Guide
The creatine guide, without the circus.
A short briefing for people who will take 5 g a day and would like to know why. Not a blog. Not a bro-science thread.
The molecule
Creatine is a naturally occurring compound your liver makes and your diet (mostly meat and fish) tops up. Muscle stores it as phosphocreatine, which donates phosphate to recycle ATP in short, ugly efforts: a heavy set, a sprint, a hill. Supplementing raises those stores. That is the entire trick.
Why monohydrate
HCl, ethyl ester, buffered, nitrate, gummies — marketing layers on the same backbone. Creatine monohydrate is the form with decades of trials, a clean safety record, and a cost that is almost embarrassing. Micronized just means smaller particles, so it mixes instead of settling like beach sand. Creapure is a German-made monohydrate with tight impurity specs. Buy that grade. Ignore the rest of the aisle.
The dose
Three to five grams daily saturates muscle in about four weeks. A loading week (~20 g, split) gets you there in about six days and is optional. Bigger humans sit toward 5 g. Vegetarians often notice more because baseline stores run lower. Timing is a religious argument; consistency is the actual variable. Use the calculator if you want the kilogram math.
Women, aging, brains
Same dose. It does not masculinize. It does not require a different "female formula." In older adults, creatine plus resistance training is one of the more boringly positive stacks in the literature. Cognitive data is real and still being mapped — strongest when the brain is under metabolic stress (sleep loss, hard mental work), not as a daily espresso replacement. Creatine for women.
Creatine monohydrate vs HCl
HCl is sold as "more soluble, less bloat, smaller dose." Head-to-head outcome trials do not beat monohydrate. Ethyl ester has been shown to be worse. Buffered creatine (Kre-Alkalyn) does not earn the premium. Buy monohydrate. Micronized if you hate grit. Creapure if you want the German spec on the label. Full HCl comparison.
Gummies
Same molecule, weaker serving. Most creatine gummies are 1–1.5 g each. Hitting 5 g means four to eight chews and a pile of sugar. The 5 g math.
The scares
Kidneys: healthy kidneys handle recommended doses. If you have kidney disease, this page is not your physician. Hair: one small study in rugby players launched a decade of panic; it has not become a consensus creatine effect. Water: you may gain 1–2 lb as muscle cells hold more water. That is the mechanism, not a failure.
What we link
We do not take your card. If you need creatine tomorrow, buy Thorne (NSF), Sports Research Creapure (value), or Momentous (Creapure + NSF) on Amazon. We take an affiliate cut. That is the business, stated plainly.
Get the protocol.
One email when the first batch ships, plus the 5 g protocol PDF. No daily ‘motivation.’