Creatine is one of the most popular supplements for athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and it is very big in the bodybuilding community.
Creatine is recommended to a wide range of people working out and trying to improve their physiques. It is one of the most well-studied and documented fitness supplements, known for its safety, effectiveness, and reliability.
As creatine enhances your athletic performance, endurance, workout performance, and muscle mass, it’s interesting to know whether creatine can be beneficial if taken without working out.
Let’s dive deep into this topic and find out if you can take creatine without working out.
Can You Take Creatine Without Working Out?
As creatine is a naturally occurring compound in our body and is naturally found in dozens of foods like beef, salmon, tuna, and herring, it’s only natural to assume that it is okay to take creatine without working out.
Our bodies produce creatine daily because we need it to maintain healthy bodily functions. Creatine is mostly used as energy and stored in our skeletal muscles, but it also promotes brain health and activity.
Depending on your goals and why you want to take creatine without working out, it can have some positive effects. However, you need to understand the dosing, trade-offs, effects, your goals, and what to buy.
Key Takeaways
- Can you take creatine without working out? Taking creatine without working out can still be beneficial, as it offers numerous cognitive benefits such as improved short-term memory, enhanced processing speed, reaction time, and overall cognitive performance.
- Creatine and fitness: Creatine shines when paired with regular exercise, as it enhances athletic performance, improves your lifts, boosts endurance, and aids in recovery. Creatine is the superior fitness supplement.
- Dosage and side effects: Creatine in high dosages can be dangerous, especially for beginners and those who don’t work out. Always start low, stay hydrated, and pay attention to how it makes you feel.
- Buy ethical and clean products: Purchase your creatine supplement from reputable brands, avoid products with multiple ingredients, and look for a creatine supplement that contains only one ingredient—creatine monohydrate.
Building Muscle with Creatine, Without Working Out
Creatine increases water retention, and as you supplement with creatine daily on a consistent basis, your skeletal muscles will eventually become saturated with creatine, leading to potential weight gain of up to 5 pounds.
Supplementing with creatine can change your appearance and give a ‘puffiness’ that may be undesired for many who don’t work out.
As for actually gaining muscle while taking creatine without working out, it is not possible because creatine itself doesn’t build muscle.
Your muscles get bigger and stronger as you use them, for example, during squats, push-ups, lifting weights, running, or any other physical activities.
As you exercise, your muscles get small tears. Your body repairs them by sending nutrients and special cells, and as your body fixes those tears, the muscles become bigger and stronger so they’re ready for the next time you use them.
Creatine is not a substitute for exercise and cannot replace physical activity or grow muscles on its own. What creatine does is increase your energy reserves, which helps during heavy lifts, allowing you to increase reps and sets.
Supplementing with creatine helps you push harder through your workouts, making those last two reps a bit easier, and it also aids in recovery. Additionally, as creatine increases water retention in your muscle cells, your muscles will look bigger and fuller (like the ‘pump’ look) while signaling your body to build more muscle.
So, if you’re wondering whether creatine alone is effective for building muscle or if it can naturally grow huge biceps, quads, glutes, or give you a six-pack, that is unfortunately not possible.
Creatine is simply a tool to enhance your workout performance, improve athleticism, endurance, and post-workout recovery.
Why Supplement with Creatine If I Don’t Work Out?
There are several reasons you may want to supplement with creatine if you don’t work out, but generally, a better route is to focus on foods that are naturally rich in creatine, like beef, salmon, herring, tuna, and cod.
Since creatine is important for brain energetics and boosts cognitive performance and processing speed, it’s natural to seek ways to ensure you get enough creatine, as it is highly beneficial.
Generally speaking, natural foods are always superior to supplements, so if you can eat creatine-rich foods directly, we recommend doing so, as it’s difficult to control the quality of supplement products.
Some creatine supplements contain multiple ingredients, and some are unethically sourced, which can be harmful to your health.
Ideally, when purchasing creatine, you should be mindful of the labels and ensure that what you are buying is 100% creatine monohydrate and doesn’t contain any extra ingredients.
Creatine is also actively used to treat people with dementia as it is shown that supplementing creatine can improve memory and reasoning in older people.
Creatine on Rest Days
When you start supplementing with creatine, it is advisable to take the same dose consistently every day to fully saturate your muscles with creatine.
Creatine doesn’t have a preferred time, as it can be taken any time of the day—morning, afternoon, or evening. The key is to stay consistent daily and try not to miss a dose.
Once you reach full muscle saturation, it takes around 30 days for the extra creatine to leave your system, so it is generally safe to miss a scoop or two. However, it is still advisable to remain as consistent as possible and take your creatine regularly.
It is also recommended to take creatine with a healthy meal, rich in carbohydrates and protein, as this improves absorption.
Creatine Dosage
It’s important to be mindful of your daily creatine dosage and ensure you do not overdose, as taking creatine in high doses can cause serious side effects, such as kidney failure in severe cases.
Your daily creatine maintenance can be easily calculated with this formula: Body Weight (kg) × 0.03g/day. For example, a 70kg individual would need to consume: 70kg × 0.03g/day = 2.1g/day.
Keep in mind that if you eat a relatively healthy diet and your meals consist of foods like beef, salmon, tuna, and other foods naturally rich in creatine, you will also obtain creatine from natural sources, which can add to the total amount along with your supplement dosage.
However, in gym culture, it is recommended to supplement 5g of creatine per day, and there is also a popular practice known as the ‘loading dose,’ which involves taking 25g of creatine a day, split into 5 scoops throughout the day, for a week.
This ‘loading dose’ ensures that you quickly reach muscle saturation, and after the first week of loading, you continue with regular maintenance doses every day (either calculated by the formula or 5g a day).
As a beginner or someone who doesn’t work out and plans to take creatine as a supplement, please avoid doing the ‘loading dose,’ as it can be dangerous to your health if done incorrectly.
Note that 25g of creatine a day is a lot, so be careful with how much you consume daily.
Side Effects of Creatine
Whether you work out or not, you can experience side effects from creatine either way. Creatine is great and provides numerous benefits, especially for people who exercise regularly.
But as creatine has many benefits, there are also some side effects you might experience. While they aren’t usually major, some need attention—especially for people with gastrointestinal issues, as creatine can, in rare cases, cause kidney failure, which is life-threatening.
The common side effects of creatine include bloating, puffiness, dehydration, and digestive issues like nausea, diarrhea, and gas. In severe cases, kidney issues can occur.
Creatine is a well-studied and generally safe supplement, but as with any supplement, you need to pay attention to how it makes you feel and how it affects your body. If you notice any adverse side effects, stop immediately and consult with a healthcare provider.
Note that it’s important to stay well-hydrated while supplementing with creatine.
Lastly, if you have existing gastrointestinal issues, consult with a healthcare provider before starting any type of supplement.
Creatine Is Not a Steroid
One of the reasons someone might ask if you can take creatine without working out is the misconception that creatine is a steroid or something similar to steroids.
There is a clear difference between steroids and creatine, and creatine in no way resembles anabolic steroids.
As we’ve already mentioned, creatine is a naturally occurring compound in our body, and it can be obtained from foods like beef, salmon, tuna, herring, and more.
Creatine supplements are derived from these natural food sources and are sold in supplement forms like powder, capsules, tablets, or even jellies.
On the other hand, anabolic steroids are synthetic and consist of hormones like testosterone, trenbolone, nandrolone, and many others. Anabolic steroids can cause serious harm to your health and are not FDA-approved.
However, you can build muscle with anabolic steroids with minimal to no exercise.
So, can you take creatine without working out? Absolutely yes, but it will not give you a six-pack. Anabolic steroids, on the other hand, will.
Best Creatine Form
The most popular form of creatine is creatine monohydrate, which has been extensively studied and documented for its safety and effectiveness.
Recently, a few other forms of creatine have emerged, such as creatine HCL and Ethyl Ester. The current most popular forms are monohydrate and HCL, but the newer forms are under-studied, and there aren’t many studies that back up the claims of their effectiveness and superiority.
For example, creatine HCL promises better absorption and solubility, and it requires a smaller dosage compared to monohydrate. However, since there aren’t many comprehensive studies on HCL, we recommend sticking with monohydrate, as it is the cheapest, most effective, and best-studied form of creatine.
The same applies to creatine Ethyl Ester—it’s better to avoid it despite claims of better absorption and less water retention, as it is also understudied and not well-researched.
When buying creatine, make sure to stick with creatine monohydrate, and always check the label to ensure what you’re purchasing contains only creatine monohydrate, with no extra ingredients.
Creatine for Elderly
When people reach their 40s, 50s, 60s, or beyond, we may experience muscle loss, slower movement, and sagging skin. Creatine can be beneficial for older adults as it helps maintain muscle mass, improves cognitive performance, and, when paired with light exercise, even like walking, can enhance overall health and well-being.
As we enter our 40s and 50s, muscle strength decreases, and bone density can decline. While creatine may not directly improve bone density, it supports muscle mass, which can help protect bones when combined with regular, light exercises.
Creatine can be effective for older adults by helping preserve muscle mass, improve physical and cognitive performance, and support general vitality. However, it’s important for older adults to start with low doses of creatine. It is also safe for older people to take creatine even without regular exercise.
Conclusion
Lastly, to answer your question: Can you take creatine without working out? Yes, you absolutely can. Creatine is a safe supplement that can be used by anyone.
While the main use case of creatine supplementation is to support muscle building and enhance athletic performance, you can also take creatine for its overall health benefits, particularly for brain activity, improved memory, decision-making, and processing speed.
However, when supplementing with creatine, make sure you’re taking appropriate doses. Always start low, as high doses of creatine can harm your health. Additionally, obtaining creatine from natural sources can be a better route for someone who is not working out and is supplementing creatine solely for its effects on brain health and performance.
If you’re hoping that taking creatine alone will help you build muscle, don’t fall into this trap, as creatine alone will not build muscle. However, creatine will help improve your workout performance, allowing you to lift heavier, push through those last two reps, and aid in recovery.
Creatine is one of the best fitness supplements available, capable of positively impacting your fitness progress and overall health. So, whether you work out or not, you can take creatine, and it can provide benefits either way.