How To Take Creatine: Dosage & Timing Methods

What is Creatine?

Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid found in our muscles. Approximately two thirds of our muscles are made up of phosphocreatine (the main phosphate-storage molecule responsible for high-energy muscle performance) with the remaining third being free creatine.

Throughout the day, up to 2% of the creatine stores in our muscles is released through urine. So, to maintain the levels of creatine in our body, the recommended dosage is at least 1-3g each day.

But there’s no need to worry; this can easily be achieved through creatine synthesis produced by our liver and kidneys as well as foods including red meat and seafood.

To achieve your desired body composition goals, we recommend using a top-quality creatine supplement designed to promote muscle growth and enhance your performance at the gym.

Finding The Best Creatine Supplementation

Our creatine supplements aim to provide another fuel source for your body by swelling the creatine in your muscles. This allows them to be able to support muscle growth, increase strength and optimise your training performance.

Our Creatine Nitrate Capsules are a convenient form of supplementation, best known for their ability to provide a pump effect which makes your muscles feel tight and strong.

These tablets are formulated with a bonded hybrid of 67% creatine and 33% nitrate to help give your body the support it needs to achieve your fitness goals. Using vegetable based capsules, our creatine nitrate tablets are also 100% vegetarian and vegan friendly.

Creatine Monohydrate is a powder with proven results that aims to build muscle volume and strength gains. This supplement also helps to restore the body’s ATP levels which are responsible for boosting muscular contractions.

This creatine monohydrate powder is best known for its ability to work quickly and promote muscular endurance so you can train longer and work harder at the gym.

All of our product blends and packages are manufactured in our Australian facilities. In addition, we source pharmaceutical grade amino acids so you can rest assured you’re getting the best creatine supplements on the market.

How to Take Creatine Supplements

Each supplement comes with its own recommended dosage. However, you can also take creatine by following a creatine cycle.

Creatine cycling is recommended for those looking to optimise muscle performance. By aiming to increase muscle reserves, this regimen can help you to train harder, longer and see results faster.

The most common creatine cycles include a loading phase, a maintenance phase and a time-off phase.

The loading phase involves 5-7 days of 20-30g of creatine split into separate doses. This can help the body to absorb as much of the supplement as possible so you can achieve the highest muscle concentration of creatine.

By saturating your muscles in creatine, this can optimise exercise performance to ensure you’re getting the most out of your workout.

The maintenance phase is where you follow a more relaxed regime of 3-5g of creatine split into 1-2 doses per day for 4-6 weeks. During this phase, the aim of the game is to keep the levels of creatine close to optimum without letting them drop.

Adhering to the recommended dosage in the maintenance phase is important to ensure you’re getting enough creatine without dosing beyond the body’s ability to absorb the supplement.

The time-off phase refers to a 2-4 week break between creatine cycles to help your body rest before you start the next loading phase.

While the necessity of this phase has become a contentious point of debate in the fitness world, time “on” should arguably be balanced by time “off”.

However, no matter how you tweak your creatine cycle, it’s imperative to drink plenty of water to keep your body healthy and hydrated every step of the way.

Can You Take Too Much Creatine?

It’s important to note that taking too much creatine is not only impractical but ineffective. Once the muscles have reached creatine saturation, you only need 3-5g to further optimise the muscle stores.

Taking excess dosages will cause the body to excrete the creatine it doesn’t need through urine. Taking more than the recommended dosage of creatine can result in a variety of minor side effects.

During the creatine loading phase, the water intake in your muscles may increase which can result in significant weight gain and bloating. Additionally, taking too much creatine at once can lead to nausea, diarrhoea and gastrointestinal discomfort.

The good news is that you can manage these symptoms by reducing the dosage to the recommended amount in the creatine maintenance phase, which is 3 to 5 grams a day.

Choosing Bulk Nutrients for Creatine Supplementation

At Bulk Nutrients, we’re dedicated to helping you find the best creatine supplements and regimes so you can keep kicking goals in your fitness journey.

If you ever need more information or advice, don’t hesitate to contact our friendly customer service team.