YouTube video (July 2023) documenting a 26-year-old beginner, Raza Katel, taking creatine for 30 days to observe effects and side effects. The experiment used a 7-day loading phase at 20 g/day followed by 5 g/day maintenance. Observed effects included initial GI distress during loading that resolved after dosing changes, ~1.5 lb weight gain in week one (likely water), measurable increases in arm and torso measurements (arms +2 cm; torso ~+5 cm), and noticeable strength/repetition improvements in pull-ups and lifts. The video also discusses the 2010 DHT study (56% increase after loading) and meta-analytic estimates of strength benefits (trained: ~8% strength, ~14% reps; untrained: ~30% strength in one study), and notes ~20–30% non-responder rate. Hair loss was monitored but no noticeable change was reported.
Questions this video answers
20 grams per day for 7 days (loading), then 5 grams per day maintenance.
About 20–30%.
Roughly 1.5 pounds.
About a 56% increase after the loading phase and a 40% increase during maintenance (relative to baseline).
About an 8% boost in strength and a 14% increase in number of reps performed.
Creatine is often described as the legal version of steroids, making you bigger, stronger, and more athletic. But just how big of a difference can it make for the average Joe? And are there any harmful side effects you should know about? Meet Raza, our guinea pig, a beginner who has never taken creatine. In the next 30 days, we're going to track his weight, muscle size and strength to see just how much this supplement helps or hurts him.
My name is Raza Katel. I'm 26 and I work at Bill of Science. I'm actually getting married three days right after this challenge ends. And I want to look thick and juicy in my suits. I want to be looking built like my boss and my co workers. So let's see how this turns out.
So when you first start taking creatine, it won't work right away. You actually won't experience any benefit until you reach what's known as full saturation. This is the point when your muscles creatine stores are completely full. Typically, if you take 15 gram scoop of creatine a day, you can reach full saturation in about three weeks. But you can experience the benefits faster in as little as a week if you use what's known as a loading protocol. This involves taking 20 grams of creatine every day for a week. However, for some individuals, ingesting this much creatine at once can create a lot of stomach discomfort.
What did you say when he warned you about taking 20 grams all at once? Yeah, I told my mom it doesn't raise a.
20 gram. Tada.
Stomach hurts. My bathroom bowel movements are really messed up. The first three days of taking creatine were absolute hell. I went out for dinner with my fiance where we were chilling and relaxing and the creatine really started kicking in. And I told my fiance, if I don't go home in the next 20 minutes, I'm going to myself. I got a speeding ticket because I went through a red light because I could not stop.
Hurry up.
I had to quickly get home to use the restroom. It was so bad. Day two, I had stomach pains out the wazoo. It was bad. I was in bed in just agony and pain. Felt like something was stabbing me in the stomach and like bloated. Like my face felt fat and it was just a nightmare.
So to soothe out Ross's stomach pains, we spaced out his servings throughout the day and also fully dissolved each dose with water instead of dry scooping it. We also made sure he stopped taking his creatine with his Pre workout or any caffeine. There's not only some evidence suggesting that taking creatine with caffeine may make it less effective, but it also seems to greatly increase the odds of stomach discomfort. Making these fixes seem to do the trick. Alright. So after the seven days of loading, by now the creatine should be fully saturated in your muscles and is when it'll start working. This is when you should scale back your dose to just 5 grams per day to simply maintain your elevated creatine stores. However, not everyone responds to creatine. In fact, it's estimated that about 20 to 30% of people are non responders. So once you do reach full saturation, there's a few benefits and side effects you want to look out for to tell if it's working.
I gained roughly around one and a half pounds in the first week. Oh, this is a problem. It was a big oh moment because I had these suits that were tailored to my body. If I don't fit into my suits, my fiance will not be happy.
So when creatine is initially taken into a muscle cell, it also draws water into that cell and often causes a slight spike in your body weight as a result. On average, research seems to show around a 1 to 3 pound increase in body weight before it stabilizes. Although this may sound like a bad thing, especially if you're on a diet, this water retention can actually make your muscles look and feel a lot fuller and is a sign that the supplement is working.
One thing I'm really worried about is losing my hair. It's already thinning and apparently creatine can make it worse. I'll talk to Jeremy about this and see what he has to say.
So why is hair loss a popular concern when it comes to creatine? Well, this goes back to a study published in 2010. Researchers took 20 rugby players and split them into a placebo group or creatine group, where they followed the loading phase for seven days and then dropped down to maintenance afterwards. Throughout this period, researchers measured what's known as dht, a hormone known to contribute to male pattern baldness and hair loss in those who are genetically predisposed to it. So what happened? Well, the creatine group actually experienced a significant increase in their DHT levels by about 56% after the loading phase, which then reduced down to a 40% increase during the maintenance phase. So does this mean hair loss is a legitimate concern? Well, first of all, the creatine group had lower than average DHT levels to begin with and the increase they experienced was still within normal levels. Also, no other study has yet to replicate the results. So I honestly think it's not a concern. But we will keep an eye on Raza's head of hair and see if we notice any differences.
Day 10 is when I noticed that my pull ups were changing. Before taking creatine, I could do about 9, 5 and 5. Taking creatine, I was able to push out 12, 11, 11. That was a huge indicator for me that something is going on in my body.
So if you're a responder to creatine, you should notice a slight strength boost across most of your exercises. In fact, a Meta analysis reviewing 22 creatine studies found that on average, trained lifters can expect roughly an 8% boost in strength and 14% boost in number of reps performed. Less experienced lifters like Raza, however, seem to reap larger benefits, with one study showing an average strength increase of 30% in untrained individuals.
Bench press. I was able to increase £5 in all my sets. Shoulder press. I'm able to do almost 55, 60 pounds on each side. And it feels like a dream seeing all this weight change, but it's happening. I just hit an all time PR on low incline.
Dumbbell press.
£60 on each side. Pretty charm.
Now Raz has been able to increase almost all his exercises by around five pounds or so, as well as do at least a couple more reps, which seems to align well with the research. But in addition to the strength benefits, One study surveying 52 NCAA athletes found that 81% of them reported faster recovery from their training after taking creatine. So once you do reach full saturation, pay attention to how fast you recover between your workouts as that's another indicator that it's working. All right, my man, it's day 30.
Yeah, it's exciting.
Let's see where we're at.
Going into day I did not know what to expect.
Damn, you look good, man. Your shoulders look a bit wider. Arms look a bit juicier. 38 centimeters.
So that's from 36. So 2 centimeters to 2 centimeters. And you're not BSing it too long?
Okay. You're at just over 125 centimeters. What?
What? Started at 120 centimeters? Yeah, but just from this, I'm a little worried. Now I have to fit into my wedding suit. Taking creatine is not a magic pill. I still had to watch my nutrition and I still had to train hard, but it still gave me that little boost being a beginner and I'm definitely gonna keep taking it.
Yo, Russell, what are you doing?
Dude? I love this stuff. I need more gains. Quicker gains.
Oh my God. Honestly guys, even I was shocked at the results. I personally don't think I'm a responder to creatine, so seeing his arms and shoulders increase that much in 30 days was surprising. Now, most of this probably is just water in his muscles, but it still helped him look bigger. And the creatine will definitely indirectly help with his muscle gains over time if he continues taking it. I'm happy it worked for him though. His wedding suit just barely fit because of his gains, but he did get his wish of looking a little more thick and juicy in it. And best of all, he was able to keep his head of hair. And according to his barber, there wasn't any noticeable change. That said, guys, just always keep in mind proper nutrition and hard training will do so much more than taking any supplement will. And here's a video you can watch next that'll show you how to tweak your workouts to speed up your growth, potentially even more than creatine will. But if you're looking for a little more help and for a step by step plan to transform your body as efficiently as possible, just head to buildwithscience.com and take my quiz to find the best program for you and your body. Thanks for watching and see you next time.
