female sprinter taking off at the starting line

Key Topic

We recently discussed this question in a recent Q&A but we figured that we would do a complete podcast focusing on creatine for endurance athletes and explain our answer in more detail.

Any Downsides?

  • Some people might be concerned that it will increase water weight and make performance worse.
  • That’s partly easy to dismiss because we only really see a noticeable increase in water weight during loading.
  • No other real downsides exist.

How Does Creatine Work?

  • Creatine improves ATP regeneration (which is the bodies source of quick energy production in the muscle. More ATP = more fuel for bursts of high intensity activity).
  • It’s also something that builds up in your system over time when supplementing appropriately.
  • People who take creatine consistently AND resistance train typically gain slightly more strength and muscle than those who don’t.
  • But none of that directly improves endurance.
creatine powder

Direct Improvements

  • Creatine can help with specific bursts within endurance events.
  • For example, a sprint finish, overtaking, or maybe even going up hard hills.
  • It’s not even just theoretical. Research has tested this. 
  • Going super far back, there was even a study in 1998 where they had people basically do a pre-exhaustion of 30 min of hard endurance work, followed by 10 sets of 15 second sprints. Sprinting power output was 18% higher.

Indirect Improvements – Resistance Training for Performance

  • Most endurance athletes will do resistance training.
  • This can help in so many ways.
  • For runners it could improve running economy, power output and force production in general. 
  • Creatine could help achieve these adaptations.
  • From another angle, strength training can cause fatigue.
  • This is part of why endurance athletes typically do it only 2-3x per week rather than more, even if they have the time. 
  • But Creatine supplementation could potentially allow somebody to get the same adaptations with slightly less volume/fatigue which means more energy to spend on building endurance capacity.

Indirect Improvements – Resistance Training for Rehab

  • When looking at research where creatine is added in as part of a rehab protocol from injury people often see benefits.
  • If we just measured return to sport times, there is often an improvement. But let’s say there are specific goals such as building muscle and strength in key areas, creatine can help.

Race Time Assessment

  • Based on the research we have, it’s unlikely creatine has a meaningful direct impact on race times. So it’s not a top tier supplement for endurance. 
  • But it could help with all the things we have mentioned. 
  • If you are somebody who wanted to take it, there is no downside and there is potential upside (although more minimal than other types of sports).

Summary

While creatine is unlikely to have a direct impact on race times for endurance athletes, it may still offer indirect benefits—particularly for short bursts of high-intensity activity during training or events. Although it’s not a top-priority supplement for endurance performance, there are minimal downsides and potential small gains, making it a reasonable choice for some athletes.

Relevant Blogs / Resources

Relevant Blog Posts:

Relevant Studies: