# Creatine: over 1 kg more lean mass with lifting, at any age URL: https://sciencebased.news/creatine/ Published: 2026-10-09 Updated: 2026-10-19 Claim: Creatine helps you build muscle and strength at any age. Grade: Solid What to do: - Lift weights two or three times a week. Creatine adds to training; it does not replace it. - Take 3 to 5 grams of plain creatine monohydrate a day, at any time. - Expect about 0.5 kg (1 lb) on the scale in the first week. It is water in your muscles, not fat. - Safety: if you have kidney disease, ask your doctor before you start. Tell your doctor before a blood test, because creatine raises creatinine, a number used to judge your kidneys. - Not proven: that creatine builds muscle without exercise. Pooled trials without training found about zero. # Creatine: over 1 kg more lean mass with lifting, at any age *Evidence check, October 9, 2026. Updated October 19, 2026.* > **The claim:** Creatine helps you build muscle and strength at any age. > > **Our grade: Solid.** When you lift weights, yes. Pooled randomized trials find creatine adds 1.1 to 1.4 kg (2.4 to 3 lb) of lean mass on top of training, in adults under 50 and over 50. Taken without exercise, the pooled result is about zero. ![A woman in her 30s flexing her arm in a gym, next to a white supplement tub labeled Creatine, with a scoop](https://sciencebased.news/images/creatine-hero-3.jpg) Maya is 38. She stirs 5 grams of creatine into a glass of water every morning. She lifts twice a week when work allows, and lately it hasn't. Last week she saw a headline from Texas A&M: "Creatine may help build muscle even without exercise" [1]. So does the scoop still work in the weeks she skips the gym? It matters because creatine is cheap, well studied, and the supplement most likely to be in your kitchen already. The answer comes from the new trial, and from dozens of older ones. ## Where the claim came from Creatine is a compound your muscles use to recharge energy during short, hard efforts. You make some and get some from meat and fish. The supplement tops up the store. The longevity podcasts have backed it for years. In a conversation published by FoundMyFitness, Peter Attia said, "Our current thinking is to take five grams every day." Rhonda Patrick said she takes 10 [3]. The new part is "without exercise." On that, Patrick said the opposite of the headline: "Creatine does not act like protein or increase muscle protein synthesis if you are sedentary" [3]. ## The new trial: 1.1 kg with no exercise The Texas A&M study followed 64 adults aged 45 to 65 who did not exercise. For 12 weeks they took 10 grams of creatine a day or a look-alike placebo. Neither they nor the staff knew which [2]. People chose for themselves whether to also join a supervised program: weights and cardio three days a week, plus a diet. Only the supplement was assigned at random. The 13 people who took creatine and did not exercise gained 1.1 kg of lean tissue on a body scan. The 13 on placebo lost 0.16 kg. Those who trained and took creatine gained 1.27 kg, against 0.14 kg for training with placebo [2]. Bench press strength also rose more with creatine in the people who did not train. That is a real result in a blinded trial. It is also small. It counts only people who finished, the company that supplied the creatine has the senior author as chair of its science board, and the trial was registered after it began [2]. ## Lean tissue on a scan is not all muscle The scan used here, called DXA, sorts your body into fat, bone and everything else. "Everything else" is lean tissue. Water counts. Creatine pulls water into muscle cells. An Australian team tested how much that matters. They gave 63 adults, average age 31, either 5 grams a day or nothing, at random, and scanned them after one week with no exercise at all. The creatine group was already up 0.5 kg of lean mass. The other group had not changed [4]. Nobody builds half a kilogram of muscle in a week on the sofa. Then everyone lifted for 12 weeks. Both groups gained about 2 kg more, with no difference between them [4]. One caution: that trial had no placebo, so people knew what they were taking. ## Without exercise, the pooled result is zero Twenty-six people can't settle this. A 2022 review pooled 35 randomized trials with 1,192 people [5]. With weight training, creatine added 1.10 kg of lean mass over placebo, at any age. Without exercise it added 0.03 kg, which is nothing. So the new trial is the outlier. Its higher dose, 10 grams, may explain some of it. More water in the muscle may explain the rest. A repeat with a direct muscle measurement would tell us. ## With lifting, it works at every age Here the trials agree. In adults under 50 who lift, a 2024 review found creatine added 1.14 kg of lean mass and trimmed body fat by 0.7 kg, compared with lifting alone [7]. In adults averaging 57 to 70, a review of 22 trials with 721 people found 1.37 kg more lean mass, plus stronger chest press and leg press [6]. ![Bar chart of lean mass added by creatine compared with placebo in pooled randomized trials. Adults under 50 who lift: plus 1.14 kilograms. Adults averaging 57 to 70 who lift: plus 1.37 kilograms. No exercise: plus 0.03 kilograms, with a range that includes zero.](https://sciencebased.news/images/creatine-chart.png) Is it muscle or water? Some of each. When 10 trials measured the muscle itself with ultrasound or MRI, creatine added 1 to 1.6 millimetres of thickness over lifting alone [8]. That is real, and small. Strength is the clearer win. Across 69 trials with 1,937 people, creatine added 1.4 kg to the bench press and 5.6 kg to the squat, beyond what training alone gave [9]. So back to Maya. In the weeks she lifts, her scoop is doing something. In the weeks she doesn't, the best evidence says it adds water and little else. And a week with one session is not a lost week: with the same weekly sets, [one session grew muscle as well as three](/training-frequency/). Attia's line fits: "You have to do the work" [3]. ## Our grade | Claim | Evidence | Grade | |---|---|---| | Adds lean mass when you lift, under 50 | Pooled randomized trials: +1.14 kg | Solid | | Adds lean mass when you lift, over 50 | 22 randomized trials, 721 people: +1.37 kg | Solid | | Adds strength when you lift | 69 randomized trials, 1,937 people | Solid | | Builds muscle without exercise | One trial of 64 says yes; pooled trials without exercise say +0.03 kg | Weak | | Safe for healthy kidneys | 21 studies: filtering rate unchanged; 5 trials that measured filtering directly found no drop ([details](/creatine-kidneys/)) | Solid | | Overall: helps build muscle and strength at any age | Many trials agree, when paired with lifting | Solid | The case for the other side: the gain is modest, and part of it is water. Women gained less than men in the pooled trials, 0.29 kg against 1.46 kg, and the women's result could have been chance [5]. Many creatine researchers have ties to supplement makers. What would change the no-exercise grade: a larger trial at 10 grams a day that measures muscle directly and finds the same gain. ## What this means for you - Lift first. Two or three sessions a week is what the trials used. Creatine adds to training; it does not replace it. - Take 3 to 5 grams of plain creatine monohydrate a day, at any time. A 2024 review put the dose for a 1 kg gain nearer 7 grams, so a bigger person may want the top of that range [7]. - Expect the scale to rise about 0.5 kg (1 lb) in the first week. That is water in your muscles, not fat [4]. - Tell your doctor before a blood test. Creatine raises creatinine, a number used to judge your kidneys, without changing how well healthy kidneys filter [10]. Our [kidney check](/creatine-kidneys/) has the details. If you have kidney disease, ask before you start. - Eat enough protein. People in the new trial ate only 0.94 g per kg a day. See [how much you need](/protein-target/). - If you are on a GLP-1 drug, lifting and protein protect your muscle more than any powder. See [how much muscle these drugs cost](/glp1-muscle-loss/). ## What's next The Texas A&M authors call for larger trials [2]. The useful one would give 10 grams a day to people who do not train and measure muscle with MRI, not only a body scan. The same trial reported gains on memory tests. Creatine for the brain is its own claim, and we check it in [one dose of creatine sharpened memory after a sleepless night](/creatine-memory/). This is the second article in our Strength and muscle series, after [how much protein you need](/protein-target/). ## Sources 1. Texas A&M University. Creatine may help build muscle even without exercise, researchers find. Press release via ScienceDaily, September 29, 2026. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260928100547.htm 2. Chun J, Liu Y, Kibler GL, Lee H, Babakhani K, Rhoades N, Bivins I, Ko J, Dickerson B, Gonzalez DE, Sowinski RJ, Rasmussen CJ, Kreider RB. Effects of creatine supplementation with and without exercise and diet intervention on body composition, cognitive function, and markers of health in middle-aged and older adults. *Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition*, 2026. 73 enrolled, 64 finished, ages 45 to 65, 12 weeks; supplement randomized and double-blind, exercise arm chosen by participants. Creatine supplied by Alzchem; the senior author chairs its scientific advisory board. [doi:10.1080/15502783.2026.2716273](https://doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2026.2716273) 3. FoundMyFitness. How Creatine Dose Shapes Muscle and Brain Benefits. Rhonda Patrick and Peter Attia, published November 10, 2025. Podcast conversation, quoted as published on the page. https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/how-creatine-dose-shapes-muscle-and-brain-benefits 4. Desai I, Pandit A, Smith-Ryan AE, Simar D, Candow DG, Kaakoush NO, Hagstrom AD. The Effect of Creatine Supplementation on Lean Body Mass with and Without Resistance Training. *Nutrients*, 2025. 63 adults, randomized to 5 g a day or no supplement (no placebo), 1 week without exercise then 12 weeks of lifting; no outside funding. [doi:10.3390/nu17061081](https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17061081) 5. Delpino FM, Figueiredo LM, Forbes SC, Candow DG, Santos HO. Influence of age, sex, and type of exercise on the efficacy of creatine supplementation on lean body mass: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. *Nutrition*, 2022. 35 randomized trials, 1,192 people. [doi:10.1016/j.nut.2022.111791](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2022.111791) 6. Chilibeck PD, Kaviani M, Candow DG, Zello GA. Effect of creatine supplementation during resistance training on lean tissue mass and muscular strength in older adults: a meta-analysis. *Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine*, 2017. 22 randomized trials, 721 adults, mean age 57 to 70, 7 to 52 weeks. [doi:10.2147/OAJSM.S123529](https://doi.org/10.2147/OAJSM.S123529) 7. Desai I, Wewege MA, Jones MD, Clifford BK, Pandit A, Kaakoush NO, Simar D, Hagstrom AD. The Effect of Creatine Supplementation on Resistance Training-Based Changes to Body Composition: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. *Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research*, 2024. Randomized trials in adults under 50 who lift. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39074168/ 8. Burke R, Piñero A, Coleman M, Mohan A, Sapuppo M, Augustin F, Aragon AA, Candow DG, Forbes SC, Swinton P, et al. The Effects of Creatine Supplementation Combined with Resistance Training on Regional Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. *Nutrients*, 2023. 10 randomized trials, muscle measured by ultrasound, MRI or CT, at least 6 weeks. [doi:10.3390/nu15092116](https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15092116) 9. Kazeminasab F, et al. The Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Upper- and Lower-Body Strength and Power: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. *Nutrients*, 2025. 69 randomized trials, 1,937 people. [doi:10.3390/nu17172748](https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17172748) 10. Naeini EK, et al. Effect of creatine supplementation on kidney function: a systematic review and meta-analysis. *BMC Nephrology*, 2025. 21 studies; blood creatinine rose slightly, filtering rate (GFR) did not change. [doi:10.1186/s12882-025-04558-6](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12882-025-04558-6)