Can Creatine Help You Lose Belly Fat: Truth or Just Another Gimmick

Should I take creatine while trying to lose belly fat?

In desperate need of losing belly fat, it’s the first thing that came to mind when my friend started taking creatine.

Well, creatine is a great supplement to boost your energy level enough to lose extra body fat through intense exercise. Not to mention – belly fat as well. It will make you gain weight, but not by pumping your belly or any other body part with fat. Instead, it can help you lose belly fat.

However, you might feel bloated during the loading phase.

Throughout this article, I will explain the science behind reducing belly fat with creatine. Also, the important factors you should keep in mind if you are about to use it.

Should I Take Creatine While Trying To Lose Belly Fat: Does It Help?

Yes, creatine does help with losing belly fat. It is amazing at providing your muscles with the power it needs to perform at their fullest. However, there’s no evidence that creatine directly supports losing belly fat.

So how do you even lose the fat from your body? Well, your muscle’s endurance and performance help you go for one more round, one more set every time.

Creatine helps replenish ATP, a molecule that carries energy in our cells. During high-intensity activities like weight lifting or sprinting, creatine quickly refills ATP stores through the creatine phosphate system. It provides energy to our muscles during short bursts of intense activity.

That is what builds lean muscle in your body. Even people with muscular dystrophy benefitted from creatine supplements and increased muscle strength.

Your belly muscles or abs also get this amazing creatine feature. So when you do those abs-building exercises, you can perform better. As a result, you get to lose your belly fat.

However, if you are about to take creatine for the first time, you might feel bloating, especially through the loading phase. But if you take it in small doses, you may not have to worry about that. Also, your body could gain 1–2% of its current mass as water weight during the loading phase.

Can Creatine Make You Fat?

Looking plump or swollen shortly after taking creatine might make you think it is making you fat. But believe me or not, some studies have proven that creatine doesn’t make you fat. The weight that you might gain is not fat; it’s water weight.

Due to fluid retention, you’ll notice rapid water weight as it will draw water into your muscles’ cells. You could put on about 2 to 4.5 pounds of weight even if you just have started working out. However, water weight is short lasted and usually goes away after the loading period.

Next comes muscle mass. Soon after you start taking creatine, you’ll feel energy boosting through your muscles. Study shows that your muscle profile builds up as your muscle endurance increases.

Staying active and having a healthy diet will not likely put on any fat while using oral creatine. Instead, it will help you lose weight.

Can Creatine Make You Bloat: When and Why?

Usually, taking larger doses of creatine may cause bloating or water retention in some individuals due to increased muscle water uptake. You may expect to gain 1–2% of body mass as water weight. However, it’s a short-term condition that usually fixes in a few weeks after your loading phase.

You can skip the loading phase and maintain a dose of 3–5 grams daily to avoid bloating.

A study on 13 athletes observed that 0.01 grams of creatine per pound of your body weight each day for 7 days can increase total body water by 2.3 pounds (1 kg).

If you avoid taking large amounts, especially when you’re not exercising, you can avoid bloating.

Be sure to drink plenty of water, as it increases the risk of dehydration and the direct effects of creatine. While creatine does not cause belly fat, consuming excessive calories can lead to weight gain.

Therefore, it’s important to maintain a balanced diet and monitor calorie intake to avoid sabotaging your fitness goals.

Factors That Play a Vital Role In Losing Belly Fat

You must keep some important factors in mind if you are trying to lose belly fat by consuming creatine. Creatine might indeed swell up your belly due to water retention. So you have to keep it to some regular routine to keep fit.

How Long Have You Been Using

Stick to the recommended dose of creatine for the time necessary for you. Don’t overdose on creatine or take it longer than necessary. In the long run, creatine can help you shed fat, build muscle, and get a leaner physique.

What Kind Of Creatine You Are Using

There are 6 types of creatine you will find. But not all of them are as good as Creatine Monohydrate. It has been associated with more water retention than other types of creatine and is more useful.

How Much Creatine Are You Taking?

Taking the correct amount of creatine is crucial to losing belly fat and getting the necessary energy. The recommended dose is 3-5 grams daily.

However, you can also start with the loading period, which is 20 grams. After that, 3–10 grams per day is for maintenance.

If you don’t skip loading, take 3 grams of creatine for 28 days. It will serve you the same with your performance and physique, taking a little more time than loading.

Types Of Exercises You Are Into

The most effective exercise to burn stomach fat is crunches. Crunches rank top when we talk of fat-burning exercises. Some other exercises are also best for losing belly fat, especially if you are on creatine.

Crunches

Crunches are a common exercise that targets the abdominal muscles, specifically the rectus abdominis. To perform a crunch-

1. lie on your back with your knees bent
2. place your hands behind your head
3. lift your shoulders off the ground while engaging your abs.

Crunches can help strengthen the core and improve posture but should be performed with proper form to avoid strain on the neck and back.

Lying Leg Raises

Lying leg raises are an exercise that targets the lower abdominal muscles, specifically the hip flexors. To perform a lying leg raise-

1. lie on your back with your legs straight
2. lift your legs toward the ceiling
3. lower them back down without touching the ground.

Leg In And Out

Leg in and out is an exercise that targets the lower abdominal muscles and hip flexors. To perform leg in and out-

1. lie on your back with your legs straight
2. lift them off the ground
3. move them in and out in a scissoring motion.

Burpees

Burpees are a full-body exercise that combines a squat, push-up, and jump. To perform a burpee-

1. start in a standing position, drop into a squat with your hands on the ground
2. perform a push-up, jump your feet back in
3. then jump up with your arms overhead

Turkish Get-Up

The Turkish Get-Up is a full-body exercise that involves lifting a weight from the ground to an overhead position while transitioning between multiple positions. To perform a Turkish Get-Up-

1. start lying on your back with a weight in one hand
2. then roll onto your side, sit up, kneel, stand up
3. Press the weight overhead

Conclusion

I couldn’t put my shirt buttons on when I started taking creatine. I was always a big guy, but I loved to wear formal attire. That’s when I realized my belly was getting swollen.

But that was only water retention that went away soon enough. And I lost a significant amount of body fat through exercise.

So, should I take creatine while trying to lose belly fat? Yes, go ahead.

Creatine will eventually help you lose weight as well as belly fat. You just have to trust the process. For more on creatine and fitness, visit our blogs.