Does creatine help muscles grow right after exercise?
No effect of creatine supplementation on human myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic protein synthesis after resistance exercise.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists wanted to see if taking creatine helps muscles make more protein after a workout. They had young men do leg exercises and measured how much new muscle protein was made, with and without creatine.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
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Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists wanted to see if taking creatine helps muscles make more protein after a workout. They had young men do leg exercises and measured how much new muscle protein was made, with and without creatine.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 530 / 44
Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Publication
Authors
Louis M, Poortmans JR, Francaux M, Berré J, Boisseau N, Brassine E, Cuthbertson DJ, Smith K, Babraj JA, Waddell T, Rennie MJ
Related Content
Claims (5)
Taking creatine supplements leads to higher levels of creatine in muscles, improves the ability to regenerate energy during intense workouts, and over 8 to 12 weeks, allows for more total training and measurable muscle growth.
Creatine helps build muscle mostly by keeping muscle cells hydrated and reducing breakdown, not by making your body produce more muscle protein.
Taking a lot of creatine for 5 days doesn’t seem to boost muscle repair or growth right after a workout in young, healthy guys—even though it does increase creatine levels in their muscles. So, creatine might help muscles grow in other ways, not by speeding up protein building right after exercise.
Doing a tough leg workout with lots of sets makes your leg muscles start building new proteins much faster—2 to 3 times more than usual—right after the workout.
If young, healthy guys take a lot of creatine for 5 days straight, their muscles soak it up and end up with about 21% more creatine inside them.