Creatine 5 g by Klean Athlete

If your training relies on short, hard efforts, creatine monohydrate is the right tool. Sprinters, lifters, team‑sport athletes, and adults returning to strength work see the clearest gains. Vegans and vegetarians, who tend to start with lower muscle creatine stores, often respond more. Expect better peak power and strength in 2–4 weeks with consistent training, and modest lean mass increases over 4–12 weeks. If you already eat a lot of red meat and fish, the effect is still real, just smaller.

Creatine is stored in muscle as phosphocreatine, which rapidly recycles ATP (the cell’s immediate energy currency) during heavy lifts and sprints. With fuller stores, each effort drops off less, so you get more quality reps and better training stimulus. Over time that translates into strength and size. Creatine also draws water into muscle, which supports protein synthesis, and it may slightly lower markers of muscle breakdown like CK (creatine kinase, an enzyme released with strain) in trained users.

This scoop provides 5 g of creatine monohydrate, the clinically standard daily dose. Take it with a carbohydrate‑containing drink or a meal; insulin from carbs helps uptake. Timing is flexible: 30 minutes before training or soon after with protein works similarly. Loading (about 20 g/day split for 5–7 days, then 3–5 g/day) fills stores faster, but daily 5 g reaches the same place in 3–4 weeks. On rest days, take it with any meal. Klean Athlete is NSF Certified for Sport.

If you have known kidney disease, skip creatine unless your nephrologist clears it. Serum creatinine (the lab used to estimate eGFR, your filtration rate) can rise a little from creatine itself without harming kidneys; cystatin C (an alternate kidney marker) helps clarify this. Stay well hydrated. High caffeine right before sprints may blunt creatine’s edge for some athletes; separate if you notice this. Diuretics and frequent high‑dose NSAIDs can increase dehydration risk during hard training.

Creatine monohydrate is the best‑studied form; boutique versions (HCl, buffered) haven’t shown better outcomes in head‑to‑heads. Weight gain is usually 1–3 pounds of water in muscle in the first weeks, which helps performance. Hair loss concerns stem from a small study showing a rise in DHT (a testosterone byproduct) without measured hair changes; real‑world hair loss data are lacking. If your hs‑CRP (an inflammation marker) is slightly high from training, creatine doesn’t reliably change it.