Creatine: The Coach-Facing Protocol Reference

Creatine is a compound the body produces naturally and stores primarily in skeletal muscle, where it helps regenerate ATP — the immediate energy source for short, powerful muscle contractions. Supplementation increases muscle creatine stores above what diet alone typically provides, which increases the body's…

Practically, that means creatine's relevance is tied to power output and the ability to repeat high-intensity efforts with less drop-off — not to sustained aerobic endurance.

For adult athletes, individual dosing decisions belong with your RD or physician. This is not appropriate for minors without direct medical guidance, given the thinner adolescent evidence base described above and the importance of monitoring kidney function and hydration status, particularly in an athlete also…

The most commonly studied approach in adults uses two phases. A loading phase of approximately 20 grams per day, split into 4 doses of 5 grams, for 5 to 7 days, followed by a maintenance phase of approximately 3 to 5 grams per day for as long as the athlete continues supplementation. Some protocols skip loading…

Adequate hydration is a consistent requirement across the research, since creatine increases intracellular water content in muscle tissue. This matters for a team more than it might for the general adult population using it, because the same athlete is also managing sweat losses from practice — hydration planning…