---
title: 'The REAL Reason Your Creatine Isn''t Working (Science Explained)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=ixkvygVcsuE'
video_id: 'ixkvygVcsuE'
date: 2026-07-18
duration_sec: 383
channel: 'PictureFit'
---

# The REAL Reason Your Creatine Isn't Working (Science Explained)

> Source: [The REAL Reason Your Creatine Isn't Working (Science Explained)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=ixkvygVcsuE)

## Summary

This video explores why the standard 3-5 g daily dose of creatine may not be optimal for everyone, particularly for those with higher muscle mass or type 2 muscle fibers. It reviews recent research suggesting higher doses (0.1 g per kg of body weight) could lead to greater strength gains, and discusses potential reasons such as muscle fiber composition, absorption variability, and the limitations of early studies that established the standard dose.

### Key Points

- **Higher creatine dose recommendation** [00:02] — The video recommends 0.1 g of creatine per kg of body weight per day, which may be double the common 3-5 g dose.
- **Mechanism of creatine** [00:59] — Creatine improves exercise capacity by rapidly producing energy through ATP resynthesis during short, high-intensity activities.
- **Saturation threshold** [01:14] — To be effective, muscle total creatine concentrations must increase by about 14-20% (around 20 mmol per kg of dry muscle weight).
- **Recent meta-analyses** [01:55] — Two meta-analyses (2021 and 2024) showed greater strength gains with higher creatine dosages, suggesting 3-5 g may not be enough for everyone.
- **Muscle fiber composition** [02:10] — Creatine is stored and used more in type 2 fast-twitch fibers; individuals with higher proportions of type 2 fibers (e.g., powerlifters, sprinters) may need more creatine.
- **Lower body exercises** [02:37] — Studies using higher doses found greatest improvements in lower body exercises like squats and leg presses, which engage large type 2 fibers.
- **Body weight-based dosing** [03:05] — Basing creatine intake on body weight makes sense because more muscle mass increases creatine demand.
- **Creatine nonresponders** [03:18] — Some people absorb very little creatine and never reach saturation; they may be underdosed rather than true nonresponders.
- **Early research limitations** [03:59] — Early studies establishing the 3-5 g dose used sedentary subjects with no training, so their creatine demands may not apply to active individuals.
- **Lack of saturation confirmation** [04:38] — Many modern studies did not measure creatine concentrations, so it's unclear if the 20 mmol threshold was reached or maintained.
- **Training program quality** [05:05] — Some studies used basic programs without progressive overload, which may not fully utilize creatine's benefits.

### Conclusion

The optimal creatine dose may be higher than the standard 3-5 g for many people, especially those with more muscle mass or type 2 fibers. While the evidence is not yet conclusive, considering body weight and training intensity can help personalize dosing.

## Transcript

learn about not only the what, but also the why in all things fitness. So, after sharing my recent video on how to take creatine, a lot of you rightfully asked, "Wait, why exactly should we take a higher dose?" Well, today we're going to
go a bit more in depth on just that. In my creatine video, I said that taking my creatine video, I said that taking the common dose of 3 to 5 g a day might not be enough. I then recommended taking 0.1 gram of creatine per kilogram of
body weight per day instead. Of course, the big question is why take this dose that's higher or even double the previous amount. Is it possible that I'm being paid off by big creatine to say this? Well, if I am, then I must have
given them the wrong routing number cuz my bank account is still mad at me. But to answer this, let's first understand a bit more about how we got here. The main benefit of taking creatine is to improve exercise capacity by rapidly producing
energy through ATP reynthesis during short highintensity activities like lifting weights. And early researchers that establish much of our knowledge on creatine today discovered that improving ATP reynthesis requires taking enough
creatine to achieve and maintain a certain increase of creatine saturation. In other words, you have to hit a certain level of increase before it really starts working. Just like how you have to deadlift three times your body
weight before you feel worthy of recording yourself. More specifically, we have to increase muscle total creatine concentrations around or above 20 millles per kilogram of dry muscle weight, which is about a 14 to 20%
increase for most people. And the early researchers concluded that taking the common three to five grams a day is best for achieving this. But if recent research is anything to go by, like the two meta analyses in 2021 and 2024 that
showed even greater strength gains with higher dosages, then perhaps 3 to 5 g is not enough for everyone. Now, full transparency, we don't currently know exactly why that is, but some researchers did suggest potential
reasons that make a lot of sense. One has to do with muscle fiber composition. Because creatine primarily benefits highintensity activities, creatine is both stored and used in greater capacities in type 2 fast twitch muscle
proportionately greater type 2 muscle fiber counts compared to type one, like elites, powerlifters, and sprinters, their creatine demands are naturally higher, thus likely benefit from supplementing more creatine. Now, most
of these studies using higher dosages found the greatest improvements occurred with lower body exercises like squats and leg presses. Exercises that engage some of our largest type 2 muscle fibers in our bodies. So, it's possible that 3
to 5 g a day is enough for enhancing certain smaller groups, but we might need more for larger muscles. Also, just having more muscle in general likely increases creatine demand, which is why it makes a bit more sense to base your
creatine intake on your body weight. Now, another potential explanation has to do with actually achieving creatine saturation. You see, everybody absorbs creatine differently. Unfortunately, some people absorb very little and can
never reach the required saturation levels, thus see little to no benefit. These people are known as creatine nonresponders. Now, we still don't fully understand why nonresponders exist. Some scientists believe it has to do with
baseline creatine levels. Some tie it back to muscle fibers, and some new research even link it to genetic limitations. But what if some of these non-responders are simply not actual non-responders, but just underdosed? To
revisit the early research that established 3 to 5 g being sufficient. As we know, we take creatine to improve our workouts in order to increase overall strength and muscle gains. So, you would think the research we base our
creatine dose on definitely included some form of training relevant to improving muscle and strength. However, probably because it wasn't exactly on the radar at the time, the early research employed no training
whatsoever. In fact, many of the subjects were actually sedentary. So their creatine demands do not exactly align with our demands today. Now of course we also have more modern research that do employ more relevant training
methods. But with the established importance of reaching that 20 millo creatine saturation, you would think that these studies also diligently ensured that sufficient saturation was reached. Unfortunately, not many
concentrations. And hey, measuring creatine levels isn't exactly easy or cheap, so it's understandable. But it means we cannot confirm saturation was reached for the far majority of these studies. And for the studies that did
measure concentrations, some clearly show that the 20 mill threshold was not reached or at the very least not fully maintained throughout the study. Of course, as we know, the majority of these studies do show that 3 to 5 g can
lead to greater gains. But the lack of confirming saturation leaves us wondering whether even greater gains can be achieved with higher doses. Also, even though these lower dose studies did include resistance training, some were
super basic programs with no progressive overload, which means they didn't even take full advantage of the main benefit of creatine. But if they did have more demanding training, I think it's logical to assume their creatine demands would
have changed. And that's about the full picture we currently have on why higher dosages might be better. Overall, the current body of literature still has a future studies continue to show a benefit with higher dosages, then maybe
we can look at things like fiber composition, muscle size, absorption rates, and training to support the potential need for more creatine. But ultimately, whether you decide to change up your dose is up to you. Either way, I
hope this video helped clarify things. If any new information comes out, rest assured, I'll let you know right away. If you enjoyed this video, then please give it a saturated thumbs up and share it with your creatine loving friends.
you think in the comments. As always, thank you for watching and don't forget thank you for watching and don't forget to get your protein.