How do I take creatine monohydrate? What are maintenance and loading phases?
Scientific studies have shown that you will optimize gains with creatine if you take it in two phases: the loading phase and the maintenance phase. The loading phase is designed to saturate the muscles with creatine, while the maintenance phase is designed to keep them saturated. For the average person, 5 grams of creatine should be taken 4 times daily for the first five days to complete the loading phase. The maintenance phase consists of taking only 5 to 10 grams per day. The amount of creatine you should take depends on your weight, so take less if you are under average weight, and more if you are over the average weight (160 lbs). For example, if you were 250 lbs, you would take 5 grams 6 times a day for the loading phase, and 2-3 times a day for the maintenance phase. Having said this, we have to add a note for the people who think that if a little bit of something is good, more must be better. Not true! You arent going to get any better results by downing a kilo of creatine a day
