Your creatine dose from body weight: a loading week or a steady dose, and how long each takes to work.
Updated Sep 2026Fill in the fields and press Calculate. Every range comes from the sources listed under the tool.
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Sources
- International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine (Kreider et al., 2017) PubMed Central (PMC)
- Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
What This Creatine Calculator Works Out
This creatine calculator turns your body weight into a daily dose of creatine monohydrate, on either of the two protocols the research uses. Creatine is stored in muscle and the aim of taking it is to fill those stores; once they are full, a small daily dose holds them there. The International Society of Sports Nutrition’s position stand, the reference document on the supplement, describes two routes to the same place: a loading week, or a steady dose that takes about four weeks.
Loading is about 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight a day, taken as four doses, for five to seven days; for a 70 kg person that is 21 grams a day in doses of about 5 grams. After that 3 to 5 grams a day keeps the stores full. The steady route is 3 grams a day from the start, which reaches the same stores in about 28 days. Both work; loading gets there in a week and the steady dose costs less and skips the first-week rise in body weight.
- Loading week, then maintenance
- Steady 3 g a day
What Creatine Does, and for Whom
Creatine supplies the fastest energy system in muscle, the one used for the first seconds of a hard effort, so its clearest effect is on repeated short, hard work: heavier lifts, more repetitions, more sprint efforts, and with training, more muscle. The ISSN stand also reviews evidence in older adults: a meta-analysis found that those who took creatine with resistance training gained more muscle, strength and functional capacity, and in one year-long study older women on 0.1 grams per kilogram a day with training gained strength and kept bone density at the hip. That is the reason it appears in this site’s guides for women over 40. It is not a stimulant and it does not work without the training.
The first week of loading usually adds a little body weight, about half a litre to a litre of water drawn into the muscle along with the creatine in the ISSN’s account, which is not fat and settles. Take it with a meal or a drink that has some carbohydrate or protein; the time of day matters little, taking it every day matters a lot. Creatine monohydrate powder is the form all of this research used, and no other form has been shown to work better.
Safety
The ISSN’s conclusion is that creatine monohydrate at these doses is safe and well tolerated in healthy people in both short and long-term studies, including up to 30 grams a day for five years. Anyone with kidney disease, and anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, should ask a doctor first, because those groups were not the ones studied. For the protein that creatine works alongside, the protein intake calculator sets the daily target, and the lean body mass calculator shows the muscle the two are meant to protect. For where creatine sits among the supplements with evidence, see what supplements you should take.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much creatine should I take a day?
3 to 5 grams of creatine monohydrate a day once the muscle stores are full. To fill them quickly, a loading week of about 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight a day in four doses, then 3 to 5 grams; or 3 grams a day from the start, which takes about four weeks.
Do I need to load creatine?
No. Loading fills the stores in about a week; 3 grams a day gets to the same place in about four. The result is the same, the loading route is faster and comes with a small rise in body weight from water in the first week.
Does creatine make you gain weight?
In the loading week, about half a litre to a litre of water drawn into the muscle, which is not fat. On a steady 3 grams a day the change is smaller and slower. Over months, with training, any extra weight is muscle.
Is creatine safe for women over 40?
The safety studies cover healthy adults of both sexes across a wide age range, and the ISSN reviews evidence that creatine with resistance training helps older adults keep muscle and strength. Anyone with kidney disease should ask a doctor first; so should anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, who were not in the studies.
When should I take creatine?
Any time of day that you will remember, with a meal or a drink that has some carbohydrate or protein. Taking it every day is what fills and keeps the stores; the hour makes little difference.
Sources
- International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine · Kreider et al., 2017 (PMC)
- Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance · NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
This calculator is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.