How Much Creatine Should I Take a Day to Build Muscle

Do you know how much creatine do you need to take in order to build muscles?

Creatine is composed of 3 amino acids including glycine, methionine and arginine. This nutrient is responsible for providing energy to the muscles in order to do explosive and quick movements.

ATP or adenosine-triphosphate enables the muscles to contract. However, the ATP stored in your body isn’t enough or can’t sustain your system to continue. This is the reason why bodybuilders and athletes creatine supplements.

Pork and beef are great sources of creatine. But, consuming red meat alone can’t guarantee that you’ll get the required quantity of creatine.

Creatine Dose Table

Is It Safe to Take Creatine?

As you want to know how much creatine should you take, you must always keep in mind DO NOT over a supplement. Although it can fuel up your body, the truth is the dose that you can take depends on various factors.

This makes sense of knowing the right dosage appropriate to your needs. Likewise, you should also choose the type of creatine that will work best for you.

In general, Creatine is safe, although when it is taken at high doses there is the possibility for serious side effects, such as kidney damage (1).

Correct Calculation of Your Creatine Dose

When you are taking creatine you should know how much creatine you need to consume, the first thing to do is to understand the three stages of creatine supplementation.

• Loading stage

During the loading phase, creatine is quickly stored in your muscles. The recommended intake of creatine in this stage is a maximum of 0.3 grams per kilogram of your body weight. Divide the dose into four and take one part four hours apart.

Dividing the dose will protect your liver and kidney from potential negative impacts. Research showed that your body can absorb a maximum of 10 grams of creatine or it depends on the total amount of your muscle mass.

It is not recommended to load within five consecutive days. It is during this phase that your muscles store creatine. Thus, once your muscular stores are loaded, your muscles won’t be able to absorb extra creatine.

• Maintenance stage

Maintaining your creatine requires taking at least 0.03 grams per kilogram of your body weight daily within a month. The goal of taking the maintenance is to replenish the degraded amount of creatine every day.

• Wash out stage

The last stage of taking creatine is the wash-out phase. It is recommended as a precautionary measure to let your body recover after supplementation.  Wash-out should also be done in case you’re experiencing side effects of using creatine.

Is Taking Creatine at Night Bad?

People frequently inquire about whether or not taking creatine at night is harmful. Is it better to take Creatine at night or during the day?

Creatine, which is created naturally in the body, absorbed in our daily diets, and swallowed as a supplement, maybe taken before night, and there is no proof to the contrary. Creatine may be consumed at any time of the day, day or night.

Though there isn’t much information on the impact of taking creatine at night, one study suggests that taking creatine after a workout is the best time to do so. The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition published research in August 2013 that revealed that taking creatine after an exercise had more advantages.

Despite the fact that the study found post-workout advantages, researchers found no difference in pre-and post-workout supplements after upper and lower body resistance training. More research is needed, however, to prove that taking creatine after an exercise is the ideal time to do so.

Many people ask whether consuming creatine before bed is a good idea because it is an energy source. However, there is no solid proof that doing so would interfere with your capacity to sleep. Although taking creatine before the night is totally safe, you must keep in mind that everyone is unique. As a result, no matter what time of day you take creatine, your body will respond differently.

There is no optimal timing to take creatine; what matters is that you take it on a regular basis and at the correct dosage.

Consider combining creatine with casein protein and complex carbohydrates to boost the muscle-building advantages of creatine while you sleep. Casein protein is a slow-digesting protein that aids in the absorption of protein by your muscles as you sleep. Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, aid in the quicker absorption of creatine by interacting with insulin.

Creatine can help build your muscle. But, to achieve muscle mass you should perform an intensity training workout. Likewise, intense lifting helps in recycling the ATP necessary to endure a workout.

Prior to taking creatine supplementation, make sure to consult your health care provider. This is necessary especially if you are under medication or experiencing health issues.

Janice Thompson

Janice Thompson is a nutritionist. She loves to share her healthy lifestyle and diet tips.