Does creatine help or hinder endurance performance?

Creatine is the rock star of the supplement world when it comes to strength and power-based sports. It’s been extensively studied and consistently proven to increase muscle mass, strength, and power across different age groups. If you want to lift heavier, sprint faster, or jump higher, creatine is your best friend. But what about endurance athletes? Can creatine help those who run, cycle, or swim for miles on end, or is it just extra baggage for long-distance performance?

The answer isn’t black and white. Creatine might not turn you into an ultra-marathon champion overnight, but it can provide some surprising benefits for endurance athletes, particularly in moments requiring short bursts of power, like a finishing sprint, a steep hill climb, or a breakaway attempt in a cycling race. Let’s break it down.

What is creatine, and why should you care?

Think of creatine as your muscles’ turbo boost or quick energy source. It’s made from amino acids and helps regenerate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to support intense muscular contractions, such as sprinting.

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound made from three amino acids: arginine, glycine, and methionine. Your body produces it in small amounts, mainly in the liver and pancreas, but it’s not enough to maximize performance. The best dietary sources of creatine are animal-based foods like red meat, chicken, and seafood, meaning vegetarians and vegans tend to have lower baseline levels. The good news? That makes them even more responsive to creatine supplements, as their muscles eagerly absorb and retain more of it.

Even if you eat plenty of creatine-rich foods, supplementing with creatine monohydrate can still boost your muscle creatine stores by about 20%. This is why creatine is so popular among sprinters, weightlifters, and football players.

Can creatine benefit endurance performance?

Creatine’s primary job is to fuel short, explosive movements, but that doesn’t mean endurance athletes should ignore it. There are a few key ways

creatine may support endurance performance.

One potential advantage lies in its ability to buffer hydrogen ions. During intense exercise, hydrogen ions accumulate in muscles, leading to that dreaded burning sensation and fatigue. Creatine can help delay this process, allowing endurance athletes to maintain higher intensities for longer. Additionally, creatine has been shown to enhance glycogen storage when combined with carbohydrates. Since glycogen is the primary energy source for endurance activities like marathon running or long-distance cycling, having more of it in reserve can be a game-changer.

Another interesting benefit is

creatine’s potential to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation.

Endurance exercise, especially at high volumes, generates significant oxidative damage, which can slow recovery. Some research suggests that creatine may help mitigate these effects, allowing athletes to bounce back faster after tough training sessions.

However, there's one thing to keep in mind with creatine: it makes your muscles hold onto more water, which can cause a small increase in body weight. This extra weight isn’t a problem for athletes like cyclists, swimmers, or rowers, but for long-distance runners, carrying even a little more weight could make running feel slightly harder.

What does the research say?

The relationship between creatine and endurance performance has been explored in various studies, with mixed but intriguing results.

In a study, researchers tested whether creatine could help endurance athletes improve their sprinting performance. Competitive triathletes were asked to exercise at a steady pace for 30 minutes, just below their lactate threshold, and then perform short 15-second sprints. The results showed that taking creatine boosted their sprinting power by 18%, suggesting it could be useful for athletes who need to sprint quickly during endurance events.

Cyclists have also been studied to see if creatine provides any real-world advantages. In a 120-kilometer cycling time trial, where riders had to perform intermittent sprints, creatine supplementation significantly improved final sprint performance. Interestingly, despite the slight increase in body weight, creatine did not negatively impact hill climbing ability, suggesting that endurance cyclists may still benefit from it.

Runners, however, may need to approach creatine with a bit more caution. Because running is a weight-bearing sport, even a small increase in body mass can potentially hinder steady-state endurance performance.

Should endurance athletes take creatine?

Whether or not you should take creatine depends on your sport, your goals, and your tolerance for potential weight gain. If your endurance event involves periods of high-intensity effort - like sprint finishes, breakaways, or hill climbs - creatine could be a valuable addition to your training routine. If your sport is purely about maintaining a steady pace over long distances, its benefits might be less noticeable.

For those who decide to give it a try, a daily dose of 3-5 grams of creatine monohydrate is generally recommended. While some athletes choose to do a loading phase (20 grams per day for 5-7 days), this isn’t necessary - taking a consistent lower dose will achieve the same effect over time. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you may experience even greater benefits from supplementation due to naturally lower creatine levels.

Back in 2024, researchers examined the effect of vegetarianism on muscles, comparing creatine levels in vegetarians and meat-eaters, both before and after supplementing. Turns out, vegetarians had lower starting levels (no surprise there), but once they started taking creatine, their muscles demonstrated a higher uptake of creatine compared to their meat eater peers. The takeaway? If you're vegetarian, your muscles might just be extra eager for that creatine boost!

Creatine isn’t just for bodybuilders and powerlifters

While it won’t magically turn you into an endurance superstar, it can give you an edge in specific situations, such as sprinting to the finish line or powering through a tough climb. Cyclists and swimmers are more likely to see benefits without drawbacks, while runners should weigh the pros and cons carefully.

If your endurance sport requires bursts of speed or high-intensity efforts, creatine might be worth adding to your routine.

Creatine won’t make you an endurance beast, but it might help when you need that last burst of speed!