Creatine has surged in popularity recently, and not just among athletes and bodybuilders. Amid the growing interest, many brands are promoting "creatine loading," which involves taking a higher dose for a week before switching to a daily maintenance amount.

But is it actually necessary? Or just clever marketing?

We asked Alice Fontecilla, a certified personal trainer at Muscle Booster, to break down what creatine loading is and whether it's worth doing.

What is Creatine?

"Creatine is a naturally occurring compound found in your body, as well as in foods such as fish and meat," Fontecilla explains. "It's primarily used to help supply energy to your muscles, and through supplementation, it can improve strength, power, and performance."

While it's long been popular among gym-goers, more recent studies are showing its effectiveness for vegetarians, older adults, and even people going through menopause.

What is the Creatine Loading Phase?

"The creatine loading phase is essentially where you take four times the usual dose in the first week of taking the supplement," says Fontecilla. 

"The idea behind it is that you'll see your desired results faster and your muscles will rapidly increase creatine stores, with the later doses maintaining them."

In practical terms: instead of taking 3-5g per day from the start, you'd take 20g per day (split into four 5g doses) for the first week, then drop back to the standard maintenance dose.

Should you Creatine Load?

"Loading isn't essential. You will still see results, however, it will be at a more sustainable rate," Fontecilla notes. "Within around 30 days, the outcome will be similar, if not the same."

So it really comes down to your timeline. 

If you want to see results within a week or two, loading might make sense. If you're fine waiting about a month to reach the same endpoint, you can skip it and just start with the standard daily dose.

How to Creatine Load (If You Decide To)

If you do choose to load, here's the protocol:

Week 1 (Loading phase): Take 5g of creatine four times a day for seven days.

Week 2 onward (Maintenance phase): Take 3-5g per day after your workouts.

"As it pulls water into your cells in order to build up muscle, you'll want to make sure you are hydrated," Fontecilla warns. "If not, you may experience cramps, and it won't be as effective. Stomach cramps are also known to be a common side effect."

One more thing to keep in mind: "This maintenance dose can be taken for up to five years. Research has suggested that after this point, it can potentially put strain on organs such as the kidneys."

The Takeaway

Creatine loading works because it speeds up a process that would happen anyway. Whether that speed matters to you is the real question.

If you're prepping for a competition or event and want to maximize performance quickly, loading makes sense. If you're in it for the long haul and don't mind a slower ramp-up, save yourself the stomach cramps and stick to the maintenance dose from day one.