Creatine Calculator

1. Enter your body weight. Creatine dosing is based on body weight. Select pounds or kilograms depending on what you know.
2. Choose your approach. The Loading Phase option gives you a 5 to 7 day high-dose protocol followed by a maintenance dose. Maintenance Only skips the loading phase and uses a lower daily dose from day one.
3. Set your loading phase duration. If you chose Loading Phase, you can choose 5, 6, or 7 days. Most research uses 5 to 7 days. There is no meaningful difference between these durations.
4. Read your protocol. The calculator shows your exact daily loading dose (split into 4 servings to reduce GI discomfort), your maintenance dose, and the total creatine needed for a 30-day supply.
5. Buy accordingly. A 500g tub of creatine monohydrate typically costs $20 to $30 and provides about 100 days of maintenance dosing or covers a full loading phase plus several weeks of maintenance.

Creatine dosing protocols are based on body weight and the goal of saturating muscle creatine stores as quickly as possible. The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) recommends the following:

Loading Phase Dose

Loading Dose = 0.3g × body weight in kg

Example: 80 kg person
Loading dose = 0.3 × 80 = 24g per day
Split into 4 servings of 6g each

The loading phase typically lasts 5 to 7 days. Splitting doses reduces gastrointestinal side effects (cramping, bloating) that can occur when taking 20 or more grams at once.

Maintenance Dose

Maintenance Dose = 3 to 5g per day
(or 0.03g × body weight in kg, minimum 3g, maximum 5g)

Example: 80 kg person
Maintenance = 0.03 × 80 = 2.4g → rounded up to 3g/day

The maintenance dose replaces the creatine broken down each day (creatinine excreted in urine). After loading, muscles are saturated and a small daily dose maintains that level.

No-Load Protocol

3 to 5g per day from day 1, no loading phase
Time to full saturation: 3 to 4 weeks

The end result is identical whether you load or not. Loading just gets you there 3 weeks faster. For competitive athletes with a specific event date, loading makes sense. For general fitness, starting with 3 to 5g daily is simpler and causes less initial water retention.