{"id":771525,"date":"2026-05-04T01:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T01:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/771525\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T01:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T01:03:16","slug":"popular-gym-supplement-benefits-depend-on-3-major-factors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/771525\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular gym supplement benefits depend on 3 major factors"},"content":{"rendered":"

A popular gym supplement<\/a> could be doing squat.<\/p>\n

While some supplements have scientifically-backed benefits, not all do the heavy lifting they claim to by building muscle, enhancing power output and boosting brain performance.<\/p>\n

And the impacts of one especially popular addition to any gym-goer\u2019s routine actually depend on three major factors.<\/p>\n

\"ADespite its safety and popularity in the gym, one supplements effectiveness has limitations based on three major factors. Oleksandr \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

A naturally occurring substance<\/a> in muscle cells, creatine is found in foods like red meat, fish and poultry, though many take it as a supplement.<\/p>\n

However, research published Sunday in the\u00a0Handbook of Creatine and Creatinine In Vivo Kinetics<\/a> looked into the hype behind the supplement and found some limitations.<\/p>\n

While the findings, led by pharmaceutical researcher and former professor Dr. Mehdi Boroujerdi, highlight some positive effects of creatine, there are other aspects that can influence its efficiency.<\/p>\n

First, creatine\u2019s impact can depend on an individual\u2019s baseline creatine levels.<\/p>\n

Men and women respond to the chemical differently, as women tend to have lower natural creatine stores and therefore, may respond better to supplementation.<\/p>\n

Those with lower baseline levels, such as older adults, may also experience more of the cognitive improvements, including memory, mood and processing speed, as well as age-related decline in muscle mass.<\/p>\n

\"AWhile creatine has been shown to build muscle, boost brain health and more, these benefits can vary by individual. Inga \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Vegans and vegetarians may also notice more benefits, as they receive very little creatine from their diets and have lower baseline levels.<\/p>\n

The second factor that can affect how creatine works is the dose, as the standard dosing recommendation<\/a> is 3 to 5 grams daily for maintenance.<\/p>\n

But while orally ingested creatine<\/a> is the most widely used form, not all of the supplement is absorbed due to gastrointestinal stability and individual muscle capacity.<\/p>\n

Taking creatine with carbohydrates has been shown to improve absorption, though.<\/p>\n

Additionally, higher doses don\u2019t always mean bigger gains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe belief that larger doses yield greater benefits is unfounded, as muscle creatine stores have a saturation limit,\u201d Boroujerdi said in a press release. \u201cExcess creatine is simply excreted as creatinine, offering no additional advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the third factor of how well creatine works for someone is individual physiology.<\/p>\n

In addition to how it\u2019s digested in the body and differences in muscle mass between genders, tissue can only hold a certain amount of creatine and everyone\u2019s individual levels are different.<\/p>\n

Despite a strong safety profile and some evidence supporting muscle growth, the benefits of creatine are not universal.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite its many benefits, creatine is not a magic bullet,\u201d Boroujerdi said. \u201cIt does not directly build muscle or replace the need for proper training and nutrition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A popular gym supplement could be doing squat. While some supplements have scientifically-backed benefits, not all do the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":771526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[27440,1728,1198,13160,210,1182,1183,2796,67,132,68,36023,12238,6433],"class_list":{"0":"post-771525","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-athletes","9":"tag-exercise","10":"tag-fitness","11":"tag-gym","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-nutrition","14":"tag-research","15":"tag-supplements","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-vegan","20":"tag-vegetarian","21":"tag-weightlifting"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116513617185117329","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}