Who creatine is actually for

Say the word creatine and most people picture a twenty-two-year-old with a shaker bottle. That picture has done a lot of damage, because it has kept the people who would get the most from it from ever trying it.

Women are the obvious group. A woman's muscles typically hold less creatine to begin with, and the assumption that it is a bulking powder means a lot of women who train hard three times a week have never been near it. It does not make anyone bulky. It lets muscles do a little more work in the hard seconds, and everything else comes from the training.

Then there is everyone over fifty. Muscle goes as we age unless we fight for it, and creatine is one of the few things here with real evidence behind it. Daily creatine consumption can enhance the effect of resistance training on muscle strength in adults over the age of 55, at three grams a day, alongside the training. We believe holding on to muscle is the single best predictor of how well anyone ages, and this is the cheapest help there is with that.

Two worries come up every time. Water weight: yes, a little, and it is inside the muscle, which is where you want it. Kidneys: in healthy people at normal doses, decades of research have found no problem. If you have a kidney condition, talk to your doctor before you take anything at all, this included.