Creatine Before or After Workout: When Should You Take It?

Few natural ingredients in sports nutrition supplements work as well as creatine. When used correctly, creatine boosts performance for maximum muscle gains. But should you take creatine before or after workout for the best results?

We're delving into the topic of creatine timing in this guide and giving you the answers you're looking for. Plus additional tips to help you get the biggest muscle and fitness benefits from supplementation of creatine monohydrate. Let's get to it!

Key Takeaways

• Research suggests the best time for taking creatine is "around the time you are working out." Creatine pre or post workout works, but recent evidence says post-workout is more effective.

• Creatine sparks the ATP energy that powers muscle. When creatine is present in muscle, you can maintain intense exercise. When it is depleted, you hit the wall in the gym.

• Most experts agree that the best creatine muscle benefits are achieved by saturating muscles with creatine and then maintaining it, which requires consistent daily supplement use.

• Since creatine is to be taken at 20 g daily (loading) or 3-5 g daily (maintenance), it's usually consumed in split doses in two or more servings. Getting enough daily creatine is the main goal.

• Exercise improves creatine uptake into muscles; as does taking creatine with protein and carbohydrates.

Creatine Defined

Naturally synthesized by the body and found in the diet, creatine plays a key role in the bodily production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) energy: the basic energy unit of muscle contraction and power. ₁

Ninety percent of the body’s creatine is stored in skeletal muscle, where it helps to power high-intensity exercise. ₂ Creatine intake around exercise can coincide with increased skeletal muscle blood flow, enhancing creatine uptake into the muscle tissue.

When your natural creatine reserves deplete during exercise, muscle fatigue kicks in – followed by lactic acid accumulation and muscle-burning soreness.

This explains the usefulness of creatine supplements: the extra creatine saturates muscle tissue, providing a greater amount of ATP-producing fuel for longer and more intense exercise before reaching muscular exhaustion.

Naturally, this makes creatine appealing to bodybuilders and weightlifters—however, athletes of all types, from aerobic to resistance training, may enjoy the benefits of creatine supplementation.

Creatine Muscle Benefits

Creatine has several notable effects on body composition: ₃

1. Increased Muscle Mass: Creatine supplementation is well-documented to support gains in lean body mass over time, mostly through its role in enhancing high-intensity performance and supporting greater training volume and muscle stimulation.

2. Enhanced Strength, Endurance, Performance: Creatine works by replenishing ATP (adenosine triphosphate) energy stores in muscle, so you can boost workout intensity and volume to build greater muscle gains.

3. Water Retention in Muscles: Initially, creatine causes water retention within muscle cells, leading to a rapid increase in muscle size and weight. This may be mistaken for fat gain, but it actually helps with muscle growth and performance.

4. Improved Body Composition: Over time, the increased workout performance and muscle mass gains can lead to an improved ratio of muscle to fat, helping you get a leaner body composition.

5. Potential Reduction in Fat Mass: While creatine itself doesn’t directly burn fat, the increased muscle mass and metabolic rate from higher muscle activity may help with fat loss. Learn more about fat burner supplements for athletes

Combining creatine with whey protein can further enhance post-workout recovery and reduce muscle soreness, optimizing muscle growth and performance.

It’s crucial to note that all of the benefits of creatine monohydrate on body composition are maximized when combined with consistent strength training and proper nutrition.

Should You Take Creatine Before or After Workout?

Creatine works by saturating muscle stores over time rather than providing an instant energy boost like carbohydrates or caffeine.

Therefore, the timing of creatine intake may not make a big difference in its effectiveness in the short term. Especially if your muscle creatine stores are already filled-to-the-max through regular supplementation.

With that in mind, your first priority is to hit your daily intake goals of creatine, which are usually:

• 20 g of creatine per day during the loading phase

• 3-5 g of creatine per day during the maintenance phase

Many athletes taking creatine will hit these goals by taking smaller doses over the course of the day, which can be easier on the digestive system.

But if you want to be strategic about your creatine timing, some recent research suggests that taking creatine close to your workout time may be better than taking it at other times of the day, with post-workout creatine offering the greatest advantages.

Let's take a look at your creatine timing options here, and then cite some research.

Pre-Workout Creatine

Some athletes opt to take creatine before their workout. In theory, this approach may "top off" muscle stores of phosphocreatine going into the training session.

Pre-workout supplementation may improve delivery and uptake of creatine to muscle, possibly because exercise boosts blood flow to muscle. However, most experts agree that consistent daily use has a far greater impact on maxing-out muscle creatine stores.

The creatine monohydrate form of creatine found in many sport nutrition supplements reaches peak blood concentration in one hour. Therefore, timing creatine intake about one hour before exercise might be beneficial for delivering creatine to muscles during your workout.

There are some potential downsides to taking creatine pre-workout.

Creatine can cause some gastric distress for some people which can disrupt workouts, so it may not be the best to take pre-workout for sensitive stomachs.

Creatine can also increase the need for hydration due to its mechanism of drawing water into the muscles. If adequate hydration is not maintained, taking creatine pre-workout could potentially increase the risk of dehydration during intense exercise, especially in hot conditions.

Intra-Workout Creatine

Intra-workout creatine supplementation, meaning taking creatine during your workout, is a less common practice compared to pre- or post-workout supplementation.

The primary advantage theorized for intra-workout creatine intake revolves around the potential for immediate availability of more creatine to muscles during exercise, which might extend peak performance time in high-intensity, short-duration activities.

Post-Workout Creatine

Post-workout creatine is the most popular strategy for maxing out its muscle benefits. Many prefer taking creatine post-workout when the body's ability to absorb and utilize nutrients is heightened, potentially aiding in recovery and muscle growth.

Taking creatine post-exercise may offer additional advantages that line up with the body's physiological processes during the recovery phase:

1. Enhanced Absorption: Post-exercise, the body's muscles are more receptive to nutrient uptake. The increased insulin sensitivity and blood flow to muscles may enhance creatine absorption and utilization when consumed with a carbohydrate or protein source.

2. Improved Recovery: Taking creatine right after exercise may support quicker recovery of the muscle's creatine phosphate stores, which are "burned up" during high-intensity activities.

3. Synergy with Protein and Carbs: Consuming creatine with a post- workout meal or shake that includes protein and carbohydrates not only may improve creatine uptake due to the insulin spike but also supports muscle repair and growth.

4. Convenience and Adherence: For many, the post-workout routine is a convenient time to remember to take supplements, aiding in consistent daily intake which is crucial for maintaining saturated muscle creatine levels.

Research: Take Creatine Immediately After Working Out.

You have to take creatine for a while before really noticing its benefits. However, some research does suggest that taking creatine immediately before or after working out seems to provide anabolic advantages over taking creatine long before or long after exercise, with post-workout demonstrating the best potential.

Researchers in human clinical trials investigating creating timing have reported that:

• Taking 5 g of creatine immediately post workout led to better body composition outcomes, such as increased muscle mass and reduced fat, compared to taking it before exercise over four weeks of resistance training in young male bodybuilders. ₄ Researchers concluded:

  • "Consuming creatine immediately post-workout is superior to pre-workout vis a vis body composition and strength."

  • "Creatine supplementation plus resistance exercise increases fat-free mass and strength."

• People taking 0.1 g/kg of creatine immediately after resistance training for 32 weeks gained more muscle mass than those taking it before exercise or doing resistance training alone. This might be due to improved muscle blood flow after exercise, which is believed to boost creatine uptake. ₅

Further research is necessary to explore the effects of creatine timing on muscle content, body composition, and performance in high-intensity exercise with higher doses.

Note: While the timing benefits of post workout creatine were not shown to make much of a difference in older populations, it still appears to be helpful for gains: Twelve weeks of low-dose creatine supplementation plus resistance training has been shown to increase lean mass in the elderly. ₆

A best practice may be post-workout supplementation of creatine, ideally combined with other post-workouts like protein and carbohydrate.

Did you know? Creatine stacks effectively with protein and carbohydrate. In a single- study on the effects of supplement timing on muscle hypertrophy (growth), a group of resistance-trained men was administered a stack of a creatine supplement, protein powder, and carbohydrates either immediately pre and post-exercise, or long before and after exercise (in the morning and evening). The study's results: " PRE-POST demonstrated a greater increase in lean body mass and 1RM strength." ₇

Learn more about when to take creatine and protein.

3 Reasons Why You Should Supplement Creatine

Timing creatine can unlock its considerable benefits for enhancing exercise performance and building up skeletal muscle. Here's three ways creatine can help:

#1) Increases Muscle Mass and Strength

Creatine fuels the production of cellular ATP energy in moving muscles, which in turn drives more intense exercise and produces better exercise results.

From that aspect, the claim that creatine (in conjunction with resistance training) enhances muscle and strength gains makes sense. However, creatine also seems to impact muscle growth more directly by stimulating protein synthesis.

In one review on the potential mechanisms of action of creatine supplementation on skeletal muscle metabolism, a group of researchers found enough evidence to conclude that via the promotion of protein synthesis, creatine seems to support greater exercise-induced enhancement of muscle mass and strength. ₈

#2) Buffers Lactic Acid

Once your primary energy reserves—creatine, glycogen, etc.—deplete, muscle exhaustion kicks in, encouraging the production of lactic acid via a secondary "backup" fermentation process for producing ATP energy.

As lactic acid accumulates in muscle tissue, your muscles start to "burn" with prolonged exercise, a "burning" sensation associated with catabolism (muscle breakdown) and muscle soreness.

While some lactic acid buildup is to be expected with a successful workout, too much may be detrimental to your performance and gains.

Thankfully, supplementing creatine seems to help mitigate the accumulation of lactic acid buildup, as observed in one study in which a group of researchers concluded that " creatine supplementation decreases lactate during incremental cycling exercise and tends to raise lactate threshold." ₉

#3) Improves Cognitive Performance

One of the underappreciated benefits of creatine: enhanced cognitive performance.

Especially under conditions of mild cognitive decline and impairment, creatine supplementation seems to improve certain aspects of cognitive performance and mental energy. However, even under conditions of healthy cognition, creatine seems to boost performance.

In one systematic review, there was enough evidence to link creatine to improved mental performance in healthy participants, concluding that " creatine administration may improve short-term memory and intelligence/reasoning of healthy individuals… potential benefit for aging and stressed individuals." ₁₀

*To learn more about brain-boosters, check out our article on the top nootropics for bodybuilding and list of the best brain supplements available today.

How Much Creatine Should You Take?

Now that you know what creatine does, why you should take it, and when you should take it, the question remains: how much creatine should you take?

Several factors go into determining the creatine dosage that works for you, including your total body weight, muscle mass composition, fitness goals, and much, much more.

However, generally speaking, the average recommended creatine dosage is 3-5g creatine daily, whether taken all at once or distributed throughout the day.

It's commonly recommended to "load" up on creatine when first supplementing it. This means taking a high dosage, 20g per day for 5-7 days, to allow your creatine consumption to sufficiently saturate your muscle tissues. While it's not 100% necessary to "load" creatine, it may help to enjoy the fitness benefits of creatine quicker.

Are there any creatine side effects?

Creatine is considered generally safe. However, it is possible to take too much creatine, especially if you're not expending enough creatine energy in the gym.

Side effects sometimes associated with creatine:

• Muscle cramps

• Gastric distress

• Bloating

• Diarrhea

• Dehydration

• Increase in body weight

If prolonged over a long time, dehydration associated with excess creatine intake may even lead to tendonitis and other connective tissue pains and strains.

Though these issues may be easily mitigated by sticking to a reasonable creatine intake and expending enough creatine energy through exercise—not to mention by drinking enough water!

Best Pre-Workout to Complement Creatine: Pre Lab Pro®

Overall, today's research appears to be agreeing that it is best to take creatine after workout, rather than before. So what do you take before a workout then? An effective pre-workout supplement to intensify your performance in the gym.

Pre Lab Pro® is a nootropic-driven pre-workout formula with moderate caffeine plus amino acids that balance energy with calm control. It's the ideal pre-workout for any sport nutrition regimen that includes creatine.

Ingredients: Red Beetroot Powder; Setria® Performance Blend; Natural Caffeine; L-Theanine; L-Tyrosine; Vitamin D3, Potassium and Iron (all as NutriGenesis®), Himalayan Pink Salt. Delicious natural berry flavor.

• Boosts athletic performance via blood flow boost and muscle energy

• Maximizes focus for peak athletic intensity without overstimulation

• Supports strength, power, speed, endurance, and stamina

• Smooth energy: moderate dose caffeine plus jitter-reducing aminos

• Great taste! Mixes more quickly and easily into a delicious berry flavored drink

More on Pre Lab Pro®

Conclusion

If you've ever wondered, "should I take creatine before or after workout?" Now you know. Whether you take creatine before or after workout is not as important as consistent daily intake.

The goal is to keep muscle creatine stores fully saturated, so finding a supplementation schedule that fits one's lifestyle and ensures regular consumption is key.

Consistency is key with creatine supplementation.

Choosing a time that fits your daily schedule, ensuring you take it around the same time each day, may offer the best results. Some studies also suggest that taking creatine with a meal or carbohydrates can improve its absorption due to the spike in insulin levels.

To ensure proper creatine timing, it's not uncommon for athletes, bodybuilders, and exercisers to buy standalone creatine powder that they can use to take it whenever they want.

It's important to experiment with timing to see what works best for you, keeping in mind that the key to creatine's effectiveness lies in maintaining saturated muscle stores over time, rather than the exact timing of intake relative to exercise.