Should You Take Creatine Before or After Your Workout? What Research Says Focusing on consistent use rather than timing may enhance creatine benefit
The best time to take creatine is close to your workout, either before or after
mihailomilovanovic / Getty Images
Creatine is a chemical compound produced naturally in your body from three amino acids: methionine, arginine, and glycine. About 95% of this compound is found in your muscles. Athletes often use creatine to boost strength and muscle mass. Other benefits of creatine supplements include greater training strength, increased work capacity, and faster recovery after training.
Creatine is possibly safe and well-tolerated when used long-term. Although its benefits have been established, there has been debate on the best time to use creatine to maximize its benefits.
Benefits of Taking It Before
There are limited studies on creatine use before working out, but taking creatine before working out can have positive effects on your training session.Typically, 5 grams of creatine takes about 1-2 hours to peak and can last for about four hours after.
Some researchers believe that when you take creatine before a workout session, your blood creatine levels start to rise around the time your muscles begin to pump blood.
The increased blood flow may help you uptake and retain creatine, which means more creatine gets to your muscles than when you use it after a workout session.
Benefits of Taking It After
Many researchers consider the period after a workout session, known as the anabolic window, as the most important window for timing the nutrients you eat. After working out, the muscle fibers are damaged, and energy stores are depleted. Researchers believe that supplementing with the right nutrients during this time helps rebuild damaged muscle and restore energy reserves.
Using the right nutrient mix after a workout can also send your body into a ‘super-compensation mode’ that enhances exercise performance and body composition. Because of its effect on body composition and strength, some researchers believe taking creatine after a workout is better than taking it before a workout.
In a review, researchers found that taking creatine after exercise led to a 3% gain in lean body mass and a 7.5% gain in bench press strength. When creatine was taken before exercising, it led to a 1.3% increase in lean body mass and 6.8% in bench press mass.
Which Time Is Better?
Currently, the exact timing of creatine use that is better for people looking to maximize creatine benefits is unclear. The evidence available is contradictory, so it is difficult to establish whether taking creatine before or after a workout is better.
However, new studies argue that taking creatine close to your workout session—before or after—is ideal for people who want to enhance creatine use. According to the study, having creatine supplements close to exercise sessions can increase creatine loading in the muscle, compared to taking them farther from your workout sessions.
People who took creatine supplements around their workouts were found to have a greater increase in creatine in their muscles and also greater gains in strength and lean mass than those who took them at random times of the day.
In addition, consistent use of creatine seems to be more important than timing in maximizing gains and enhancing creatine’s benefits. Instead of focusing on the timing, it may be better to use creatine regularly (even on rest days) to keep your muscles saturated.
Should You Take Creatine on Rest Days?
It is recommended that you take creatine daily, regardless of whether you trained that day or not. Taking creatine daily and the duration of use affect how quickly and by how much your creatine stores increase. Higher creatine stores can lead to increased muscle mass and performance over time.
However, if you are worried about cost, you can take creatine only on days you train. One study found that taking creatine only on training days also produced significant gains in strength and endurance.
How To Take Creatine For Exercise
If you are just starting to introduce creatine to your workout routine, the best way to optimize creatine’s benefits is to load with about 20 grams daily for about five to seven days. If you are not comfortable with taking a single large dose, you can use creatine in divided doses. Some experts recommend 5 grams four times daily for five to seven days.
After the loading phase, or when the muscle creatine stores are fully saturated, you can move on to a lower maintenance dose of between 2 and 5 grams daily. People with larger body sizes may need to consume about 5 to 10 grams of creatine daily to see results.
An alternative is to skip the loading phase and take about 3 grams daily for 28 days. However, this would lead to a gradual increase in muscle creatine levels, and you may not see much change in exercise performance until your creatine stores are fully saturated.
The ‘maintenance’ strategy may be a good option if you want to avoid any potential weight gain during the creatine loading phase.
You can take creatine with or without food. However, studies have found that taking creatine with carbohydrates and protein can increase creatine accumulation in the muscle compared to taking it alone.
In terms of the perfect time, using creatine a few hours before or after a workout session can help maximize creatine use. On rest days, the timing is not important.
A Quick Review
Creatine is a well-known supplement with many benefits, from enhanced muscle gains to better workout sessions.
There have been debates on the best time to use creatine to maximize its benefits. Current evidence points to a few hours around your workout session—either before or after–to maximize creatine's benefits. The key is to focus on consistent use, not necessarily timing.
Taking creatine with carbohydrates and protein can also increase the effect of creatine, compared to using creatine alone.
This story originally appeared on: Health News - Author:Emmanuella Ogbonna
