When administered at an equivalent daily dose of 0.03 g/kg/day over eight weeks of resistance training in young men, creatine hydrochloride does not produce greater improvements in strength, muscle mass, or hormonal responses compared to creatine monohydrate.

Creatine enters muscle cells and gets converted into phosphocreatine, which helps muscles produce energy faster during intense lifting. This lets a person do more reps and sets, which stresses the muscle enough to grow bigger and stronger. At the same time, creatine pulls water into the muscle cells, swelling them, and this swelling turns on signals that tell the muscle to build more protein and stop breaking it down. These two effects together—more energy and more growth signals—explain why creatine improves strength and muscle size, regardless of whether it's in hydrochloride or monohydrate form.