What happens when you stop taking creatine for a couple of days?

What happens when you stop taking creatine for a couple of days?

Not much happens. Once you have been taking creatine for 2 or more weeks, your muscles are saturated with creatine, and missing a day of supplementation won’t meaningfully decrease your creatine stores.

In one study it was found that stopping creatine intake for 30 days resulted in only a 22% decrease in muscle phosphocreatine stores [1]. So if you miss a day or even a week of creatine supplementation, no worries. Just get back on your regular 3-5g on a daily basis and you will continue to see the benefits of creatine intake.

Now, just as a reminder, creatine is a performance supplement, so it helps strength athletes slightly improve their muscle and strength gains, as supported by research [2]. But by no means are you dependent on creatine if you take it.

The performance benefits are small. 99% of your progress will simply come from hard training and healthy nutrition.

📚 Scientific References (PMID):
1. 14971966
2. 28615996