A study from the University of New South Wales found that taking a creatine supplement at the recommended level has little to no effect.

The clinical trial involved 54 people who underwent a 12-week resistance training program. The results were compared between people who took a typical daily dose of creatine and those who did not.

Both groups in the trial gained an average of two kilograms of lean body mass, suggesting that larger regular doses of the supplement may be needed to see significant benefits.

“We’ve shown that taking five grams of creatine supplement per day does not make any difference to the amount of lean muscle mass people put on while resistance training,” said senior author Dr Mandy Hagstrom. 

“The benefits of creatine may have been overestimated in the past, due to methodological problems with previous studies,” she added. 

In past studies, participants have started taking creatine supplements at the beginning of their new workout routine, making it difficult to differentiate the benefits of creatine from the benefits of exercise, according to researchers.  

In this trial, those in the supplement group started taking the creatine a week before beginning the resistance training program.

“The people taking the creatine supplement saw changes before they even started exercising, which leads us to believe that it wasn’t actual real muscle growth, but potentially fluid retention,” Dr Hagstrom said. 

“Then once they started exercising, they saw no additional benefit from creatine which suggests that five grams per day is not enough if you’re taking it for the purposes of building muscle.”