Those longer, harder workouts can help you build more muscle. "Typically within four to eight weeks [of] taking creatine, you'll probably gain anywhere from two to four pounds of lean body mass," Antonio says. Creatine alone won't help your muscles grow, however.
Creatine supplementation can cause some initial weight gain of around 2-4.5 pounds due to water retention in muscles. However, studies show this is not fat gain. Long-term creatine use has been found to lead to greater gains in fat-free mass compared to fat mass.
Creatine is generally regarded as safe for short-term use, but not for long-term use. When taken continuously, it may lead to muscle cramping and dehydration. It also may worsen kidney function by causing more water retention than the kidneys can handle.
“With all of those things considered, the average man can gain about one to two pounds of muscle per month and the average woman up to one pound per month,” Jacobchick told us.
According to fitness researcher Lyle McDonald, women in their first year of proper training can expect to build on average one pound of muscle per month, and men can expect two pounds. Muscle growth slows down the longer you've been lifting weights.
With the right combination of diet and exercise, you can see results in just three months. In this guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know about bulking up. We'll discuss how to set goals, choose the right exercises, eat for muscle growth, and more.
In addition to providing more energy and helping to increase muscle growth, creatine helps: Speed up muscle recovery. When you exercise, you create micro-tears in your muscle fibers. As you recover, the micro-tears in your muscle fibers heal, and your muscles get stronger.
When used orally at appropriate doses, creatine is likely safe to take for up to five years. As with any dietary supplement, it's important to choose a product that follows recommended manufacturing practices and subscribes to third-party testing to ensure the product's quality.
The Creatine Cycle
This means in total you have been supplementing with creatine for a total of 8 weeks. Then it is important to stop taking creatine. You should pause your creatine supplementation for anywhere between 7 to 14 days (preferably 2 weeks), before beginning again to take creatine.
The muscle gains you experience from taking creatine are permanent, but only if you keep up with your diet and exercise routine and remain consistent. If not, these gains will quickly fade away.
Increased Workout Intensity: One of the earliest signs of creatine's impact is an increase in your ability to perform high-intensity exercises. You might find that you can lift heavier weights, complete more repetitions, or sustain intense activity for longer before fatigue sets in.
Drink 12-16 cups if you're working out and using creatine
The amount of water you need can vary based on things like your size, activity level, and gender. But generally, shooting for at least 3 to 4 liters of water, or 12 to 16 cups, per day is a good idea, especially if you're working out and using creatine.
Creatine pulls more water into your muscles, making your muscles bigger and fuller. And if you're not gaining weight on creatine in the short-term, you may not be drinking enough water. Make sure you're well-hydrated when you're taking creatine supplements.
A recent review of 35 studies found that creatine supplementation, combined with resistance training, increased lean body mass — the body's weight, minus fat — by more than two pounds in adults, regardless of age. The difference is small, but significant, although men reported higher gains than women.
Taking a modest dose of around 3-5 grams daily can produce increased strength and endurance in around 2-4 weeks. While creatine loading, taking 20-25 grams daily for 7 days followed by a lower maintenance dose, can produce results in 5-7 days.
When you stop using creatine, this water retention will decrease, which may lead to a reduction in muscle size and a slight weight loss. However, this does not mean you will lose true muscle mass, strength, or long-term gains, provided you continue with resistance training and proper nutrition.
One, there's minimal downside with creatine supplements, and most studies have found that it's completely safe to take indefinitely. So there's no risk to taking creatine supplements without working out. Two, creatine can have more benefits than just improving physical performance and physique.
Creatine can be effective for both bulking and cutting, depending on how you use it and what your goals are. Creatine creates a water retention surrounding the muscle that not only preserves the muscle during a cutting phase but also provides immediate muscle recovery in order to continue intense workouts.
Most people can gain about half a pound of muscle in a month, while others new to training may gain two pounds.
Five to seven days of supplementation with a daily dose of 20 g·day−1 is sufficient to saturate muscle creatine stores [5], which is approximately 140 to 160 mmol·kg−1 of dry muscle. This has become a commonly employed dose in the literature and termed the “loading phase”.
Contrary to what you might see on social media or hear from your buddy at the gym, most people won't be able to get significantly ripped in three months. You can lose a few pounds of fat and/or gain a few pounds of muscle in that time, but three months is too short of a time frame to see drastic results.
Downtime between workouts (whether you're lifting, doing cardio or training for a sport) is when our bodies have a chance to actually build muscle. Strenuous workouts cause muscle breakdown, while rest allows our bodies to build it back up.