FAQ

Take five grams of creatine per day. If desired, you can personalize your dosage to be anywhere between three to ten grams based on your size, muscle mass, activity level, and personal response to creatine.

Either, depending on your goals. Creatine is best taken immediately before or after exercise to support recovery and muscle mass, or first thing in the morning to promote cognitive function.

Yes. Take it once per day or as recommended by a health professional.

In the short term, depending on your diet, exercise routine, and lifestyle, you may experience*:
• Improved exercise performance
• Delayed onset of muscular fatigue
• Quicker recovery between workouts
In the long term, depending on your diet, exercise routine, and lifestyle, you may experience*:
• Increased lean muscle mass
• Improved body composition
• Improvements in overall exercise performance and capacity
• Accelerated progress towards your health and fitness goals
*There is evidence to suggest a percentage of the population are “creatine non-responders,” meaning their responses to creatine supplementation may not be as physically-evident as others, or they may take longer. You may still experience benefits from supplementing with creatine, even as a non-responder.

Not if you are taking a high-quality form of creatine monohydrate like Kion Creatine. Kion Creatine is safe to take on a daily, long-term basis, and cycling is unnecessary.

No. Even though a creatine loading phase may result in acute increases in strength and body weight, daily supplementation over a longer period will lead to similar results.

Creatine at normal doses is not bad for kidneys. However, those with kidney issues should exercise caution.
Kidney health is a common concern with creatine supplementation because high doses may increase creatinine levels, a biomarker for compromised kidney function.
However, long and short-term studieshave found that creatine doses of up to 10 grams per day don’t impair kidney health in people with healthy kidneys.
More long-term research is needed for those with compromised kidney health. If you have a history of kidney issues, speak with your doctor before supplementing with creatine.

Creatine may cause gains in lean mass and improvements in body composition through some amount of water retention.
While higher loading doses can cause water retention that may exceed five pounds, lower supplemental doses will typically cause minimal weight changes outside of muscle mass gains.

Despite the common misconception that creatine will cause weight gain (dispelled above), creatine actually offers some unique benefits to women, especially those who are concerned about maintaining their health and quality of life as they age.
Women over 50 can experience a significant loss of muscle mass and bone density. As this study demonstrates, creatine combined with regular exercise can help mitigate age-related declines in health and function and even improve postmenopausal women’s quality of life.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21311365/

The EAAs consist of nine amino acids: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylethylamine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. They’re called essential because our bodies can’t make them on their own but we need them to function, so they must be consumed from food or supplement sources. Food sources which are abundant in EAAs include beef, lamb, pork, tuna, poultry, eggs, yogurt, salmon, shrimp, soy, buckwheat, and quinoa. EAAs play a variety of roles in the body, including serving as building blocks for tissue growth. We’re going to focus on their role at promoting tissue growth, specifically muscle tissue.

When it comes to athletes, their main intentions with EAAs is to aid in the building of new muscle tissue and emerging research shows it may even positively affect markers of recovery. It’s well-known that in order for the muscle to grow, the body must be in a positive muscle protein balance, which is where EAAs serve their purpose. Secondly, by supporting recovery, an athlete can be better primed to tackle their next training session.

Positive Muscle Protein Balance: When the rate of muscle protein synthesis is greater than the rate of muscle protein breakdown, our bodies are in a positive muscle protein balance. Being in a state of positive muscle protein balance is a favorable environment for building muscle. Researchers wanted to see the effects of EAA supplementation after a workout on net muscle protein balance. The researchers had subjects do a high-volume leg workout consisting of 10 x 10 leg presses and 8 x 8 leg extensions. The subjects supplemented with 6 g of EAAs, one and two hours after they trained. Blood samples were drawn from the subject’s legs and the researchers noted that EAAs favorably increased net muscle protein balance.
A separate study was done examining the effects of EAA supplementation on muscle protein synthesis, except this time it was during steady state exercise. The researchers had subjects supplement with a leucine enriched EAA drink while they cycled for 60 minutes at 60% of their VO2 max. The researchers observed increased muscle protein synthesis and decreased muscle protein breakdown in subjects that supplemented with the leucine enriched EAAs compared to those who didn’t. [2]

Supports Muscle Recovery: Anyone who works out regularly understands the importance of recovery for achieving fitness goals. After a grueling workout, muscle strength and range of motion are decreased while muscle soreness is increased. All these factors combined can make it difficult to maintain the quality of your subsequent workouts. In a 2019 pilot study, researchers wanted to see if leucine enriched essential amino acids (LEAAs) could support muscle recovery. They had subjects perform an arm workout and supplement with 10.8 g of LEAAs daily for 7 days. Using blood tests, the researchers observed that LEAA supplementation suppressed exercise induced biomarkers of muscle damage. [3]

After lifting: Taking EAAs after a workout has been shown to further augment the positive muscle protein synthesis effects of resistance training.  After you weight train, your body is in a prime muscle-building state, and EAAs provide your body with the amino acids it needs.

During endurance workouts: Endurance training can be catabolic, and as a result many endurance athletes aim to feed their muscle mass by taking EAAs during long training sessions.  Another benefit is that the EAAs are lighter on the stomach than consuming a complete protein source, like a whole food or a shake, easing the demands for digestion.

Between meals: Because EAAs can spike muscle protein synthesis, having a bolus of EAAs between meals can help promote a positive muscle protein balance throughout the day.

Most research has shown 6-12 g of EAAs to be effective for muscle protein synthesis, in the absence of feeding. [4] These amounts have been used as a single dose as well as in split doses. An important point to note is that in studies, leucine enriched EAAs have been shown to be especially anabolic. When looking for an EAA supplement, you want to look for a formula that is leucine enriched. For individuals following vegan or vegetarian based diets who want to supplement with EAAs, look for essential amino acid products derived from vegan plant sources rather than animal by-products such as duck feather, pig fur or human hair.

If you’re looking to maximize your training and wish to support your body in muscle growth, EAAs, especially those enriched with leucine, are of value. Whether you wish to consume your serving in one dose or two, ensure you consistently use the supplement, paying attention to the post-workout timeframe.

The EAAs consist of nine amino acids: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylethylamine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. They’re called essential because our bodies can’t make them on their own but we need them to function, so they must be consumed from food or supplement sources. Food sources which are abundant in EAAs include beef, lamb, pork, tuna, poultry, eggs, yogurt, salmon, shrimp, soy, buckwheat, and quinoa. EAAs play a variety of roles in the body, including serving as building blocks for tissue growth. We’re going to focus on their role at promoting tissue growth, specifically muscle tissue.

When it comes to athletes, their main intentions with EAAs is to aid in the building of new muscle tissue and emerging research shows it may even positively affect markers of recovery. It’s well-known that in order for the muscle to grow, the body must be in a positive muscle protein balance, which is where EAAs serve their purpose. Secondly, by supporting recovery, an athlete can be better primed to tackle their next training session.
Positive Muscle Protein Balance: When the rate of muscle protein synthesis is greater than the rate of muscle protein breakdown, our bodies are in a positive muscle protein balance. Being in a state of positive muscle protein balance is a favorable environment for building muscle. Researchers wanted to see the effects of EAA supplementation after a workout on net muscle protein balance. The researchers had subjects do a high-volume leg workout consisting of 10 x 10 leg presses and 8 x 8 leg extensions. The subjects supplemented with 6 g of EAAs, one and two hours after they trained. Blood samples were drawn from the subject’s legs and the researchers noted that EAAs favorably increased net muscle protein balance. [1]
A separate study was done examining the effects of EAA supplementation on muscle protein synthesis, except this time it was during steady state exercise. The researchers had subjects supplement with a leucine enriched EAA drink while they cycled for 60 minutes at 60% of their VO2 max. The researchers observed increased muscle protein synthesis and decreased muscle protein breakdown in subjects that supplemented with the leucine enriched EAAs compared to those who didn’t. [2]
Supports Muscle Recovery: Anyone who works out regularly understands the importance of recovery for achieving fitness goals. After a grueling workout, muscle strength and range of motion are decreased while muscle soreness is increased. All these factors combined can make it difficult to maintain the quality of your subsequent workouts. In a 2019 pilot study, researchers wanted to see if leucine enriched essential amino acids (LEAAs) could support muscle recovery. They had subjects perform an arm workout and supplement with 10.8 g of LEAAs daily for 7 days. Using blood tests, the researchers observed that LEAA supplementation suppressed exercise induced biomarkers of muscle damage. [3]

After lifting: Taking EAAs after a workout has been shown to further augment the positive muscle protein synthesis effects of resistance training. After you weight train, your body is in a prime muscle-building state, and EAAs provide your body with the amino acids it needs.

During endurance workouts: Endurance training can be catabolic, and as a result many endurance athletes aim to feed their muscle mass by taking EAAs during long training sessions. Another benefit is that the EAAs are lighter on the stomach than consuming a complete protein source, like a whole food or a shake, easing the demands for digestion.

Between meals: Because EAAs can spike muscle protein synthesis, having a bolus of EAAs between meals can help promote a positive muscle protein balance throughout the day.

Most research has shown 6-12 g of EAAs to be effective for muscle protein synthesis, in the absence of feeding. [4] These amounts have been used as a single dose as well as in split doses. An important point to note is that in studies, leucine enriched EAAs have been shown to be especially anabolic. When looking for an EAA supplement, you want to look for a formula that is leucine enriched. For individuals following vegan or vegetarian based diets who want to supplement with EAAs, look for essential amino acid products derived from vegan plant sources rather than animal by-products such as duck feather, pig fur or human hair.

If you’re looking to maximize your training and wish to support your body in muscle growth, EAAs, especially those enriched with leucine, are of value. Whether you wish to consume your serving in one dose or two, ensure you consistently use the supplement, paying attention to the post-workout timeframe.