Is Creatine a Waste of Money? This New Study Says YES—but Here’s the Real Story

By Marc Lobliner, IFBB Pro

A new study published in Nutrients sent shockwaves through the fitness world. The headlines screamed: "Creatine doesn’t work!" But is that actually true?

Let’s break it down—what the research found, what it didn’t, and why creatine is still one of the most effective, safest, and most researched supplements on the planet.

The Study: What They Did

Researchers at the University of New South Wales followed 63 healthy adults (aged 18–50) who hadn’t lifted weights in over a year. The participants were split into two groups:

• One group took 5g of creatine monohydrate daily

• The other group didn’t take any supplements

Both groups completed a 12-week resistance training program—three full-body workouts per week.

The Findings: No Muscle Advantage?

After 7 days of creatine without training, the supplement group gained about 0.5 kg of lean body mass—most likely from increased water retention, not muscle.
After 12 weeks of training, both groups gained about 2kg of lean mass—but there was no statistically significant difference between them.

The conclusion?
Creatine didn’t enhance muscle growth in this population over 12 weeks compared to training alone.

But Here’s What the Study Missed…

Let’s be clear—this study was well-structured, but there are some serious limitations that need to be addressed:

1. No Loading Phase

Most athletes use a loading phase of 20g/day for the first 5–7 days to rapidly saturate the muscles with creatine. This study used a maintenance dose from day one, which may not have elevated creatine stores enough early in the training process to yield measurable benefits.

2. Short Study Duration

Twelve weeks might seem like a solid timeline—but muscle hypertrophy is a slow process, especially in untrained individuals. We may not see creatine’s full effects in this window, particularly when everyone is progressing rapidly due to newbie gains.

3. Untrained Subjects

These were recreationally active but resistance-training naive individuals. In beginners, just touching a barbell often results in rapid muscle and strength gains—so it’s possible that the benefits of creatine were masked by the body's natural adaptations to new training.

4. No Performance Data

The study measured body composition only. It did not assess strength gains, endurance, power output, or recovery—where creatine shines the brightest.

What Decades of Research Still Say About Creatine

This study is one piece of the puzzle. Meanwhile, over 500 studies have shown that creatine:

• Increases strength and power output

• Improves high-intensity exercise performance

• Enhances muscle recovery

• Helps maintain lean mass during cutting or calorie restriction

• Improves cognitive performance in sleep-deprived or stressed individuals

• Even supports muscle and brain health as you age

And don’t forget—creatine is one of the most rigorously tested supplements in sports science. Its safety profile is unmatched.

Why You Should Still Take Creatine

Despite the headlines, creatine remains the gold standard in performance supplementation. The data is overwhelming—this isn’t hype, it’s science. Just remember:

• Use creatine monohydrate (preferably Creapure®)

• Consider a loading phase to saturate your muscles faster

• Pair with consistent training, protein intake, and sleep

• Be patient—long-term use matters

If you want an edge in the gym, on the field, or during weight loss phases—creatine still delivers.

The Verdict

This new study doesn’t prove that creatine is useless—it shows that in a specific population, using a maintenance dose without a loading phase, the benefits might not be immediately obvious.

But if you're serious about performance, recovery, strength, and muscle retention, creatine is still one of the smartest investments you can make in your supplement stack.

References

• Desai, I. et al. (2025). The Effect of Creatine Supplementation on Lean Body Mass with and Without Resistance Training. Nutrients, 17(6), 1081.

• Kreider, R. et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. JISSN.

• Youm, Y.H. et al. (2015). The ketone metabolite β-hydroxybutyrate blocks NLRP3 inflammasome–mediated inflammatory disease. Nature Medicine.