“Alongside caffeine, nitrate, and baking soda, creatine was identified by the International Olympic Committee as one of just four substances whose performance-boosting effects were backed by a reasonable body of evidence.”

“By the following Olympics (Atlanta 1996), it was estimated that over 80% of the athletes were using creatine.”

“…this latest review argues that many real-life endurance events have “key race-defining moments”, such as hill climbs, surges and finishing sprints, where a little extra creatine could make a difference.”

“…the primary claims (maximising creatine stores to fuel hill climbs and surges, and perhaps a little extra glycogen stored in the muscles) stand up to scrutiny, particularly considering the lack of significant drawbacks to creatine supplementation…”

“The recommended dose to max out your creatine levels is 20g per day (split into four 5g doses) for a week, followed by a maintenance dose of 3-5g per day thereafter.”

In 1832, French philosopher and scientist Michel Eugène Chevreul successfully extracted a crystallized precipitate from skeletal muscle. He named his discovery creatine, after the Greek word κρέας (kreas), which means meat. Fast forward two centuries, and creatine is now one of the most widely used supplements in the world.

In 2022, the global creatine market was estimated to be worth over $280 million (a figure which is expected to double over the next six years). Alongside caffeine, nitrate, and baking soda, creatine was identified by the International Olympic Committee as one of just four substances whose performance-boosting effects were backed by a reasonable body of evidence.

But what is creatine, why do athletes supplement with it, and does it have benefits for endurance athletes?

“Alongside caffeine, nitrate, and baking soda, creatine was identified by the International Olympic Committee as one of just four substances whose performance-boosting effects were backed by a reasonable body of evidence.”

🧐 What is creatine?

Put simply, creatine is a naturally occurring organic compound found in muscle. The majority of creatine (95%) is stored in skeletal muscle (fast-twitch, type II) and acts as a substrate for muscular contraction, by providing a phosphate molecule for the regeneration of ATP. As a dietary supplement, creatine is a tasteless, crystalline powder that readily dissolves in liquids and is usually marketed as creatine monohydrate.

Our bodies make their own creatine out of amino acids, but we also get some from food sources like seafood, red meat, and poultry (a typical carnivorous diet supplies 1-2g of creatine per day). However, even in meat-eaters, creatine stores in our muscles are typically only about 80% full. The intention of creatine supplementation, therefore, is to top those stores up to 100%.

📜 History of creatine supplementation

Although creatine’s influence on physical performance was unearthed in the early twentieth century (in 1912, a pair of Harvard University researchers found evidence that ingesting creatine can dramatically boost the creatine content of the muscle, and then, in the late 1920s, with the discovery of creatine phosphate, it was determined that creatine is an essential component in the metabolism of skeletal muscle), it didn’t come into public view until after the 1992 Olympics.

In August 1992, The Times reported that several successful athletes at the Barcelona Olympics had used creatine before the competition, including 100m gold medal winner Linford Christie (note that Christie was banned seven years later for doping offences). This initiated a whole host of clinical trials which, over the following years, detailed the benefits of creatine supplementation for different sports. By the following Olympics (Atlanta 1996), it was estimated that over 80% of the athletes were using creatine.

“By the following Olympics (Atlanta 1996), it was estimated that over 80% of the athletes were using creatine.”

👍 Benefits of creatine supplementation

In physiology, we normally talk of two energy systems: aerobic and anaerobic. Although this is oversimplified, the basic distinction is that aerobic energy is slow and sustainable, while anaerobic energy is fast but quickly depleted. But there’s also a third, less talked about energy system, sometimes called the anaerobic alactic system. This is even faster and more rapidly depleted than the anaerobic system and relies on creatine phosphate stored right in the muscle cells to fuel sudden, explosive movements lasting up to ten seconds. The benefits of creatine supplementation should be obvious at this point – creatine stores topped up to 100% will give you a little more energy for each burst from the anaerobic alactic system.

There’s now ample evidence to support this theory and creatine is widely accepted to help build strength and power, primarily through enhanced performance in the gym. But can it be useful for endurance athletes too?

🏃‍♂️ Creatine for endurance athletes

Researchers have been considering this question since at least the early 1990s, with mixed results. But a recent review in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN) suggests it may be time for the endurance world to take another look at creatine.

Endurance athletes understandably don’t spend much time worrying about a fuel tank that lasts for ten seconds, and in general, creatine hasn’t displayed any benefits in tests of even-paced endurance time trials. But this latest review argues that many real-life endurance events have “key race-defining moments”, such as hill climbs, surges and finishing sprints, where a little extra creatine could make a difference. A 2018 study, in which cyclists conducted a 120km time trial punctuated by a series of 1km and 4km sprints, supports this theory. Creatine didn’t improve their overall time, but it did boost their power in the final sprints.

The JISSN review went on to list a huge range of other possible benefits of creatine supplementation. Taking creatine alongside carbohydrate appears to enhance glycogen storage in the muscles, an obvious benefit for endurance athletes. The extra water retention may help performance in the heat. It may also buffer rising blood pH, reduce neuromuscular fatigue, counteract inflammation, and expedite recovery – as well having potential health benefits for bone strength, concussion, degenerative brain conditions, heart disease, and more.

“…this latest review argues that many real-life endurance events have “key race-defining moments”, such as hill climbs, surges and finishing sprints, where a little extra creatine could make a difference.”

👎 Drawbacks of creatine supplementation

A good place to start when deciding whether to take a particular course of action is to assess the potential downsides. When it comes to creatine, the biggest objection for endurance athletes is the associated weight gain. When supplementing with creatine, you can expect to gain about 1% or more of your total weight. That’s a result of water retention and is independent of any additional muscles mass you may pack on over time with creatine-fuelled workouts.

While quite a big deal is made out of 1% margins in elite sport, I would argue that 1% is quite insignificant, especially for the everyday athlete. The 1% weight gain is also not a proven detriment to performance – the 2018 cycling study mentioned above finished with an uphill ride to exhaustion to see if the negative effects of weight gain would outweigh the positive effects of creatine and found no significant result.

“…the primary claims (maximising creatine stores to fuel hill climbs and surges, and perhaps a little extra glycogen stored in the muscles) stand up to scrutiny, particularly considering the lack of significant drawbacks to creatine supplementation…”

👨‍⚖️ Conclusion

My conclusion is that, until solid evidence is presented regarding the secondary claims (about heat stress, inflammation, brain health etc), they can be put aside for now. But the primary claims (maximising creatine stores to fuel hill climbs and surges, and perhaps a little extra glycogen stored in the muscles) stand up to scrutiny, particularly considering the lack of significant drawbacks to creatine supplementation (it’s even relatively inexpensive, especially for an industry saturated with overpriced snake oil products).

I’ve personally been supplementing with creatine on and off for more than a decade, both as a gym-bunny teen focused on power and strength and as an ultra runner primarily concerned with endurance performance. I’ve found there to be little to no negative effects of creatine supplementation (remembering to buy it/take it being the biggest drawback!) and I’ve noticed several benefits.

👇 Things to consider

🔹 Despite there being plenty of fancifully named creatine variants on the market, none have been shown to outperform the cheapest and most basic, creatine monohydrate. I personally use Protein Works Creatine Monohydrate. There is only one ingredient (100% Creatine Monohydrate), so all brands are offering the same product – but if you’d like to try the Protein Works version, the code TAYLORMADE will get you 10% off.

🔹 The recommended dose to max out your creatine levels is 20g per day (split into four 5g doses) for a week, followed by a maintenance dose of 3-5g per day thereafter. You can skip the loading phase and just stick with 3-5g per day from the off, but this method will take four weeks to max out your stores.

🔹 If you stop supplementing once your creatine stores are maxed out, they’ll take about a month to return to baseline levels. Many athletes cycle on and off creatine depending on their upcoming training or racing goals (I typically take creatine continuously throughout the year).

🔹 It is best practice to take creatine close to your workout (for example, immediately after), ideally with some carbohydrates (the associated insulin spike can increase creatine retention).

🔹 There is some evidence that women have higher baseline levels of creatine and therefore get less benefit from supplementation. There’s plenty of individual variation though, so the only way to know how you’ll respond is to try it.