How much creatine per kg - Scientific information

Creatine has become part of the daily supplement routine for many physically active people. But a lot of them don’t actually know how much creatine you should take. You often hear something about 3–5 grams. But is that really correct? How much creatine per kg do you actually need and how many grams of creatine per day is too much? And what the hell is a loading phase?! So many questions – and we’ve got the answers!*

Your knowledge to go: How much creatine per kg?

• To get the best possible benefit from creatine, it’s important that you take creatine regularly and in the right dosage .

• In the loading phase you need about 0.3 g per kg of bodyweight , while in the maintenance phase you need around 0.03 g per kg .

• Some people follow the cycle loading phase – maintenance phase – break , while others simply take creatine continuously.

• Too much creatine can, for example, lead to gastrointestinal issues; however, 3–5 g per day are considered unproblematic.

• How much creatine per kg is needed is not dependent on whether you’re currently in a phase where you want to build muscle, lose fat, or maintain your weight.

Creatine effects

Before we really dive into the topic, let’s quickly go back to basics: What does creatine actually do? For creatine, there is currently solid evidence only in the area of physical performance . However, the potential impact of creatine on different areas of the body is also being researched :

• Brain

• Nervous system

• Mental health

• Immune system

• Muscles

Especially its effect in sports is interesting for many and the main reason why they want to take creatine. You can imagine creatine in the body as a kind of energy storage or energy supplier by making ATP available: Creatine increases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high-intensity exercise, when a daily intake of 3 g is consumed. Put very simply, creatine gives your muscles more energy and allows them to deliver better performance .
By the way: Creatine without exercise won’t give you any performance benefits – without training you won’t get stronger. Creatine is not a magic bullet after all. To learn what creatine actually is, check out this article: What is creatine?

How much creatine per kg do you need to actually benefit from its advantages?

How much creatine per kg – your overview

If you want to know how much creatine per kg you should take daily, you first need to understand that creatine supplementation (from a sports science perspective) has two phases: loading phase and maintenance phase .
The daily dosage differs between these two phases. By the way, the dose is not dependent on whether your plan is to build muscle, lose fat, or whatever else.

Loading phase: How much creatine per kg in the loading phase?

• When you start taking creatine, you can optionally do a loading phase for about 5–7 days . In this phase you actively “load” your creatine stores with an increased dose so that you notice effects as quickly as possible.

• Recommended dose: 0.3 g of creatine per kg of bodyweight

• Depending on your bodyweight, this can amount to 15–30 g of creatine.
  
  

Maintenance phase: How much creatine per kg in the maintenance phase?

• After the loading phase comes the maintenance phase. Your creatine stores are now filled and just need to be maintained .

• Recommended dose: 0.03 g of creatine per kg of bodyweight

• Depending on your bodyweight, this can amount to 1.5–3 g of creatine .

• Most people don’t base their daily dose on bodyweight, but simply follow the standard intake recommendation of 3–5 g of creatine per day.

There’s also a third and lesser-known phase: the break . As you might guess, this is when you pause creatine intake. More on that later.
For the sake of completeness:
How much creatine per kg in the break? 0 g per kg!
Now you’re in the know. ;)

Did you know?
The loading phase is not strictly necessary ! You can also start directly with the maintenance phase – your stores will still gradually fill up. It just takes a bit longer. After a maximum of 4 weeks, your creatine stores will also be full with this method!

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Men and women

Many assume that creatine dosage differs between women and men. That’s not true! The same dosage recommendation applies for men and women:

How much creatine per day as a woman? Loading phase 0.3 g/kg | Maintenance phase 0.03 g/kg

How much creatine per day as a man? Loading phase 0.3 g/kg | Maintenance phase 0.03 g/kg

It often just looks like the creatine dosage is higher for men because men often (not always!) weigh more than women. This leads to higher total amounts. But per 1 kg of bodyweight, it is exactly the same!

How much creatine per day – calculator

Okay, I know – for many of us, math class was a long time ago, and even opening the calculator app can feel like too much effort sometimes. That’s why I’ll do the math for you and show the recommended creatine dose for different weight classes:

How much creatine per kg in the loading phase? (Based on sports science data)

How much creatine per kg in the maintenance phase? (Based on sports science data)

And last but not least: How much creatine per kg in the break?
Okay, no. I’ll spare you that one.

So questions like “How much creatine at 80 kg?” (24 g in the loading phase, 2.4 g in the maintenance phase) or “How much creatine at 70 kg?”

(21 g in the loading phase, 2.1 g in the maintenance phase) should now be finally answered. But what happens if you take more creatine?

What happens if you take too much creatine?

First we need to clarify how much creatine per kg is actually too much. In general, doses of 3–5 g per day are considered safe – how much that is per kg of bodyweight depends on how much you weigh.
If you take more than this amount, the first thing to know is that it won’t give you any additional benefit . In other words, going above 3–5 g won’t lead to better effects , more strength, etc. So it’s definitely a waste of money. Better use that money to treat yourself to a delicious protein bar:

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Additionally, an excessively high creatine dose can cause symptoms like gastrointestinal issues (nausea, stomach pain, etc.). Even though side effects with creatine are generally rare, of course you can react to very high doses.

How do you take creatine?

We now know how much creatine you should take. But how do you best take creatine supplements? We’ve already talked about the cycle loading phase – maintenance phase – break. This is also called a creatine cycle . After 5–7 days of loading, there’s a maintenance phase of about 6–8 weeks. The subsequent break lasts several weeks (usually 2–4).

But why is this break so important? Can’t you just take creatine continuously? The current evidence here isn’t super clear – so we don’t really know yet. The break is meant to “reset” the body. After that, the body is supposed to be able to use the substance more effectively again. Just like caffeine seems to lose its wake-up effect for many people after some time, some people feel something similar with creatine. Other people choose to skip the break and take creatine continuously.
Your creatine stores drop back to baseline levels about 4 weeks after stopping creatine .

One more important detail: In both the loading and maintenance phase, creatine should really be taken every day ! Not just on training days. After all, you want your stores to stay full all the time.

Tips for taking creatine:

1. Creatine is available as powder or capsules , for example. The most well-known form is creatine monohydrate powder. It’s easy to dose and take.

2. You can mix the powder into water or add it to a protein shake , your porridge or a smoothie . It’s best to combine your creatine intake with a large portion of carbohydrates – this can help creatine absorption.

3. If you are prone to stomach issues, it’s a good idea to take creatine with a meal . You can also split your daily amount into 2–3 smaller doses. That way creatine tends to be very well tolerated.

4. Remember to always drink plenty of water ! Creatine causes water to be stored in your muscles, which increases your fluid needs.

Looking for more tips on timing your supplementation ? We got you!

Did you know that creatine is also found in foods like meat?
Quiz question: How much is 5 grams of creatine (the often recommended amount) in the form of pork?
Answer: Around 1 kg.
Oh wow, now I understand why many meat eaters also use creatine as a supplement.

Conclusion

Creatine can definitely make sense – but only if you take it in the right dose. Fortunately, you now know how much creatine per kg is recommended by the pros. So nothing stands in the way of your creatine adventure anymore.
If you want to read even more about creatine, here are some of our articles – soon you’ll be a creatine pro too:
Is creatine worth it?
Creatine intake

Don’t be surprised; in these articles you’ll also find repeated mentions of how much creatine per day, per kg, etc. is recommended. As the saying goes – learning through repetition!

PS: Always keep in mind that there’s a lot of misinformation online about how much creatine per kg you need. So don’t believe everything right away and pay attention to trustworthy sources!

References & sources

1. Kreider, R. B. et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. In: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition , 14(1).

2. Nebel, R. (2002). Creatine in sports – ergogenic supplement? In: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Sportmedizin, 53(7+8)

3. Swiss Sports Nutrition Society (2023). Supplement guide. A-supplements: performance supplements.

Do you have questions? Then feel free to send me an email – I’m looking forward to hearing from you! :)

The information shared in this article does not replace individual medical or nutritional counselling.