Creatine is one of the most researched supplements in the sports industry & proved safe to use. When it comes to bodybuilding, It is known as the best supplement that gives the highest value for the money you spend. In the market, you can buy many types of creatine like Creatine HCL, Creatine Ethyl Ester, Creatine Gluconate and the most common and popular type Creatine Monohydrate. There are little differences in those but generally, all of them do the same thing.
So our topic, does creatine make you gain weight? Simple YES! But it must be looked into deeper.
Different weight types that affect overall body weight when you get creatine
How much weight can you gain from creatine in a month?
When you start to get Creatine you will gain 1.5-4.5 pounds (0.7-2 kg) in the first weeks because of water retention. After that, if you do regular resistance training you will gain more lean muscle mass because of creatine improving your performances. But the numbers change with your genetics.
Water Weight
73% of the muscle is made up of water. When you start to get creatine it increases the amount of water stored in muscles rapidly. This is called water retention. This water retention increases your weight by 1.5-4.5 pounds (0.7-2 kg) in the first weeks as I mentioned earlier. This also leads to pump your muscles a little bit and it gives you a more muscular look.The reason I put the word “in the first weeks” is this time frame vary on the creatine dose you get.
Some people recommend doing a loading phase at the beginning if you didn’t use creatine before or stopped for a long time. The loading phase is simply getting 20g of creatine per day for 5-7 days. This process saturates creatine stores in your body in a short time. You must get only 3-5g per day (normal dose) after the loading phase. Getting a high dose for a long period can lead to serious health effects like kidney or liver damage.You can get the normal dose from the beginning without doing the loading phase if you like. Researches reveal the only difference between doing a loading phase and not doing it is the time to saturate creatine in the body. (Research: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17908288/ )
So if you decide to do the loading phase probably you will gain all the water weight in a week. If not it will take a few weeks.
And you must know when you stop getting creatine, increased water weight will also reduce.
Lean Muscle Mass
The main benefit of creatine is increasing the power & strength of muscles. The main energy source of muscles is a chemical compound called ATP. Creatine support to give more ATP to muscles. That results in increasing strength, power, stamina and overall body performances.
Research on performance increase of athletes by getting creatine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12701815
So if you do your workout regularly and if you get a proper diet then you gain more muscles than a person who doesn’t use creatine. I can’t say exactly how much weight you can gain. Because it really depends on your genetics, workouts and your diet. Most probably 1kg per month. You must understand creatine only increase your strength and you must work hard to gain the muscles & it’s a long term process. The lean muscle mass you have gained does not reduce after you stop getting creatine as water weight.
Fat Mass
Another main factor that affects total body weight is fat mass. But there’s no evidence that creatine affects fat mass. It is possible you gain fat by eating too much or lose fat in some way. But it’s not because of creatine.
So as creatine is one of the most valuable supplements to build muscles, I recommend getting it in the proper dose. Always you must pay attention to increase the lean muscle mass not the water weight. How much weight can you gain from creatine in a month is a broad question and the answer depends on many factors.
What are the best creatine supplements I recommend?
When choosing a creatine product, you must be ensure that the powder contains the same amount of creatine as its label. It is also important to ensure that the product is safe for health.
Muscle Feast Creapure
This product ranks first in the labdoor ranking. (Labdoor is an independent company that tests supplements. We find out whether products have what they claim and if they have any harmful ingredients or contaminants. )
It has a high level of label accuracy as well as safety. It costs $ 1.52 an ounce.
MyProtein Creatine
Although it ranks 3rd in the labdoor ranking, it still has a high level of label accuracy and safety. I personally would like to recommend this product. I personally was very satisfied with this. Also, you get more creatine for the money you pay for it. It costs $ 1.19 per ounce.
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