more weight, do more sets, perform more reps, and crank out more exercises.

The harder you work in the gym, the more muscle you will build, especially if your diet is on point as well.

You bet your bottom dollar it does, though this weight gain should come primarily from muscle growth, with a little water retention, rather than from excess body fat.

How Much Creatine Should You Take Per Day?

While there are some people out there who swear by a creatine-loading phase, we don’t believe that they are always necessary, so we won’t cover that in much detail.

If you do insist on creatine loading, aim for around 25g of creatine per day, split into 5 separate 5g servings every few hours, for 5 – 7 days.

After this, drop down to 5g per day.

If you’re skipping a loading phase, or have already completed one, experts recommend that you consume 5g of creatine per day, which is around 1 level teaspoon.

Bigger, more active people may find that dosages closer to 10g per day are better, but listen to your body and find what works best for you.

Some take it before training, some during, and some after or even without working out. In truth, there is no definitive proof that taking creatine at a specific time can be beneficial, so do what’s right for you. What’s important is ensuring that you consume 5g of creatine each day.

Unless you mix creatine with pre-workout, in this case, you’ll get a higher dose of creatine.

Whether you mix it with water, in a smoothie, in a protein shake to taste better, or with any other liquid, go ahead and add the powder to your liquid, give it a mix, shake, or stir, and chug it down, and you’re good to go.

How To Reduce Water Retention When Using Creatine

We know that creatine does promote weight gain in the form of muscle growth, and water retention.

The vast majority of you reading this will no doubt welcome muscle growth as a form of gaining weight, but not so much the water retention aspect.

But what can you do?

It turns out, quite a lot. Here are some handy tips to help you prevent water retention when using creatine supplements.

NEVER Cut Your Water Consumption

Some people have made the mistake of dehydrating themselves when they were worried about water retention, and not surprisingly, they made themselves very sick as a result.

The body needs water to function, and not drinking enough will cause dehydration. Not only will this cause headaches, cramps, and constipation, but it can also damage your organs and potentially be life-threatening.

Ironically, if you stop drinking water to try and tackle water retention, this will only make the problem worse as your body will hold on to what water it has available and will retain even more.

If you are concerned about retaining water when using creatine supplements, you should NEVER stop drinking water as remaining hydrated is hugely important for numerous reasons.

Make Sure You Exercise

If you are using creatine and you aren’t exercising, why are you using the supplement in the first place?

Creatine is a supplement designed to improve athletic performance, so if you are using it but not exercising, you’ll build up excess in your system, you’ll retain even more fluids, and you’ll look even more bloated.

One of the best ways of tackling water retention when using creatine supplements is to ensure that you exercise regularly.

Not only will this help to use up excess creatine reserves in your muscles, but it will also help to rid excess fluids in the form of perspiration, also known as sweat.

Obviously, you don’t need to exercise every single day when taking creatine, but if you aim to train 3 – 5 times per week, perspiring should help to rid your body of excess fluids, and get you closer to your fitness goals as well.

Drink More Water

A lot of people struggle to get their heads around this next one but don’t worry, there is a lot of science behind it, and it does work.

If you take creatine and you find that the water retention is affecting you, ask yourself whether or not you’re drinking enough water in the first place.

While it sounds bizarre, you should drink more water if you wish to retain less fluid. This is because drinking more water will help you to flush excess sodium out of your system.

Sodium causes the body to retain water, and while we do need some, too much sodium can cause severe bloating and water retention.

Avoid Too Much Sodium

While we’ve just touched upon sodium, as this mineral plays such a key role in water retention in the body, we need to take a better look at it right now.

Sodium functions as an electrolyte which helps keep you hydrated.

We need electrolytes to stay hydrated and avoid dehydration. We don’t however, need too many as too many can have the exact opposite effect.

If you are taking creatine, which causes water retention, and you are eating too many salty foods rich in sodium, you’ll find that you are retaining a lot of water.

Too much sodium can be bad for you anyway, as it can increase your blood pressure and cause cardiovascular issues.

To tackle water retention while supplementing with creatine, make sure that you don’t eat too much salt or consume too much sodium.

Avoid salty and processed foods and try to consume more natural, healthy, and nutritionally balanced foods instead.

Is Creatine Safe?

First and foremost, if used as instructed, yes, creatine is 100% safe and is healthy and beneficial for your body and mind.

Like anything, however, you can have too much of a good thing and you can have too much creatine.

While creatine certainly does not need to be cycled as some supplement companies claim, you should also make sure that you don’t consume too much.

Depending on your size, you should aim for 4g – 10g of creatine per day at the most.

Most average people stick with 5g, though bigger, more active people may aim for closer to 10g.

Anything more than that could cause digestive issues such as make you poop, diarrhea, constipation, stomach cramps, bloating, or gas.

If you have cardiovascular issues or kidney issues, creatine may also not be suitable so you should speak to a medical expert first.

Final Thoughts

Okay, so, does creatine make you gain weight?

Yes, it does, but not in a bad way.

Sure, creatine does cause water retention, but it can also help you build more muscle and enjoy more energy as a result of using it.

If you use it safely, as instructed, you’ll find it is completely safe and very effective.

To get the most out of your creatine usage, make sure you exercise regularly, eat right, and get plenty of sleep and recovery.