When your muscles store glycogen, it holds onto water—about 3 to 4 grams of water for every gram of glycogen. If glycogen runs low, cells get less hydrated, and that makes creatine less effective at...

Taking creatine supplements may help your muscles store more glycogen, which is like a sugar reservoir, and since glycogen holds onto water, your muscles end up holding more water too.

When male endurance athletes refill their muscle fuel after long workouts, each gram of that fuel comes back with at least 3 grams of water stuck to it — even if they're not drinking much.

Taking creatine helps your muscle cells soak up more water, making them swell a bit—and this swelling tells your body to stop breaking down muscle as much.

In young, healthy guys recovering from intense workouts, taking creatine doesn’t seem to change muscle swelling or stress signals — which means the boost in muscle fuel recovery probably isn’t due to those factors.

Taking creatine supplements pulls water into your muscles, making them look bigger, but it might also mess with how well they work by stretching the muscle fibers.