JJ Virgin says timing creatine around workouts matters when you're building up stores, but becomes irrelevant once muscles are saturated. She mixes it with amino acids and electrolytes before the gym, and takes it on rest days for a mental boost. She sometimes doubles the dose during jet lag or high stress.
Jenny asked, when, how do you take your creatine? Morning? So here's the reality. Ideally, you get your creatine stores up and it doesn't really matter when you take it. When you first start taking it though, your creatine stores aren't all the way up. And so when you take it matters a little bit more. I personally like to take it. I make a big water bottle when I'm going to the gym. And I, since I work out pretty much every day, if I don't work out, I do this still. I do my creatine, my shea team product. I put in my essential amino acid blend and I put in my electroreplenishment. And that's what I put and I take to the gym. If I'm missing the gym, then I just have it in usually in the afternoon as like a little boost. 'Cause my brain feels it when I take creatine. I don't know if it's just my perception, but I feel it. So you can take it anytime. It doesn't really, it's not gonna make you not able to fall asleep or anything like that. But when you're first starting to take it or if your stores aren't up, then I would definitely do it around a workout. Mm-hmm. Especially before or during the workout. And then if you are jet-lagged, under a lot of stress, I like to use it a double time that day to help me with the recovering from the jet lag.
