Creatine dosing advice online splits into two camps — load first, or skip straight to a daily maintenance dose — and both are actually backed by the same research, once the doses are calculated correctly for body weight.
How much creatine should I take, by the numbers
The ISSN (International Society of Sports Nutrition) guideline is 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight per day during a 5-7 day loading phase, then 0.03 g/kg/day ongoing for maintenance. At 70kg that's 21g/day (split into about four 5.3g doses) during loading, then 2.1g/day after. At 100kg it's 30g/day loading, 3g/day maintenance — noticeably more than the flat "5g/day" figure often quoted, which is really just an average for a mid-sized adult.
Should I skip the creatine loading phase?
Skipping loading and starting directly at the maintenance dose reaches full muscle creatine saturation just as effectively as loading does — the difference is entirely about timing, not results. Loading gets muscles saturated in about 5-7 days; going straight to maintenance dose takes about 3-4 weeks to reach the same saturation point. Neither is "wrong" — it's a question of how soon you want the effects to kick in.
Creatine dosage by weight, not a flat number
Because both phases scale with body weight, a single flat recommendation (like "take 5g/day") under-doses a heavier person and over-doses a lighter one relative to the ISSN's evidence-based ratio. Calculating from actual body weight avoids both problems.
