Despite causing a seemingly rapid increase in weight, creatine will not make you fat. You must consume more calories than you burn to gain fat. One scoop of creatine per day (about 5 grams) contains little to no calories. This will not contribute to fat gain.
If you’re looking to know more about what creatine does for the body, there are plenty of resources out there like Bench-Press.net that offers complete guides.
However, this article will be entirely focused on creatine and if it actually can be linked to making you fat.
Should I take Creatine While Trying to Burn Fat?
By supplementing creatine, you’ll gain weight – but not fat. The added weight will help get your muscles bigger, fuller, and stronger. You should know that creatine contains zero calories, meaning it has zero impact on your fat metabolism — you can take it on non-exercise days, too.
The overall weight gain that comes from creatine initially is mainly from added water retention. After this stage passes, you’ll typically find that weight gain comes from an increase in lean muscle mass.
Ideally, you should be on a progressive weight lifting program to get the most out of the creatine that you’re using. Also, if you are on a diet to help promote fat loss, this will help you to maintain your shape and overall physique while dropping fat on creatine.
Does Creatine Make You Gain Belly Fat?
Potentially. Also known as fluid retention, creatine may cause rapid gains in water weight by how the supplement draws water into your muscles’ cells. In turn, your muscles hold onto this water, which may result in some initial bloating or puffiness around your arms, legs, or belly. Your muscles may even appear larger, even if you’ve just begun your training.
This initial increase in water retention can lead to belly bloat that you may not be used to – but it should not be confused with belly fat. You’ve simply added some extra water weight to your body. Your overall body fat percentage is not affected.
You can use this added weight to help you lift more while you are training in the gym, and then use it to give you a better, harder physique as you drop the water weight later on.
Does Creatine Make Your Face Fat?
Your muscles collect water from the rest of the body when you consume creatine. This makes your muscles swell, in which you may notice bloating or puffiness in areas of your face caused by this initial water uptake. However, this water weight can also help give you the appearance of larger muscles.
If you’re concerned about how much creatine will affect your face, understand that your face is not getting fatter – it is just retaining more water which is giving it that appearance.
Having a slightly more bloated face when first doing creatine can be concerning to some users who are very interested in their overall aesthetics. From this, we recommend that you only run creatine while undergoing a bulking cycle.
When you’re on a bulk, you’re usually more puffy or bloated in general. This can make the overall creatine on top look a lot more forgivable with the cycle of exercise and nutrition you’re putting yourself through.
When you come to your cutting phase, you can cycle off creatine, regain your facial looks, and also have a tonne more strong and powerful muscle that you attained while training hard on creatine.
Does Creatine Make You Bloated?
Creatine bloating is an experience that most often occurs during the user’s loading phase when beginning to use creatine. During the loading phase, you tend to also get an increase in body weight due to an increase in both muscle mass and water intake into your muscles. This may cause bloating from creatine.
Again, if you’re concerned about bloating – remember that these effects are only temporary and there has been no real difference made to your overall body composition when it comes to body fat. It’s purely from the water being drawn into your muscles which is making this happen – and these effects are temporary.
If you have any concerns about the look that this may give you either don’t use creatine, or only use it when you are participating in a bulking cycle, or look for other ways to avoid the bloat.