One of the more popular supplements out there that many people find themselves turning to to help with the muscle building process is creatine monohydrate.
Creatine has been around for years, and years, and years, and has a lot of research and background surrounding it.
Many studies have demonstrated that when used properly in the right situations, creatine can be helpful to promote enhance muscle development.
But what’s the right way to use creatine to build muscle? There are a number of different options.
The Classic Loading Phase
The most common method used with creatine is a loading phase followed by a maintenance phase.
This will work to stock the muscle tissues full with creatine, and then maintain them as you continue on with your workouts.
The loading phase is beneficial because it will be a very fast way to get those creatine molecules into the muscles, fully saturating them in the process.
To complete the loading phase, you’re to take 20 grams of creatine for five days in a row. This twenty grams should be spread out throughout the day into four or five different dosages to ensure it’s well tolerated by the body.
After the loading phase has been completed, then you move to the maintenance phase, which is five grams per day, taken around the workout period.
It should be noted that when doing the loading phase in particular, you’ll want to increase your water intake, as creatine will dehydrate the body if more water is not being consumed.
This should also help to prevent very high amounts of bloating while on it, which can cause a great deal of discomfort for many people.
Moderate Loading Method
Next, if you’d prefer not to do a very large loading phase, you can also take a more moderate approach and a longer loading period.
In this case, you’ll want to take in about 10 grams per day over the course of ten days total.
You will still saturate the muscle cells with creatine, however it will take you twice as long in this instance.
The benefit to doing it in this manner is that you will not experience as many of the negative side effects as you would if you were loading (for those who are sensitive) and the water weight gain will not be as high either.
After this ten day loading period, then you want to move straight into maintenance, doing the same as you would with the classical loading phase (five grams per day).
No Loading Phase
Finally, for those of you who really do not want to do a loading phase, you can do this as well, but you likely will not see quite the same results initially from your creatine supplementation as those who are doing the loading phase.
In this scenario, you will just go straight into your five grams per day phase and maintain that over time.
This type of scenario can be used also if you are someone who has a high intake of red meat, as that’s a food source that typically provides the most creatine through the diet.
In this case, you may not need the loading phase to saturate the muscles as you could already have a fairly high intake as it is.
So, if you’re looking for maximum muscle building results, give some consideration to supplementing with creatine. There are some individuals who find they don’t really respond to it, but for the most part, most people who are heavy into their training do benefit.
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