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.

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.

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.

If you're a young guy who lifts weights for fun, taking a 5-gram creatine supplement right after your workout might help you gain a little more muscle and get a bit stronger than taking it before your workout — but we're not super sure because the study was small and the results weren't clear-cut.

Taking creatine powder while doing intense rowing and weight training won’t make you stronger, faster, or change your body composition any more than taking a sugar pill instead.