A man took a ‘super dose’ of creatine and broke down the impact it had on him.
A popular sports dietary supplement, it is often used to improve people’s performance in the gym. The substance is already found naturally in our muscle cells, and it helps our muscles to produce energy while doing things like weightlifting or high-intensity exercises.
It’s generally recommended that those who take a creatine supplement, take about three to five grams a day with food or drink, but this gym-goer wanted to see what happened if he ‘super-loaded’ for 28 days.
Regularly having five grams of it with his protein shake, Ryan Dabbs was shocked when he ended up having to consume a whopping 25g of it daily, just about ‘scraping’ his way through stomaching the gritty texture. But he did notice impacts to both his physical and mental performances.
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Physical impact
While he acknowledges it potentially may have been a bit of a ‘placebo’ situation, he wrote for Men’s Health that his performance in the gym ‘improved almost immediately’.
“It’s not like I suddenly became Arnold overnight, but it certainly felt as if my muscles had a lot more oomph behind them,” he explained, as things really ‘ramped up’ after a week.
Dabbs found the creatine ‘accelerated’ the process of returning to his previous intensities, weights and rep ranges after a holiday, marathon training and a break from weightlifting.
“The dreaded DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) also had less of an impact, with recovery becoming a whole lot easier,” he added. “And not just from the gym: one tempo run had my legs feeling shot by the end, but a few hours later the deep burn of fatigue that had gripped my thighs had made itself scarce.”
He found that he went from 41 unbroken push-ups on week one to 47 a few weeks later, with 19 pull-ups going up to 22 in the fourth week.
“A 15% increase in that time frame for the difficult bodyweight exercise is staggering, but that’s not to say the same results wouldn’t have happened with just a regular 5g dose of creatine,” he added.
Mental Impact
Just as he found an acceleration in his physical recovery after a break, Dabbs also found that he noticed ‘clear improvements’ in his motivation and drive to get up early and go to the gym.
Plus, he felt like he had a ‘lot more motivation to do things generally’, with a ‘noticeable boost’ in his mental capacity.
He did acknowledge that again, some of this could have been a bit of a ‘placebo’ boost but he’s ‘willing to trust the creatine’.
However, Dabbs didn’t notice much difference cognitively which is one of the supposed benefits of creatine. Although, he did notice an improvement in his memory thanks to basic online tests.
Problems
While Dabbs experienced a number of benefits during the super-load of creatine, he also noticed a few issues.
“Taking all 25g of creatine in one go was not only disgusting, but messed with how I felt,” he explained.
On the first day, he suffered a ‘pretty debilitating headache’ so ended up having to split the dosage into ‘smaller, more manageable hits’.
He also found that dehydration was an issue and found he needed ‘to consume increasing amounts of liquid’.
However, while creatine can cause bloating for many people, Dabbs said he didn’t suffer from any gastrointestinal issues over the super-dose course.
Conclusions
Overall, Dabbs reckons it’s fair to assume the super-load had an ‘overall positive benefit’.
“From feeling stronger and better rested, to more motivated and sharper, the supplement worked its wonders for the month,” he wrote. “Regardless, I personally believe such an aggressive load isn't quite worth the trade-off of having to power through scoop after scoop on a daily basis.”
Instead, he reckons the recommended dose with ‘intermittent periods of three to seven-day super-dose’ could have big benefits while being more sustainable.
Always seek professional advice before making major changes to your diet/supplements.
Topics: Health, Sport, Food And Drink
Jess Battison