A person using creatine has more chance of gaining or retaining weight whilst using it than a person not using it, but not in the way you think. I will clarify in what ways and in what circumstances creatine makes you gain weight so you know exactly what to expect and what can happen to your weight whilst using creatine.

Creatine promotes both superior anaerobic energy and strength and also de-restricts the body’s natural limitations on muscle growth by reducing Myostatin. This means more muscle, and if a person’s fat levels stay the same, this means more overall body weight.

This does not mean a person has gained fat weight. Creatine does not make a person fat, in fact, quite the opposite is true (see: Does Creatine Make You Fat?)

Creatine can also make a person rapidly gain weight (but not fat nor muscle) due to the way in which water is horded more within the body. Many people mistake this for rapid muscle growth, and though muscle growth does rapidly increase for people who respond well to creatine, it generally doesn’t account for most of the many pounds of weight some creatine users gain in a short time.

If you are an athlete who competes in certain weight classes this is something you should be aware of. It may be detrimental side effect for you if you have to stay in the same weight class, or it may be beneficial side effect for you if you wish to move up a weight class.

Scenario 1:

If a person is trying to lose fat and is just starting to use creatine, they will likely see that the scales don’t move down as quickly as they would like, because the growing water levels within your body (and maybe the growing muscle weight) is actually negating your ‘weight loss’ efforts. However, it will not work against your fat loss efforts – but actually help your fat loss efforts.

Scenario 2:

As mentioned, a person using creatine will often experience greater water retention which means rapid weight gains of several pounds, and if they are a good responder to creatine, will likely gain muscle quicker due not only to the extra energy and strength which takes their muscle building workouts toe the next level, but also due to the myostatin reduction mechanism. Of course, creatine alone isn’t enough to make muscle growth happen – a solid hypertrophy workout regime and a diet to facilitate muscle growth must already be in place, but creatine can certainly help to speed it up.

Recap:

• Creatine does not make you gain fat weight.
• Creatine often leads to ‘weight gain’ from water retention first, and then actual muscle gains by giving you better anaerobic energy for your workouts and also through reducing myostatin.