Should you take creatine on rest days?
Yes, the DO IT team's answer is to take your normal 3-5 g of creatine monohydrate on rest days too, because creatine works by keeping your muscle stores topped up, not by boosting the day you take it. Skip rest days and those stores drift down.
Timing on a rest day barely matters. Take it whenever you will remember it, with water or food.
Why rest days count
Creatine is not a pre-workout. Your muscles store it as creatine and phosphocreatine, which they use to regenerate energy during short, hard efforts. Supplementing raises those stores, and that saturation is what drives the benefit in training.
The classic study on this (Hultman et al., 1996, Journal of Applied Physiology) showed three things:
- Muscle creatine rose about 20% after 6 days at 20 g/day.
- That level held when people kept taking a small daily dose (2 g/day) for 30 more days.
- When they stopped, levels drifted back to baseline within about 30 days.
So the stores are maintained by daily intake. A rest day without creatine is a small step back; a habit of skipping weekends adds up.
How much and how often
| Approach | Dose | Time to full stores | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily, no loading | 3-5 g/day | About 3-4 weeks | ISSN position stand (Kreider et al., 2017); Hultman et al., 1996 (3 g/day for 28 days) |
| Loading, then maintenance | About 0.3 g/kg/day (roughly 20 g/day, split into 4 doses) for 5-7 days, then 3-5 g/day | About 1 week | ISSN position stand (Kreider et al., 2017) |
| Rest days | Same daily dose as training days | n/a | Same mechanism: keep stores full |
Daily, no loading
- Dose
- 3-5 g/day
- Time to full stores
- About 3-4 weeks
- Source
- ISSN position stand (Kreider et al., 2017); Hultman et al., 1996 (3 g/day for 28 days)
Loading, then maintenance
- Dose
- About 0.3 g/kg/day (roughly 20 g/day, split into 4 doses) for 5-7 days, then 3-5 g/day
- Time to full stores
- About 1 week
- Source
- ISSN position stand (Kreider et al., 2017)
Rest days
- Dose
- Same daily dose as training days
- Time to full stores
- n/a
- Source
- Same mechanism: keep stores full
Loading is optional. It gets you to full stores faster, and some people get stomach upset from the larger doses. The slow route ends in the same place.
Does timing matter?
Not much, and on a rest day not at all. One small study (Antonio and Ciccone, 2013, JISSN) found slightly better results when creatine was taken right after training rather than before, but the difference was modest and the ISSN's review of common questions (Antonio et al., 2021) treats consistency as the thing that matters. On training days, after your session is a fine default. On rest days, pick a moment you never skip: the first glass of water in the morning, or with a meal.
What if you miss a day?
Nothing dramatic. Stores fall slowly, over weeks, not hours. Take your normal dose the next day. Don't double up to compensate; there is no benefit to a catch-up dose.
Will taking it every day cause problems?
For healthy adults, the ISSN position stand (Kreider et al., 2017) concludes that creatine monohydrate at recommended doses is safe for short- and long-term use. The ISSN's 2021 review addresses the common myths directly: creatine is not a steroid, and the evidence does not support claims that it causes dehydration or cramping. Some people gain 1-2 kg early on, mostly water held inside muscle.
If you have kidney disease, are pregnant or nursing, take medication, or have a medical condition, check with your doctor first. This page is general information, not medical advice.
Making it a daily habit
The hard part of creatine is not the science. It's remembering it on days you don't train. A few things that help:
- Tie it to something you already do every day (morning water, coffee, breakfast).
- Keep the tub where you'll see it, not in the gym bag.
- Use one product instead of several, so there's one thing to remember and one thing to reorder.
That third point is why we made DO IT Creatine Hydration: one 10 g scoop with 5 g creatine monohydrate plus 1,000 mg sodium, 200 mg potassium and 60 mg magnesium, no caffeine. Plain creatine monohydrate from any reputable brand works just as well for the creatine part; the mechanism is the same. If you also want electrolytes, read creatine and electrolytes in one drink: is it worth it?.
Training for Hyrox? Our free Hyrox split calculator builds a run and station pace card from your target time.
FAQ
Should I take creatine on rest days?
Yes. Take the same 3-5 g you take on training days. Creatine works by keeping muscle stores saturated, and daily intake maintains them.
What time should I take creatine on a rest day?
Any time. Timing has little effect; consistency matters. Pick a daily cue you never miss.
Do I need to load creatine?
No. 3-5 g a day reaches the same muscle levels in about 3-4 weeks. Loading (about 20 g/day for 5-7 days) gets there in about a week.
What happens if I stop taking creatine?
Muscle creatine returns to baseline over about a month (Hultman et al., 1996).
Should I cycle creatine?
There's no evidence you need to. The ISSN position stand supports continuous daily use in healthy adults.
Can I take creatine with electrolytes or in a hydration drink?
Yes. Creatine dissolves in water or any drink. Combining them is a convenience choice, not a performance requirement.
Sources
- Kreider RB, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z
- Antonio J, et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2021;18:13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-021-00412-w
- Hultman E, et al. Muscle creatine loading in men. J Appl Physiol. 1996;81(1):232-237. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1996.81.1.232
- Antonio J, Ciccone V. The effects of pre versus post workout supplementation of creatine monohydrate on body composition and strength. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2013;10:36. https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-10-36
Disclosure: DO IT is a free workout app. We also sell a creatine and electrolyte powder. You don't need it to follow anything on this page.