If you're a guy who lifts weights, taking creatine won't make you hold more water outside your cells compared to just training — the water increase seems to come from working out, not the supplement.

If you're a guy who lifts weights, taking creatine might help you gain more muscle and hold onto more water inside your cells than just training alone.

If you're a guy who lifts weights, taking creatine for 8 weeks can help you gain muscle and hold more water inside your muscle cells — but the water doesn't increase more than the muscle does, so it's not just 'bloating' — it's real growth.

When guys who lift weights gain muscle, their muscle cells also hold more water — and this happens whether or not they take creatine. It suggests that growing muscle might be linked to how much water the cells hold.

Taking 20 grams of creatine every day for two weeks might help young active women hold more water inside their cells, which could support muscle function.

Taking 3–5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily for 8 to 12 weeks leads to small increases in muscle size in people who regularly lift weights, mainly because it allows them to train more intensely or for longer, not because it directly stimulates muscle growth at the cellular level.