Bodybuilder takes 30g dosage of creatine for seven days to see what would happen
Many gym goers absolutely swear by creatine, but what happens if you take three times the recommended dosage?
YouTuber Charlie Caruso has documented his experience taking 30g for a whole week to see the impact it would have on his body.
Creatine is a supplement that has been proven to be very helpful when it comes to going to the gym.
The natural compound accelerates the regeneration of ATP (the body's primary energy currency), resulting in greater explosive power, faster recovery between sets, and increased lean muscle mass when combined with resistance training.
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Content creators have done a number of experiments with creatine to try and find the exact right amount to be taking, despite the packaging usually suggesting that 5mg per day is about the amount to be aiming for.
Caruso explained that he'd started taking the supplement at 16 and had done so for 10 years, taking 10mg, which was the correct amount for his body weight
But after stopping for three months, he wanted to see if an unusually high dose would improve his gym performance, muscle size, body weight and generally just how he felt.
Day one
Perhaps foolishly, he took his first 30mg dose on an empty stomach, which immediately led to some digestion issues which regular creatine users might well be aware of.
He complained he 'was not able to trust a fart', which is perhaps a little too much information.
Doubling down, he said: "When you take like 30 grams all in one go, you raise the risk of upsetting the GI tract, which my toilet was an eyewitness of."
From then on, he split the dose into three separate 10mg doses, which helped to ease the stomach problems.
Days two to four
Caruso noticed an increased need to urinate and some dehydration, but his muscle pumps supposedly improved during strength training.
His workouts continued to improve, and on 'back day' each lift either got more reps or more weight added, sometimes both.
Day five
After reaching day five, there were noticeable differences in the gym, as he recorded more reps on several exercises and increased weight on some lifts.
Although he did increase in both weight and muscle size, it's tricky to know if this was entirely down to the creatine or not.
His body weight was up 0.8lb, his arms were half an inch bigger, and his upper chest was a whole inch bigger.
He concluded his video with some crucial takeaways, first of all stressing that since creatine is not a steroid, you shouldn't expect dramatic changes straight away.
Charlie also put his size increase down to his increased water intake, rather than rapid muscle growth, and suggested that we couldn't put his improved performance solely down to the creatine.
Despite the positive results once his body adjusted, he admitted that he will be sticking to his usual 10mg dose.
Of course, you should always stick to medical advice and what it says on the packaging, particularly if you're using a supplement such as creatine for the first time.
James Moorhouse