Creatine Statistics – 61 You Need To Know

From its origins, popularity, sales, how it’s made and all its benefits, this article has it covered. 

Here’s The TLDR; Version If You’re Short On Time


Listed in this article is the most complete list of creatine statistics you’ll find anywhere. They’ll teach you everything there is to know about this supplement. 

    Creatine is one of the most researched, effective, and popular sports supplements. There are 100s of studies showing it’s safe and effective at building muscle, strength and improving sports performance. Men and women take over 8 million pounds and buy more than ½ billion dollars worth every year. The future is bright for creatine with additional benefits being discovered all the time. 

    Creatine – 61 Stats And Facts

    When Was Creatine First Discovered And Used?

    1. We’ve known about creatine for almost 200 years. It was first discovered in 1832 by French scientist Michel Chevreul. 
    2. The first study on its muscle building and performance enhancing benefits in humans was in 1926 by a scientist named Alfred Chanutin. He was the first to learn that it is stored in our body, helps you add weight, and plays a role in nitrogen retention, an important factor in building muscle. 
    3. At the time, creatine was too expensive to manufacture and sell. It would be almost 100 years before creatine became available for consumers. 
    4. Creatine finally became popular during the ‘92 Barcelona Olympics. 100 meter gold medalist Linford Christie and 400 meter hurdles gold medalist Sally Gunnell even credited it with their winning performances. 

    Where Does Creatine Come From?

    1. Diet. The typical diet contains about 1 gram of creatine a day.  Our body is able to make the same amount. This is enough to replenish what our body requires. 
    2. Our bodies make creatine by combining the amino acids glycine and arginine. Another amino acid, methionine also plays a role in its synthesis. 
    3. Creatine is found in many foods. Beef has the highest amount of creatine, containing 2.5 grams per pound. 
    4. You’d have to eat at least 2 pounds of red meat every day to get the 5 grams a day needed to fill up your muscles over time and provide any benefit.
    5. Creatine supplements are made from two compounds: sarcosine and cyanamide. When combined under heat and pressure they make creatine monohydrate powder. 

    Is There Still Research Being Done With Creatine?

    1. There have been more than 500 clinical studies on creatine published. 
    2. And the research isn’t slowing down. A search on clinical trials.gov finds there are 338 current or upcoming studies focusing on creatine.

    How many people take creatine? How much is sold in the U.S. every year?

    1. College athletes like creatine. Surveys of athletes participating in 20 sports find that more than 48% of male NCAA athletes say they’ve taken creatine. 
    2. College football players really like creatine. Up to 56% of Division I football players take it to build muscle, get stronger, and improve performance as a football player. 
    3. It’s not as popular with the female athletes. A survey of 88 division I female college athletes finds just 3.4% take creatine. 
    4. Surveys find that 27% of military members in the United States take creatine.  
    5. 44% of high school seniors who play a sport report taking creatine for its performance and appearance enhancing benefits. 
    6. Boys are more likely to take creatine than girls – 8.8% vs 1.8% respectively. 
    7. At least 50% of all NFL players say that they  take creatine. 
    8. Surveys find that 60% of people who belong to a gym have taken creatine. 

    How Does Creatine Work?

    1. Americans take more than 8.8 million pounds of Creatine a year – according to the National Institute Of Health. 
    2. Creatine sales are expected to reach $520 million by 2024. 
    3. It’ stored in our muscles as creatine phosphate. It’s used as a source of energy during brief (up to 1 minute) and intense activity. 
    4. Once you’ve taken enough Creatine to fully fill up your muscles, it’s benefits kick in. This takes about 100 grams of creatine in total. 
    5. Since you have more instant energy available, creatine works by enabling you to do more work, whether that’s extra sets and reps in the gym or pushing yourself more intensely. 
    6. Creatine is also believed to work by serving as a source of energy for our brains and helping to keep our bodies in a better state for building muscle. 

    Does Creatine Really Build Muscle?

    1. It works the majority of the time. Almost 70% of studies on creatine monohydrate show that it produces statistically significant results. 
    2. Men with at least 2 years strength training experience, gained an average of 5.7 lbs of muscle after taking creatine and lifting weights for 6 weeks. 
    3. Older adults taking creatine and lifting weights gained 3 more pounds of muscle than those who only did strength training. 
    4. People that don’t experience benefits from creatine typically have less muscle mass to begin with and higher levels of creatine already stored in their muscles when compared to those that do gain muscle and strength. 

    How Much Stronger Does Creatine Make You?

    1. Your bench press strength can increase by up to 20% when you take creatine and lift weights. This is a little more than 20 extra pounds for every 100 pounds you can already bench. 
    2. The ability to generate more power increases up to 15% with creatine supplementation to help you jump higher and throw further. 
    3. 12 weeks of lifting weights and taking creatine improved a group of men’s strength in the barbell squat by 32%. Their bench press improve by 24% too. 
    4. Creatine Is shown to increase strength and force production in men and women of all ages, from college athletes to senior citizens.

    How Does Creatine Work?

    1. It’s stored in our muscles as creatine phosphate. It’s used as a source of energy during brief (up to 1 minute) and intense activity. 
    2. Once you’ve taken enough Creatine to fully fill up your muscles, it’s benefits kick in. This takes about 100 grams of creatine in total. 
    3. Since you have more instant energy available, creatine works by enabling you to do more work, whether that’s extra sets and reps in the gym or pushing yourself more intensely. 
    4. Creatine is also believed to work by serving as a source of energy for our brains and helping to keep our bodies in a better state for building muscle. 

    Does Creatine Really Build Muscle?

    1. It works the majority of the time. Almost 70% of studies on creatine monohydrate show that it produces statistically significant results. 
    2. Men with at least 2 years strength training experience, gained an average of 5.7 lbs of muscle after taking creatine and lifting weights for 6 weeks. 
    3. Older adults taking creatine and lifting weights gained 3 more pounds of muscle than those who only did strength training. 
    4. People that don’t experience benefits from creatine typically have less muscle mass to begin with and higher levels of creatine already stored in their muscles when compared to those that do gain muscle and strength. 


    How Does Creatine Helps My Strength-Endurance?

    1. Taking creatine also increases the number of reps you can do in the bench press by 14%. 
    2. It also helps increase the total repetitions you can do in lower body exercises like squats. 
    3. Powerlifters increased the reps they could do with 85% of their 1 repetition max by 40% after taking creatine. 

    Will Creatine Help Me Sprint Faster And Harder?

    1. Taking creatine can increase sprinting speed by up to 5%. 
    2. Taking creatine increases how hard you can sprint at the end of a cycling workout by 8-9%. 
    3. Guys taking creatine increased their speed by 5% during the last ½ of 6,10 second sprints on a treadmill. 

    Does Creatine Benefit Endurance Athletes?

    1. Research performed on soccer players finds that creatine does not benefit aerobic endurance. 
    2. Men and women taking creatine did not improve their endurance after 4 weeks of training more than the placebo group. 
    3. Endurance athletes experienced less fatigue exercising in the heat after taking creatine for 7 days. 
    4. It can help endurance athletes sprint harder during a run. Five days of taking 20 grams of Creatine a day improved sprint performance by 18% during an aerobic exercise test. 

    How Long Does It Take Creatine To Start Working?

    1. Research finds that muscular endurance and strength increase after 5 days of taking 20 grams of creatine a day. 
    2. Vertical jump, dribbling times, and sprinting power improved in soccer players after 7 days of creatine supplementation. 
    3. After 5 days of using creatine, men gained about 2 pounds of muscle and women averaged around 1 pound of new muscle. 

    Does Creatine Help Everyone?

    1. Creatine works the majority of the time. Of the more than 500 studies published, 70% studies on creatine show statistically significant results.

    Does Creatine Make You Cramp And Pull Muscles?

    1. Not at all. In a study of division 1 college football players, taking creatine decreased the occurrence of muscle cramps, pulls, and strains when they were training intensely in a hot climate. 
    2. It’s safe for the long term. Short (5 days) and long term (5 years) of taking Creatine does not cause kidney damage in healthy guys and girls. 
    3. Creatine is safe, even when you take it consistently for long periods of time. One study finds taking it for as long as 5 years on a daily basis has no adverse effects.

    How Should I Take Creatine?

    1. Don’t want to gain weight? Just take a single 5 gram serving every day. It’ll take longer to see results but you won’t gain the temporary water weight like you can when taking larger amounts. 
    2. You’ll get the fastest results by ‘loading’ your muscles with creatine. This is where you take 20 grams a day in 2-4 equally divided doses. 

    Does creatine work with women like it does men?

    1. Women actually have 70-80% less creatine stored in their muscles than men. This may be a reason the benefits aren’t always as significant as they are in guys. 
    2. It does help many ladies. Women 58 years old and older increased their upper and lower body strength and gained muscle after taking creatine for 7 days. 
    3. Creatine may be beneficial to women throughout their lives. This includes: during their menses, pregnancy, post-partum, and during and after menopause. 
    4. Ladies college lacrosse players increased their bench press by more than 12 lbs, lost fat and gained muscle after taking creatine for 5 weeks. 
    5. Women improved their performance in high intensity exercise – repeated sprints – to a similar degree as men in the same study after taking creatine. 
    6. Creatine monohydrate supplementation May help improve a woman’s mood and ability to learn. 

    Can Creatine Help You Live Longer?

    1. If you’re a mouse, yes. Mice given creatine lived 9% longer than those that didn’t take it. For us humans, it’s still unknown. 
    2. Research finds that it does show promise at treating several age related diseases like Alzheimer’s. 
    3. When combined with strength training, Creatine helps prevent or reverse sarcopenia, which is muscle loss due to aging and a risk factor for a shortened life. Preventing this condition could potentially help you live longer, or at least healthier and stronger. 


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