Should Endurance Athletes Supplement With Creatine?

At the beginning of the year I decided to supplement with creatine to see how it would impact my strength and cycling performance, and whether the benefits would outweigh (no pun intended) the extra pounds I might put on. But first off, what is creatine?

Creatine is a substance that your body naturally makes and stores in your muscles to use as energy during high intensity exercise (like heavy lifting or sprinting). Supplementing with creatine (3-5g daily) increases the amount that is available for your body to use, which can lead to improvements in strength, muscle, and power output over short durations. One of the side effects of creatine supplementation is weight gain from more water being stored in the muscle.

Here is what I noticed after 6+ months of supplementation:

The gym - I felt like I could push harder and recover faster between sets. Gained an appreciable amount of strength on main lifts and possibly some lower body muscle.

The mirror/scale - A bit more beefy. My weight fluctuates a lot, but I’m typically around 170 in the morning (+/- 5lbs, depending how much ice cream I have eaten the night before). While supplementing with creatine I was usually in the mid 170s, so I gained about 5lbs of water weight, which from what I have read is pretty average. 

The bike - More explosive sprints and power on short punchy climbs (5-30s). The obvious downside of creatine for a cyclist or any sport that involves working against gravity (going uphill) is the extra weight gain. I wouldn’t say I felt that much heavier on the bike or slower on longer climbs, but I’m sure the extra 5lbs didn’t do me any favors in races with a ton of climbing, like the Guilford Gravel Grinder or Greylock Hill Climb TT. The improved sprint and explosive power on the bike was nice, but I’m naturally a more explosive and anaerobic rider anyway, so I’m not sure a marginal benefit in that area outweighs the cost of lugging a little extra weight uphill. The extra weight gain might not be a downside for someone else though. There is a balance between power and weight, and lighter is not always better.

Since I stopped taking creatine a month ago the effects have slowly gone away - I don’t feel quite as superhuman in the gym, bodyweight has slowly gone down, less beefy, and less explosiveness on the bike. 

So should you use creatine? If you’re a runner or cyclist who lifts weights regularly then I think it is worth experimenting with. It’s cheap, safe, and it works, which is unfortunately not the case for 99% of supplements out there. Just be aware of the extra weight gain if you compete in races where being a little lighter might be a benefit. But if you are in a phase of training where the focus is on building strength or muscle (the winter/off season) or do races that might benefit from being a little more explosive (a sprinter or crit racer), then I would at least give it a try.  Just don’t expect it to make up for major deficiencies in other areas like good sleep and nutrition. 

Personally, I will likely use it in the winter when I don’t have any races and lifting/building strength and muscle is the priority, and then come off it in the spring when my race season starts.