Is creatine actually for you?

If you move your body, you're a candidate. A reformer class counts. So does a hill on your walk, a padel rally, or carrying the shopping up three flights of stairs.

• Reformer Pilates
• Running
• Padel
• Studio classes
• Hill walks
• Stairs with the shopping

It works best alongside something that challenges your muscles a couple of times a week. If you rarely train, the muscle benefit is small, so you may get more from the cognitive side.

Your cells use it to quickly regenerate ATP, the form of energy they run on. When you push hard, like a sprint, a heavy set or a steep hill, your cells use ATP faster than they can make it, and creatine helps top it back up. That is why it supports repeated bursts of hard effort.* Women tend to start with lower stores than men.

1. CreatineStored in muscle and brain
3. ATPThe energy your cells use
5. Short, hard effortsA sprint, a set, a flight of stairs

Your brain is about 2% of your body weight and uses roughly 20% of your energy, so it has a big energy bill. Creatine is part of how brain cells keep their ATP topped up, much as muscle cells do. Researchers are studying what that means for memory and mental fatigue, including when sleep is short.

Read more: Creatine and the brain

Creatine draws water into your muscle cells. Most bloating stories come from a loading phase: taking around 20g a day for 5 to 7 days to fill your stores fast. We don't recommend a loading phase.

Your gut is a separate question. Gut bloating from gas, digestion or food is different from the water creatine draws into muscle cells, and bigger single doses are the more likely cause of an upset stomach than 5g. If your digestion is sensitive, you can start with one chew a day for the first few days, then build to two.

If the scale moves in the first week or two, that is water held inside your muscle cells. It makes your muscles fuller and fuelled, ready for action, and it does not add body fat. For most people it settles as the weeks go on.

Read more: Does creatine cause bloating in women?

Creatine tops up the stores in your muscles over time, so rest days count too. Take two chews every day at whatever time you'll remember. Timing barely matters, and one missed day is no drama because stores drain slowly.

1. Weeks 1 to 2Your stores are topping up. You won't feel a buzz yet, and that's normal. Every day counts towards a fuller tank.
2. Weeks 3 to 4Your muscle stores are full. This is where it starts to count: more in the tank for short, hard efforts.* The steep bit of your walk, the last stretch of a reformer class, the dash for the bus.
3. Month 2 onwardsTwo chews a day is just part of your routine now. Keep it daily. Consistency beats perfection.
4. If you stopStores generally drift back to baseline over about 4 to 6 weeks, so keep the habit going.

No scoop, no shaker, no faff. Each serving is 5g of micronised creatine monohydrate, and some people say the orange sherbet flavour takes them straight back to childhood.

Each tub holds 15 servings, and each serving is two chews. A routine you enjoy is the one you keep.