What does creatine do inside your muscles?
Global and targeted gene expression and protein content in skeletal muscle of young men following short-term creatine monohydrate supplementation.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Creatine altered gene expression in resting muscle without any exercise.
Most assume muscle benefits from supplements require training, but here, changes happened at rest—showing creatine has direct biological effects.
Practical Takeaways
Start with a 3-day creatine 'load' (20g/day) to kickstart cellular changes.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Creatine altered gene expression in resting muscle without any exercise.
Most assume muscle benefits from supplements require training, but here, changes happened at rest—showing creatine has direct biological effects.
Practical Takeaways
Start with a 3-day creatine 'load' (20g/day) to kickstart cellular changes.
Publication
Journal
Physiological genomics
Year
2008
Authors
A. Safdar, N. Yardley, R. Snow, S. Melov, M. Tarnopolsky
Related Content
Claims (6)
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.
Taking creatine for a short time might turn on genes in young men's muscles that help fix DNA, possibly because the cells are reacting to the stress from holding more water.
Taking creatine for a week might change genes in young men's muscles that help reshape the muscle structure, possibly because the muscle cells are holding more water.
Taking creatine for just a week can make young, healthy guys gain a little weight and look more muscular—even if they don’t work out, mostly because of water holding in their muscles.
Taking creatine for just a week can turn on important muscle cell signals that help with growth and energy use in young, healthy guys.