Additionally, since creatine improves recovery times after exercise, taking it on rest days can actually help the person recover faster and feel less soreness and fatigue after working out.
Yes, you should take creatine on off days. To reap the benefits of creatine, you need to take it consistently so your body has enough creatine stores to use during exercise. Not taking it on your rest days reduces the amount of creatine in your cells, and your body won't have as much to utilize at your next workout.
If you're wondering if you should take creatine on your off days, the simple answer is yes. Doing this will help you maintain all the progress that you have gained from your workouts. Of course, taking creatine on your workout days is also important for giving you a boost of energy and helping you build muscle faster.
The exact timing for taking your creatine on rest days is not as important as timing on exercise days; however, you still want to supplement on rest days to keep the creatine content of muscles elevated. To really see the benefits of creatine, it needs to be taken daily.
So, you can definitely take creatine if you don't go to the gym or if you're not trying to get 'big'. For people who don't work out, the benefits are mainly that creatine will give you that energy boost for any day-to-day movement, and will also improve brain function.
Answer: You should never miss a full day. If you do, then double up the next day. If you miss more than 3 days, reload otherwise taking the daily maintenance dose will require a couple of weeks to get you back where you should have been to maximize benefit.
One common question among athletes: Should I take creatine on off days? The short answer is yes, but you can also skip some days. "Research suggests that creatine stores can be maintained at high levels even if creatine is not taken every single day," says Paul Falcone, senior scientist for LADDER.
For the quickest results, the best way to take creatine would be with a 7-day loading phase (20g/d) to maximise storage, followed by a maintenance phase of 3-5g/d.
However, it is more important to not to skip creatine on rest days if you are loading creatine otherwise loading will not happen. A continuous high dose of 20gm is necessary for 5 days to load it. On the other hand, even if you miss a maintenance dose of 3 to 5grams on your rest day, it won't make a major difference.
Key Takeaways
Many people feel creatine monohydrate supplementation alters their sleep. Creatine ingestion shortens total and deep sleep in rats, probably by affecting sleep homeostasis. Despite shortening sleep, creatine often produces numerous beneficial health effects.
Missing a dose won't cause issues, won't be the end of the world, and won't make as much of an impact as you'd think. As per a study, people who went through the loading phase and increased their creatine saturation by 20% and then stopped, witnessed only a drop of 5% in their creatine muscle saturation.
A loading phase of 5-7 days of 20-30g per day, split into separate doses. A maintenance phase of 3-5g per day, lasting for 4-6 weeks. This is followed by a time of phase, lasting from 2 – 4 weeks, before considering starting another whole new cycle again.
Last Updated: There is no convincing evidence that creatine can increase your testosterone levels. Creatine is known for reliably improving physical performance. Less commonly, it has also been marketed as a testosterone booster.
There is concern that creatine causes acne. Research has not shown this to be accurate. In fact, topically applied creatine can improve the skin's appearance. Creatine's link with acne is likely due to people exercising more while they take the supplement, which causes more sweating and bacteria buildup on the skin.
For best results, you should mix 3-5 grams of creatine with 8 ounces of water to increase the amount of time it takes your body to absorb it. On top of that, you should drink about a gallon of water or 3-4 liters each day to maintain optimal hydration when supplementing with creatine.
The Creatine Cycle
This means in total you have been supplementing with creatine for a total of 8 weeks. Then it is important to stop taking creatine. You should pause your creatine supplementation for anywhere between 7 to 14 days (preferably 2 weeks), before beginning again to take creatine.
The study found that those who consumed creatine lost about a pound more fat compared to those who didn't. The authors also found that those consuming creatine gained a significant amount of lean muscle mass.
Creatine metabolism plays an important role in adipose tissue bioenergetics and energy expenditure. Thus, the combination of creatine supplementation and resistance training may decrease fat mass more than resistance training alone.
Increased Water Weight
Creatine helps increase muscle mass by drawing extra water into the muscle cells, causing you to retain fluid. While your muscles haven't actually started growing yet, the increased water is important for future muscle growth, and can be the cause of initial weight gain.
Typically the aim is to take 5g of creatine 4 or 5 times per day. You could take all 20g at once or 10g 2 times per day -this will depend on individual tolerance as some people are fine with these doses- but most of the evidence has come from smaller, more frequent serves.