What Happens if You Load Creatine for 7 Days

Learn exactly what happens inside your body when you load creatine for 7 days. Taking 20 to 25 grams of creatine monohydrate per day can have many benefits, but also comes with it's side effects. Find out how to load creatine, and how it effects your body both inside and out.

Loading creatine for just 7 days can rapidly increase muscle growth, strength, and athletic performance amongst many other changes within your body. All of these benefits can be achieved by way of a natural supplement that has been proven to be very safe and effective after decades of research. All of our muscles already naturally contain creatine since our bodies naturally produce about 1 gram of creatine per day and it's present in many high-protein foods such as meat, chicken, and fish. With that said supplementation is typically needed to maximize creatine stores within the muscles. But even with supplementation it generally takes a lot longer than just 7 days, unless you do what's known as a loading phase. So in this video, we're going to take a journey inside the body to discover exactly what'll happen step by step as you saturate your muscles with creatine all within just one week. 

First understand the way that creatine fuels our muscles and provides bursts of energy for high-intensity activities like sprinting, lifting weights, or boxing, is largely tied to a molecule known as ATP, which is short for adenosine triphosphate. Atp provides energy to our cells, but it's quickly depleted during strenuous activity. So that's where creatine comes into play. Your body stores phosphocreatine within your muscle cells, as a reserve energy source. When you go through intense physical work like bench pressing or hitting a heavy bag for example your muscle cells use up one of the three phosphocreatine molecules found within adenosine TRI phosphate to generate energy, turning it into Adenosine Diphosphate or ADP. It's at this point that the phosphocreatine that's stored in your muscle cells can quickly be used to turn adp back into the usable form atp. (1) This fast ATP regeneration allows your muscles to continue working at peak efficiency even after the initial ATP stores get exhausted. 
So essentially the creatine stored within your muscles is like having a supply of energy in reserve that activates when you need it most, delaying fatigue and exhaustion while providing energy for explosive movements. The best part is that by consuming the right dosage of creatine, you can maximize your muscles' creatine stores within just seven days so that you're prepared for peak performance and loading for this short length of time can also lead to visible improvements in muscle size and body composition. Usually, it's recommended to take 20 to 25 grams of creatine per day for those first 7 days. There are also more exact recommendations that are based on your body weight. To calculate those exact recommendations out you can multiply your weight in kilograms by 0.3 or you can simply stick to the 20 to 25 grams per day guideline. This may sound like a lot, but during this initial period, your muscle cells will act like sponges absorbing and storing the majority of all that extra creatine (2). So think of your muscle cells like empty containers that fill up when you add additional creatine.. This creatine increases your muscles' energy reservoir so they're better prepared to provide quick bursts of energy. The amount of creatine in your muscle cells will gradually rise as the loading days go on. By the end of the seven-day loading phase, your muscles should be completely saturated with creatine, increasing strength, power, and endurance in a relatively short amount of time. 
During those 7 days creatine will also gradually draw water into your muscle cells, resulting in increased cellular hydration. This happens automatically because your body will try to maintain your cells' delicate equilibrium. Your muscles store creatine and water together. To keep that balance, your cells will naturally retain more water as you increase your creatine intake. This can lead to an increase in muscle volume, which can contribute to an improvement in muscle appearance. In other words as creatine draws water into your muscles they'll look bigger. This is often referred to as a "pumped" or fuller look. With that said it's important to realize that this effect is primarily due to increased water retention rather than actual muscle growth within just 7 short days. But as long as you keep your creatine stores maximized, which I'll go over how to do in second, that increased cellular hydration can actually assist with muscle growth over time by placing pressure against muscle cell membranes and cytoskeleton which gets perceived as a threat to your muscle cells integrity, triggering...

[CanKarakuzulu]

41 yrs old here. Did not load but regularly took normal dosage for about 1 years now. Huge improvement, and I didn't experience any side effects apart increased water hold.

[testomanam]

i train for 11 years without creatine .. now im using it for 3 weeks and i look defentliy more filled my shape looks bigger its a nice suolement !

[gatesjohns]

love how this channel sites every claim and points to studies. another great video

[vickyrebel]

I used creatine for almost 2 months and slowly my hair started falling and I observed a lot of follicles just falling on their own Then I stopped creatine for 2 months, and now my hair is back to its condition and I'm using natural coconut oil for hair strengthening and my suggestion is home made protein from foods which comes naturally and meat from different sources with proper plan of balanced sleep and workout is fair enough to build strength, I'm a mixed martial artist and athlete

[joshuamendivil]

I’m taking 20g a day for five days, I have a full head of hair and this is my 3rd time taking creatine, i immediately see the effects happening as I have way more energy and explosiveness in the gym, I don’t get as tired and overall feeling a better experience in the gym, if you feel nauseous after taking a loading phase maybe separate the intake by taking 5g 4 times a day. Instead of taking 10g twice a day. Nonetheless it’s nothing but positives from intaking creatine

[OvO.edddy]

I loaded the first week with just 10g and even then just felt fuller. Would go throughout the day drinking a lot of water since i would find myself more thirsty somehow and i didnt over eat which was good. I felt my reps in the gym get easier to do and my endurance feeling better. Maybe a placebo effect idk but overall it was a good experience l. Now i take 5g a day and i dont feel as bloated or full as i did but can definitely feel a increase in focus and my gym quality being better. It’s been a good journey for me overall

[varunsam]

i consume 3 grams per day with protein shake.

[HotRefuse]

I tried this myself. I tested an increased weight for bench press before creatine. I got 3 reps to failure. After creatine load and some sets with lower weight over the time I was loading that same weight with the 3 reps I could do 10-12 before failure for 4 sets. Huge improvement.

[jamesn]

I started creatine 6 months ago with a loading phase in my mid-40s. I have not experienced any hair loss. If anything, for me it’s slightly thickened up since it slightly receded in my 20s, but that’s probably more to do with my overall health as I’ve gotten much more serious during the past few years about a healthy diet. If it’s causing others hair loss, it’s either coincidence or a genetic disposition.

[CannibalShadow]

Never loaded it ever, I just take the same amount consistently daily.

[This-time-more-than-ever]

Hands down the best creatine clip I have ever watched! TY

[DavidBruceCJD]

A creatine loading phase always appeared unnescessary to me so I just waited and did the ''normal version''.
Haven't impacted my hair yet but I take care of it so don't take this as face value but I can approve the positive effects of creatine (as a person taking it without a loading phase)

[stefankopper]

Hey, so in my personal experience, it was like this.

I took creatine when I was young, like 18 yo and felt not much difference, so I stopped using it. Fast forward, I took creatine again 1 year ago when I was 29, got a lot fuller and stronger, maybe because I also had more muscles and then at 18. But I noticed after 4 months of usage that I lost a significant amount of hair, like almost half on top of my head. I stopped creatine and did micro needling plus minoxidil spray and I pretty much got all my hair back after around 3-5 months. My father is quite bald on top of his head but I never had hair loss even till 29, but with creatine I had it, so yeah for some people this small DHT increase can trigger significant hair loss. Maybe it's avoidable doing micro needling and Minoxidil to prevent it from falling out for people like me while doing creatine. I will test this next now that I have my hair back.
So my conclusion is that if you have balding parents, you can expect the same to happen to you when you use creatine.

Hope my comment helps some of you.

[Sunny-zfcm]

I think it’s more of a genetics thing than creatine just causes hair loss. Like it just can trigger it if you’re already predisposed to it. In that case, you might want to avoid more than just creatine.

[demon__adrian]

i have never seen anyone use the scoop to stir. that hurt me inside.

[dankvada]

i ve delt for years w/ burnout and was basically unable to recharge my batteries... when i got up in the morning it felt my charger was damaged and i didnt rest over the night at all... after doing some research i stumbled across creatine. been using it for 2 weeks now and the difference is night and days...im starting to feel rested in the morning and have increased mental clarity.

[adityanihlani]

I experienced hair loss while regularly taking creatine which stopped immediately after I stopped taking it. Just my experience. I have now started it again

[ntr]

Coincidence or not, when I started taking creatine 5 grams per day for 3 weeks (I had not taken creatine before), I noticed that my hair was thinning, although hair had never bothered me in my life. I'm 27.

[hitman]

Sharing my anecdotal experience:
I did a creatine loading then maintenance for a couple of months (Took it with protein and collagen. All of which are premium best-in-the-market quality). I experienced the benefits like muscle growth, more energy, faster recovery, a few pounds water weight, and sometimes better sleep. Unfortunately, I also experienced faster hair loss. I stopped taking creatine and the hair loss slowed down. Since the hair loss accelerated when taking the creatine and slowed down when off it, I'm assuming the creatine has a role.
In the future, I'll try taking creatine again in smaller doses and see what happens.

I'd be really interested to hear about other people experiences.

UPDATE: My hair loss almost completely stopped after stopping creatine the first time 5 months ago (without stopping the protein and collagen). I decided to give it a second try and added creatine back into the mix. Again, my hair started falling off again. It's now clear to me that creatine has caused/accelerated the hair loss in both times. It's unfortunate since it also had benefits that I have to give up.

[arnaudmenant]

The loading phase made me feel like í was 20 again. Training super hard, sleeping á lot, getting hard at night too xD