Creatine monohydrate is a substance that has been extensively researched and found to be safe. It can help you get stronger, generate more power, and bulk up with lean muscle.
All of creatine’s effects can be obtained more rapidly through a loading phase.
This article will educate you on the latest scientific findings regarding creatine loading, including its efficacy, potential risks, and potential advantages.
In loading phase 20 grams daily for 7 days is advised. In other scenario you can take 3 grams daily for 28 days.
What is a Creatine Loading Phase?
Loading with creatine entails increasing your daily dose of creatine for a week. Creatine loading involves taking 20-30 grammes per day for 5-7 days to attain maximum creatine saturation levels in muscle.
When the loading phase is over, most people take 3-5 grammes of creatine per day to keep their levels high.
Should You Creatine Load Before a Workout?
For the avoidance of doubt, the answer is no. For the benefits of creatine to kick in, a “loading phase” is unnecessary.
Research suggests that smaller dosages of 3-5 grammes per day build up in your muscles equally effectively within one month, however a high-dose loading phase allows you to experience the benefits of creatine within a week. To put it another way, loading is a time saver. But if you’re patient, you may get the same results from regular doses of creatine.
The Advantages of Creatine Loading
- Simply said, creatine loading expedites outcomes by elevating intramuscular creatine reserves.
- Creatine’s typical effects, including enhanced strength and power output as well as accelerated muscle-building, can be realised in roughly a week as opposed to the customary month.
- Take a look at some elementary mathematics to see why loading is effective.
- A typical human body creates 1 gramme of creatine daily from the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine.
- Meat and seafood provide an a ditionalgramme of creatine per day on top of what the body produces naturally.
- In addition, a healthy man weighing 150 pounds possesses around 120-140 grammes of creatine in his muscles without using any supplements.
- Creatinine is a byproduct of creatine that is broken down by the body at a rate of about 1-2% each day.
- Consequently, in principle, the male’s creatine levels in the previous example will remain in a condition of equilibrium without the addition of extra creatine through food or supplements (or becoming a vegetarian, which reduces creatine levels).
- The same person, however, might increase his reserves by as much as 66% above baseline if he supplemented with creatine over the breakdown rate.
- This means that creatine supplements may cause muscle saturation levels of up to 230 grammes.
- And you need to get to total saturation levels before the benefits of creatine pills kick in.
Creatine’s Drawbacks and the Risks of Overloading
Higher dosages of creatine, as are needed for loading, can increase the risk of gastrointestinal discomfort at this time.
Creatine loading has several unpleasant side effects, although they’re probably safe to use. However, if you experience any negative effects while loading creatine, you can reduce your daily dose to 5 grammes. In any case, after a month or so, creatine will no longer be able to significantly increase muscular growth.
In addition, some people seem to be immune to the negative effects of creatine loading. Creatine loading’s potential drawbacks include a small cost and some potential adverse effects. If you consider that a kilogramme of creatine (enough for seven months) costs less than a month’s worth of gym dues, then the added cost of a loading phase is less than four dollars.
Safe Creatine Intake
Tell your doctor if you’re using creatine. Taking creatine supplements can make it appear as though you have renal problems when you haven’t actually been experiencing any kidney issues at all.
Taking creatine supplements does not cause any harmful effects, including elevated creatinine levels. Your doctor shouldn’t be alarmed if you tell them you’re taking supplements.
Creatine has been the subject of debate since some worry it can cause them to lose water or become overheated. While this may be true in theory, it has never been proven in a study that has been subject to rigorous scientific scrutiny.
- Creatine loading at 20 grammes per day for a week had no effect on heat tolerance or hydration status in already dehydrated males, according to a study published in the Journal of Athletic Training.
- Also, creatine has been shown in some studies to increase hydration and decrease vulnerability to heat illness.
- In conclusion, creatine is one of the most secure dietary aids ever found.
- Taking 30 grammes per day has been shown to be safe for at least 5 years (and possibly longer) by researchers.
Finding Your Loading Dose
We now have a handy formula, courtesy of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), to determine the optimal creatine loading dose. To calculate your weekly dosage, simply multiply your weight in kilogrammes (kg) by 0.3.
If the final sum is an odd number, you can round it up or down as you see fit. Changing the dosage by a small amount will not have any noticeable effect. Break up your daily dose of 30 grammes into smaller doses of roughly 5 grammes, spaced widely throughout the day, to lessen the possibility of minor side effects (such bloating or upset stomach).
However, 3-10 mg of creatine per day is still a highly successful supplementation strategy if you don’t tolerate loading well. We suggest consuming 5 grammes of creatine everyday to boost workout performance once loading is complete (or instead of loading). If you’re a larger-than-average person or if you don’t get results with 5 grammes per day, consider upping your maintenance dose to 10 grammes.
The Bottom Line
The most up-to-date research suggests that loading with creatine is a risk-free and efficient way to reap all of creatine’s benefits around four times as quickly. Want to see the effects of creatine in a week instead of a month? Use the preceding calculation to determine your loading dose.
Is loading creatine associated with any unwanted side effects? If so, don’t worry; after only four weeks of taking 5 grammes of creatine per day, you’ll experience all the benefits of creatine anyway. At the end of the day, whether or not you load creatine isn’t nearly as important as your diet and workout routine are when it comes to reaching your fitness or body composition goals.
