Evidence Based
Many gymgoers think missing a day of creatine means their muscles will shrink and their strength will vanish.
Thankfully, creatine doesn’t work like that.
Unlike most performance-enhancing supplements, creatine works by gradually building up in your muscles over time.
Once your muscles are “saturated” with creatine—a process that typically takes a week of taking 20 grams daily or a few weeks at 3-to-5 grams daily—it takes several weeks for those stores to deplete.
An elegant example of this comes from a study by Queen’s Medical Centre. The researchers split 24 men into 3 groups:
- Group 1 loaded their muscles with 20 grams of creatine daily for 6 days, then stopped completely for 28 days.
- Group 2 did the same loading phase, then switched to just 2 grams daily for 28 days.
- Group 3 skipped the loading phase and took 3 grams daily for 28 days.
(Technically, there were 31 participants split into 4 groups, but the fourth group just underwent some arcane creatine metabolism tests that we don’t need to discuss here.)
The results showed that the guys who stopped taking creatine after loading (Group 1) saw only a 4% drop in their muscle creatine levels after two weeks. It took another two weeks for their levels to return to normal.
Here’s a graph to illustrate:
That’s far from the dramatic “shrinkage” many people fear.
By comparison, Group 2 maintained their higher levels with just 2 grams daily, while Group 3 eventually reached the same levels but took 4 weeks to get there.
What does this mean for you?
Missing a day of creatine—or even a week—won’t undo your gains. Your muscles retain most of their creatine stores for at least a couple of weeks, giving you a buffer to get back on track.
And if you’re worried about falling behind after a few days without creatine, you can likely “catch up” by taking a slightly larger dose for a few days. For example, if you miss 3 days of creatine, doubling your usual 5 grams to 10 grams daily for the following 3 days should restore your levels again.
So, what happens when you stop taking creatine for a day or two?
Not much.
Your muscles won’t wither, your strength won’t fade, and you’ll stay primed for peak performance as long as you return to your routine soon enough.
For a natural source of micronized creatine monohydrate, try Legion’s creatine monohydrate supplement, creatine gummies, or Recharge.
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