Creatine helps muscles refill their energy stores quickly after a tough workout, but this boost only lasts the first day — even if you keep taking creatine, it doesn’t keep speeding things up after...

If young, healthy guys take 20 grams of creatine every day while eating a super high-carb diet after intense exercise, they rebuild their muscle fuel 82% faster in the first day compared to just eating high carbs alone.

In young, healthy guys, creatine helps refill muscle energy after intense exercise, but it doesn’t work by making muscles more sensitive to insulin — that part hasn’t changed, according to tests and gene activity.

Taking creatine for five days boosts creatine in muscles, but doesn’t change how much glycogen (energy) is used during intense cycling in healthy young guys — so more creatine alone doesn’t help save energy stores during endurance workouts if muscles weren’t already drained.

Taking creatine supplements the way some athletes do—starting with a big dose, then switching to a smaller one—might temporarily boost the sugar stored in your muscles, but that boost fades once you switch to the smaller daily dose.

Creatine might help your muscles store more glycogen, but only if you first do a workout that drains your energy stores — otherwise, it doesn’t do much for glycogen.