Creatine Monohydrate: Still the Best $20 Supplement in Strength Training
I have taken creatine on and off since college — twelve years of personal experimentation across every fancy "advanced" form. Here is what 700+ studies and my own bloodwork actually say.
Creatine Monohydrate: Still the Best $20 Supplement in Strength Training
I started taking creatine in 2013 because a guy at my college gym told me to. I've been on it more years than I've been off it. I've tried monohydrate, micronized monohydrate, HCl, ethyl ester, buffered ("Kre-Alkalyn"), and at one point a liquid version that came in a bottle that looked like cough syrup. I've had my kidney markers checked twice while on it. I've gone off it for six months to see what happened (answer: my squat dropped about 15 pounds, slowly).
There are more peer-reviewed studies on creatine monohydrate than on most prescription drugs. The fancy forms are marketing. The cheap version is the best version. Here's the long-form answer.
What it does
The effects are well-documented and reproducible:
- +5-15% strength gains over placebo across most resistance-training studies. For me it was closer to 10% — measurable but not dramatic.
- +1-2kg lean mass in the first 4-8 weeks. The early gain is mostly intramuscular water (your muscle cells hold more fluid), but actual protein accretion follows over the next 8-12 weeks.
- +5-15% sprint and repeated-effort performance. This shows up in any sport with anaerobic intervals — soccer, basketball, CrossFit, HIIT.
- Cognitive benefits under sleep deprivation and in older adults (newer 2020+ evidence is strong). I started noticing this myself during my newborn-sleep-deprivation era. Mental clarity was measurably better on the days I'd taken it.
Dosing — keep it simple
The dosing literature is heavily over-engineered relative to what actually matters.
- The simple rule: 5g daily, any time. Take it with whatever you'll remember — coffee, post-workout shake, dinner. Doesn't matter.
- Skip the "loading phase." All it does is get you to steady-state about a week faster. 20g/day for a week + 5g maintenance gets you full within ~7 days; 5g/day from the start gets you full within ~28 days. Either way you end up at the same place.
- Bodyweight-based (only if you're large): 0.07g per kg bodyweight. So a 220lb (100kg) lifter takes 7g instead of 5g. Below 175lb, 5g is fine.
- Timing relative to workout: does not matter. With carbs vs. without, pre vs. post, doesn't matter. This is the most heavily-studied "but actually it matters when you take it" question and the answer keeps coming back negative.
What about the fancier forms?
I've genuinely tried all of these. Here's the no-marketing read:
| Form | Verdict |
|------|---------|
| Monohydrate (Creapure) | Gold standard. 99% absorbed. ~$20 for 3 months. The reference everything else is compared to. |
| Micronized monohydrate | Same as monohydrate, smaller particle size = slightly better solubility in cold water. Mostly a comfort upgrade. |
| HCl | More soluble in water, sold at ~3x the price. Zero performance advantage in head-to-head studies. The "smaller dose works the same" claim is marketing. |
| Ethyl ester | Worse absorption than monohydrate (degrades to creatinine in stomach acid faster). Avoid. |
| Buffered ("Kre-Alkalyn") | Marketing claim of "no bloating." Bloating at 5g monohydrate is basically a myth in the first place, so this is a solution to a non-problem. |
| Liquid | Unstable in solution — degrades rapidly to creatinine. Avoid. |
If you want the absolute best version: micronized Creapure monohydrate. About $30 for 3 months. If you want the most cost-effective version that's 95% as good: generic micronized monohydrate from any reputable brand at $15 for 3 months.
Myths I had to actively talk family members out of
- "It damages your kidneys." No. Extensively studied. No kidney damage in healthy adults over 5+ years of daily use. The kidney-marker test (serum creatinine) gets falsely elevated because creatine is the precursor — it's an artifact, not damage. My nephrology friend says "the only people who shouldn't take creatine are people with pre-existing kidney disease, and they should talk to their doctor about everything, not just creatine."
- "You need to cycle it." No. The receptors don't down-regulate. Take it daily, year-round. The "cycle 8 weeks on, 4 weeks off" thing was bodybuilding folklore that escaped containment.
- "It causes hair loss." One small study (2009, rugby players) showed elevated DHT. Never replicated. Currently considered weak evidence at best. I've taken it for years and my hairline is exactly as receding as my dad's and grandfather's — i.e., consistent with genetics, not creatine.
- "Women shouldn't take it." Flatly false. Women respond identically to creatine, and there's growing evidence of meaningful benefits during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle (Smith-Ryan et al., 2021 onward).
How to actually buy it
What I'd tell my brother, who texted me about this last month:
1. Look for "Creapure" on the label. German-manufactured, highest verified purity. Found in Optimum Nutrition, Bulk Supplements, Thorne, and a handful of others.
2. If price matters more, generic micronized monohydrate works fine. I've used Bulk Supplements unflavored monohydrate for years — $25 for a year's supply.
3. Skip the flavored mixes. They're 80% sugar and 20% creatine, sold at 5x the price of plain powder.
4. Mix it in coffee, water, juice, your protein shake — whatever you'll drink consistently. It dissolves better in warm liquid. Tastes like nothing.
I take 5g a day, in my morning coffee. It's the cheapest, most well-evidenced, lowest-effort thing I do for my training. If I could only keep one supplement, this is the one.