Creatine dosage
calculator

Your creatine loading dose from bodyweight — 0.3 g per kilogram per day for 5 to 7 days (ISSN 2017) — and the flat 3 to 5 g/day maintenance that follows. Plus the two things the generic tools get wrong: loading is optional, and maintenance doesn't scale down with bodyweight.

Only loading scales with bodyweight — maintenance doesn't

The fast way to raise muscle creatine is a loading phase: about 0.3 g per kilogram of bodyweight per day of creatine monohydrate for 5 to 7 days, split into roughly four servings across the day (Kreider et al. 2017, the ISSN position stand). For a 176 lb (80 kg) lifter that's 24 g/day, or four servings of 6 g. That number is per kilogram, so it does move with bodyweight.

Maintenance is where the generic calculators drift. The position stand puts the maintenance dose at a flat 3 to 5 g/day — not a per-kilogram figure. A tool that scales maintenance to bodyweight (a "0.03 g/kg/day" rule) prints 1.8 g/day for a 60 kg person, below the evidenced band. Bodyweight barely moves maintenance; a flat 3 to 5 g/day is the supported answer for nearly everyone.

Loading is optional — the endpoint is the same either way

Loading is a choice about speed, not whether creatine works. The position stand notes that a smaller daily dose — about 3 g/day for 28 days — reaches a similar muscle-creatine saturation, roughly a 20% increase in total muscle creatine, just over four weeks instead of one. Load if you want stores full before a training block or a meet; skip it if you'd rather avoid four-times-a-day dosing and the transient water-weight bump. Both roads arrive at the same place.

How the math works

The loading dose is bodyweight times a per-kilogram figure, divided into servings. Maintenance and the no-load alternative are read straight from the position stand.

A normal omnivorous diet already supplies 1 to 2 g of creatine a day and keeps muscle stores about 60 to 80% full, so supplementation adds only the remaining 20 to 40%. Someone whose stores sit near the top — a high habitual intake from red meat and fish — has less room and responds less. A single loading number can't see that; two weeks of use will.

Worked example

A 154 lb (70 kg) lifter starting creatine monohydrate:

• Loading (0.3 g/kg/day): 70 × 0.3 = 21 g/day for 5–7 days, split into four servings of 5.25 g — 105 g over 5 days
• Maintenance thereafter: the flat 3–5 g/day, the same whether they loaded or not
• No-load alternative: skip loading and take 3 g/day for 28 days — a similar endpoint, four weeks instead of one

Now a lighter person at 132 lb (60 kg). Loading drops with them to 18 g/day (four servings of 4.5 g). Maintenance does not: it's still 3 to 5 g/day. A calculator that scaled maintenance to bodyweight would tell them 1.8 g/day — a tidy-looking number that under-doses them below the band the evidence supports.

When this calculator is wrong

Loading is optional and reaches the same endpoint as taking 3 g/day; and only the loading dose scales with bodyweight — maintenance is a flat 3 to 5 g/day, so a per-kilogram "maintenance" number under-doses lighter people. The ISSN position stand (Kreider et al. 2017) puts the fast route at 0.3 g/kg/day for 5–7 days but notes that 3 g/day for 28 days reaches similar saturation — the same destination. And maintenance is a fixed 3–5 g/day, so scaling it down to bodyweight prints a number below the evidenced band for a lighter person.

• The counter-case is when timing matters. An athlete who wants stores full before a meet, a training block, or a rehab window in days rather than weeks should load — the 5–7 day protocol is the right call, and the per-kg loading dose is exactly the number to use. The critique is of treating loading as mandatory and of scaling maintenance down; the loading math itself is sound.
• Response is not uniform. Stores are already ~60–80% full on a normal diet, so the gain from supplementing is the remaining ~20–40% — and someone with a high habitual creatine intake has less headroom. The dose is the same; the effect varies by starting point.
• The scale will move in week one, and it isn't fat. Loading draws water into muscle, so bodyweight often rises a pound or two in the first days. That's expected. Read body composition over weeks, not over the loading phase.

What to do with the result

Pick a route. If you want the effect soon, load: take the loading dose split into about four servings through the day for 5 to 7 days, with fluid, then drop to 3 to 5 g/day and stay there. If you'd rather keep it simple, skip loading and take 3 to 5 g/day from the start — you reach the same place in about four weeks. Either way, the daily habit is what maintains stores; a missed day here and there won't undo it, but stopping for weeks lets stores drift back down.

Creatine monohydrate is the studied form, and timing within the day doesn't matter much for maintenance — take it whenever you'll remember. Pair this with the protein calculator and the macro calculator for the rest of the training diet, and the water intake calculator for the fluid side.

Common questions

How much creatine should I take per day?

For maintenance, 3 to 5 g/day of creatine monohydrate (ISSN 2017) — a flat band, not scaled to bodyweight. If you load first, take about 0.3 g/kg/day for 5 to 7 days, then drop to the 3 to 5 g/day maintenance dose.

Do I need to do a loading phase?

No. Loading (0.3 g/kg/day for 5–7 days) saturates muscle stores faster, but taking about 3 g/day for 28 days reaches a similar endpoint (Kreider et al. 2017). Loading is worth it when you want the effect within days rather than weeks; otherwise a steady 3 to 5 g/day works.

How much creatine should I take to load?

About 0.3 g per kilogram of bodyweight per day, split into roughly four servings, for 5 to 7 days. That's around 21 g/day for a 70 kg (154 lb) lifter and 24 g/day at 80 kg (176 lb). The older fixed protocol of 20 g/day in four 5 g servings sits in this range for most people.

Does creatine dose depend on body weight?

The loading dose does — it's 0.3 g/kg/day. Maintenance does not: the position stand gives a flat 3 to 5 g/day regardless of size. Tools that scale maintenance to bodyweight can under-dose lighter people below the 3 to 5 g band.

Why did I gain weight on creatine?

Loading draws water into muscle, so a pound or two on the scale in the first week is water, not fat. It's expected and not a reason to stop. Judge body composition over weeks once the initial water shift has settled.

Is creatine safe for the kidneys?

The ISSN position stand (Kreider et al. 2017) reports no evidence of harm to kidney or liver function in healthy people at these doses. That said, if you have kidney disease, take medications, or are pregnant or under 18, ask a clinician before starting — this page is math for healthy adults, not medical advice.