Supplimenting with creatine causes water-weight gain on the order of a few pounds or more. Is that water actually helpful if you train and race in really hot conditions? Or is it so bound to the creatine that your body can’t use it for that?
Yes, there’s good evidence that creatine helps reduce heat illness. It draws water into muscle cells, but doesn’t “bind” it, and the body wants to keep that fluid relatively balanced inside/outside the cell so it improves total body water overall.
But, we also know people just drink more water when they add creatine (or a placebo) - so correlation, not causation, explains part of the hydration benefit.
Good summary within this review article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...articles/PMC5469049/
Also, the water weight gain is more like 1-2 lbs for most people, which is well within where we fluctuate daily just from our eating, drinking, elimination habits/timing.
Fwiw I was regularly gaining 5-6lbs when on creatine back when I used it. Had several on and off periods and that number was consistent.
Fwiw I was regularly gaining 5-6lbs when on creatine back when I used it. Had several on and off periods and that number was consistent.
Oh, that’s totally within what we see, though not where the average lands. And body weight is more complicated, so when studies look only at water (specific to the initial hydration question) and test it properly (most studies don’t!) it tends to only go up by about 1 kg (or just over 2 lbs).
And I don’t meant to split hairs - just trying to present the broader averages because groups who avoid creatine primarily for fear of weight gain (endurance athletes, female athletes, injured athletes) are some who I think could benefit the most from using it.
Yes, there’s good evidence that creatine helps reduce heat illness. It draws water into muscle cells, but doesn’t “bind” it, and the body wants to keep that fluid relatively balanced inside/outside the cell so it improves total body water overall.
But, we also know people just drink more water when they add creatine (or a placebo) - so correlation, not causation, explains part of the hydration benefit.
Good summary within this review article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...articles/PMC5469049/
Also, the water weight gain is more like 1-2 lbs for most people, which is well within where we fluctuate daily just from our eating, drinking, elimination habits/timing.
I was just going to link to that same review for the OP.
Interestingly enough, there are a ton of really shitty papers on this and the last meta-analysis that really tried to put it together was from 2009:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19295968/
It’s Doug Casa’s group, which is hyper conservative about heat illness, so if there was any chance to bias things towards increased risk from creatine, I suspect they would have.
Since then, a quick pub med search finds at least 50 trials on creatine and heat. So if anyone has a grad student looking for low hanging fruit, this is ripe for another meta-analysis.
But, to the original question, no one worries about creatine and heat.
Andy
This is what I found at https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-creatine/art-20347591
Evidence
Research on creatine use for specific activities and conditions shows:
Strength, muscle size and performance. Oral creatine use might allow an athlete to do more work during reps or sprints, leading to greater gains in strength, muscle mass and performance. Creatine is often used by athletes involved in high-intensity intermittent activities that require a rapid recovery during training and competition.
Injury prevention. Oral creatine might reduce the frequency of dehydration, muscle cramping, and injuries to the muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons and nerves.
Rare creatine-metabolizing syndromes. In children with the certain creatine deficiency syndromes, oral creatine supplements might improve some symptoms.
Cognition and brain health. Creatine supplementation might improve performance during cognitive tasks, especially in older adults.
Sarcopenia and bone health. Creatine supplementation might help counteract age-related declines in skeletal muscle and bone mineral density.
Heart failure. There isn’t enough evidence to recommend use of oral creatine as a heart failure treatment.
Skin aging. Early research suggests that a cream containing creatine and other ingredients applied to the face every day for six weeks might reduce skin sag and wrinkles in men. Another study suggests that a cream containing creatine and folic acid improves sun damage and reduces wrinkles.
People who have low levels of creatine — such as vegetarians — appear to benefit most from creatine supplements.
Fwiw I was regularly gaining 5-6lbs when on creatine back when I used it. Had several on and off periods and that number was consistent.
Oh, that’s totally within what we see, though not where the average lands. And body weight is more complicated, so when studies look only at water (specific to the initial hydration question) and test it properly (most studies don’t!) it tends to only go up by about 1 kg (or just over 2 lbs).
And I don’t meant to split hairs - just trying to present the broader averages because groups who avoid creatine primarily for fear of weight gain (endurance athletes, female athletes, injured athletes) are some who I think could benefit the most from using it.
Preach!
Just gonna bold this little section because I know there are lurkers reading this who might have glossed over it. I’m looking at you, lurker. I see you. I know you won’t post here, and I don’t know who you are, but I know you’re here reading this, and I’m glad you’re here.
Now, read that bold bit again:
…groups who avoid creatine primarily for fear of weight gain (endurance athletes, female athletes, injured athletes) are some who I think could benefit the most from using it.
Clarifying my specific position here:
Do I think all endurance athletes should use creatine? Not all, but a great many.
Do I think all female athletes should use creatine? Not all, but the vast majority.
Do I think all injured athletes should use creatine? Yes, virtually all.
Anecdotally, it does seem that the people who would benefit most from it, are the ones the most strongly concerned with using it.
One of the marketing people on The Feed (with which I guess USAT has partnered with recently?) said he also uses creatine as there is some evidence to suggest it may help with mood.
Is there any credibility to that? I was thinking that particularly in bigger blocks when the mind and body gets run down, a supplement that may help with some of of the moodiness/irritability from the training load might be worth trying out.
As a regular and older user of creatine when training there are also several reports that have suggested it may also have benefits for older people with cognitive and memory decline and some other thing I forgot.
I’d need to read the study(ies) on that specifically, to believe it helps with mood.
I’d still wager caffeine has a much more pronounced positive effect on mood for most people, especially during endurance activity in highly fatigued states.
As a regular and older user of creatine when training there are also several reports that have suggested it may also have benefits for older people with cognitive and memory decline and some other thing I forgot.
😂
.
I’d need to read the study(ies) on that specifically, to believe it helps with mood.
I’d still wager caffeine has a much more pronounced positive effect on mood for most people, especially during endurance activity in highly fatigued states.
Interesting! I’ll look up a bit more about caffeine.
Also, as an aside, thanks for all of your nutrition comments. I’ve recently had a big training block and even on my shorter rides I’ve loaded a bottle/s with 120ish grams of carbs and consume that each hour or so and feel it has had a significant impact not just on that particular training activity, but on recovery, hunger/tiredness afterwards, and overall ability to handle the load.
If I’d only tried this over the last two decades…! 
Clarifying my specific position here:
Do I think all endurance athletes should use creatine? Not all, but a great many.
Do I think all female athletes should use creatine? Not all, but the vast majority.
Do I think all injured athletes should use creatine? Yes, virtually all.
Anecdotally, it does seem that the people who would benefit most from it, are the ones the most strongly concerned with using it.
Creatine is treated like a drug by most people I know. My friends used to dismiss any numbers anyone put up in the weight room if they knew they were “on†creatine, as if it was a heavy steroid. Then the remainder dismissed it because of all the “bloating†and pseudoscience about its negative effects. It absolutely had a substantial effect on my lifting, I’d ballpark 5% increase in 1RM and an even bigger effect on max rep sets.
I’ve still never tried it for endurance exercise partly because of the mindset that I don’t see any direct benefits to cardiovascular performance and I’m already on the heavier side given the fact that I specialize in running and am above 190lbs. The extra 5-6 pounds it gives me is a slight turnoff given that, but nothing I’m afraid of or think is that big of a deal, especially since it can have some benefits as mentioned earlier in this thread.
I’d need to read the study(ies) on that specifically, to believe it helps with mood.
I’d still wager caffeine has a much more pronounced positive effect on mood for most people, especially during endurance activity in highly fatigued states.
True. I’ve got a new coworker that is annoyingly happy and upbeat all day. Then I noticed he has a cup of coffee mid morning and mid afternoon. Soon as I saw that, it all made sense. lol
Hey, I used your fuel mix for my first real race - 6.5 hours mixed mtnbike and open road event, and it worked great! Towards the end briefly had a sharp pang in the stomach that felt like maybe not enough water, which went away with more water. And then sour gummy worms on rare occasion to mix things up and keep my mouth entertained. Solid energy whole way, probably close to 300 cals per hour no problem. Thanks!
Yep. The misinformation merry-go-round is strong with creatine.
“bloating” “closest thing to steroids” “isn’t that illegal” I’ve heard it all. It’s a shame. But I understand how people wouldn’t know. It’s just been said so many times it sort of permeates folks’ minds.
A cup of coffee is 100x more drug-like than creatine.
Creatine is a lot closer in effect and in chemical structure to BCAAs, or any protein we eat every day, than it is to a caffeine pill. Let alone steroids.