Creatine: Put Some Science Behind Your Strength

You can’t scoop discipline out of a supplement tub.

You still have to show up, lift with purpose, eat well, and recover. But when a supplement has solid research behind it, we ought to understand what it can offer.

Creatine deserves that conversation.

As a strength athlete and coach, I want more than a dramatic label and somebody yelling into a camera. Show me the evidence. Explain what it means. Then let’s put it to work.

Creatine is a useful tool for building strength and supporting muscle as we age. Here’s why it deserves consideration.

What does creatine actually do?

Your body makes creatine naturally, and you also get some from foods like meat and fish. Most of it is stored in your muscles.

Think of it as helping recharge your muscles’ quick energy supply. When you lift something heavy or perform repeated bursts of hard effort, that energy gets used rapidly. Increasing your muscle creatine stores can help you sustain that kind of work.

In the gym, that might mean doing a little more quality work across your sets. Over weeks and months, those small improvements can matter.

The scoop still needs the squat rack.

The strength benefits have research behind them

In a 1999 study, Volek and colleagues followed resistance training over 12 weeks. The creatine group increased bench press strength by 24%, compared with 16% in the placebo group. Squat strength increased 32% versus 24%.

Both groups trained. Both improved. The group taking creatine improved more. These are results from one study, however, and your own progress will depend on your training, nutrition, starting point, and individual response.

That’s the practical appeal: creatine can support the work you’re already doing.

Those of us over 40 should pay attention

At 53, I care about moving heavy iron. I also care about staying capable for my family and continuing to serve the people God puts in my life.

Strength has a purpose beyond the platform.

A 2017 meta-analysis by Chilibeck and colleagues combined 22 studies involving 721 older adults. A meta-analysis pools results from multiple studies to see the bigger picture.

Compared with lifting and taking a placebo, lifting while taking creatine produced greater improvements in chest press strength, leg press strength, and lean tissue mass. The additional lean tissue gain averaged approximately three pounds.

Keep that number honest: lean tissue includes water, so it does not mean everyone built three extra pounds of pure muscle.

Still, the overall finding matters. Creatine can help older adults get more from resistance training. It belongs in the conversation when we talk about building and maintaining strength across the years.

Keep the dosing simple

For most healthy adults, 3–5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily is a standard approach supported by sports nutrition guidance. Monohydrate is the best studied form; a more elaborate label does not establish a better result.

You also don’t have to start with a large “loading” dose.

In Hultman and colleagues’ 1996 study, taking 3 grams daily for 28 days increased muscle creatine stores by approximately 20%. Taking 20 grams daily achieved a similar increase more quickly, over six days. The smaller daily dose worked—it simply took longer.

My coaching approach: choose a routine you can follow consistently, including on rest days. Give it weeks, and evaluate your training progress over time.

What about your kidneys?

This question deserves an honest answer.

A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis by Kabiri Naeini and colleagues found a small increase in blood creatinine with supplementation, but no significant change in kidney filtration rate.

Here’s the plain English: creatine can affect a blood marker doctors use to assess kidney function without necessarily causing kidney damage.

That does not establish safety for every person or every medical condition. If you have kidney disease, abnormal kidney tests, or medical circumstances affecting kidney health, discuss supplementation with your clinician first. Tell them you take creatine when having blood work, and let them interpret the results.

Good stewardship includes asking informed questions.

Keep your priorities in order

I’m comfortable recommending that healthy adults who lift consider creatine. I’m equally comfortable telling someone to put the supplement shopping on hold while they build a consistent training routine.

Start with purposeful training, adequate food and protein, and enough recovery. Add tools that support those habits.

And remember what strength can—and cannot—do.

First Timothy 4:8 recognizes the value of physical training while placing godliness above it. We can appreciate a stronger body without making it our identity. Our standing before God rests in Christ, never in our physique or our total.

Train so you can carry responsibilities well. Train so you can stay useful. Receive the abilities God gives you with gratitude, and use them to serve.

Creatine may help you get more from the work.

Show up. Train wisely. Give God the glory.

Soli Deo Gloria.