Why I Carry It: Creatine — Strength, Performance & Health Beyond the Gym

Why I Carry It: Creatine — More Than a Muscle-Building Supplement

When I decide what products to carry through MV Health & Wellness, I don’t want to fill a shelf just for the sake of having more products to sell.

I want products that have a purpose.

My goal with the “Why I Carry It” series is to explain exactly that: why I chose a particular product, what the research says about it, who may benefit from it, and why I believe it deserves a place in my lineup.

Creatine was an easy choice.

One of the Most Researched Supplements in Sports Nutrition

Few supplements have accumulated the amount of research that creatine has.

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound made from amino acids and stored primarily in skeletal muscle as phosphocreatine. Its primary role is helping regenerate ATP (adenosine triphosphate)—the immediate energy source your cells use to perform work.

During short, intense efforts like lifting, sprinting, climbing a hill on the bike, or pushing through a hard interval, ATP is used rapidly. Increasing muscle creatine stores can help the body regenerate ATP more quickly.

That’s where the performance benefits begin.

Strength, Power & Training Performance

Creatine is probably best known for its ability to support strength and power.

When combined with resistance training, creatine supplementation can help improve performance during repeated high-intensity efforts and support increases in strength and lean body mass over time.

That makes it relevant far beyond bodybuilding.

Whether you’re lifting weights, training for an endurance event, competing in obstacle-course races, or simply trying to maintain strength as you age, resistance training should play an important role—and creatine can complement that training.

For endurance athletes, I don’t view creatine as a replacement for carbohydrates, electrolytes, or proper race fueling. It’s a different tool.

An IRONMAN athlete still needs to fuel the work. Creatine may help support the strength and high-intensity components of training that make you a more complete athlete.

Creatine Isn’t Just About Muscle

This is one of the reasons I think creatine is particularly interesting.

Your muscles aren’t the only tissues that require ATP. Your brain has tremendous energy demands, too.

Research into creatine has expanded beyond athletic performance to include areas such as cognition, memory, mental fatigue, healthy aging, and brain health. The evidence isn’t equally strong for every proposed benefit, and I don’t believe in turning a promising supplement into a miracle product.

But that’s exactly why creatine stands out.

Its usefulness isn’t based on a trendy ingredient appearing on social media for six months. There’s a substantial body of scientific research behind creatine, with continued research investigating additional applications.

Supporting Muscle as We Age

There’s another reason I carry creatine that matters to me: long-term health.

Building muscle is great.

Keeping it is arguably even more important.

Maintaining muscle mass and strength becomes increasingly important as we get older. Resistance training, adequate protein, good nutrition, recovery, and an active lifestyle remain the foundation.

Creatine can be another tool in that foundation.

That’s much closer to what MV Health & Wellness is about than simply chasing a better-looking physique.

I want health and fitness that lasts a lifetime.

Why Thorne Creatine?

There are plenty of inexpensive creatine products on the market.

So why do I carry Thorne⁠?

Because when I choose products for MV Health & Wellness, price isn’t my only consideration. I look at things like ingredient quality, manufacturing standards, testing, transparency, and the reputation of the company behind the product.

That’s especially important in the supplement industry.

The goal isn’t to find the supplement with the wildest marketing claims. It’s to find products I feel comfortable using myself and recommending to clients when appropriate.

Creatine monohydrate is also refreshingly simple. We don’t need to reinvent an ingredient that already has decades of research behind it.

How Much Creatine Do You Need?

For most people using creatine monohydrate, 3–5 grams per day is a common evidence-based maintenance range.

You may have heard about “loading,” where larger amounts are taken for several days before switching to a maintenance dose. Loading can saturate muscle creatine stores faster, but it isn’t necessary to receive the long-term benefits.

Take a normal daily dose consistently and muscle stores will increase over time.

Morning or evening? Before or after your workout?

Those details matter far less than consistency.

If taking creatine with your morning routine means you’ll remember it every day, that’s a perfectly reasonable approach.

What About Water Weight?

This deserves mentioning because it’s sometimes presented as a negative.

Creatine increases water retention primarily within muscle cells. As creatine stores increase, water is drawn into the muscle.

That can cause the scale to increase, particularly when someone first starts taking it. That doesn’t mean you’ve suddenly gained body fat.

For athletes competing in sports where body weight matters—including endurance events—it’s something worth considering when deciding how and when to incorporate creatine into a training plan.

Supplements Should Supplement the Foundation

This might be the most important part of the entire article.

Creatine can’t replace:

Quality nutrition. Consistent training. Adequate protein. Hydration. Recovery. Sleep.

No supplement can.

That’s why I don’t want MV Health & Wellness to become a business that simply tells people to take another powder or pill.

Supplements should supplement an already strong foundation.

Creatine happens to be one of the supplements with enough evidence behind it that I believe it can genuinely earn its place in that foundation for many people.

Why I Carry It

I carry creatine because it checks the boxes I look for:

• Decades of research and a strong evidence base

• Support for strength, power, and training performance

• Potential benefits extending beyond muscle into cognitive health

• Relevance for athletes and people focused on healthy aging

• Simple, practical daily supplementation

• A product that fits my philosophy of building sustainable, lifelong health and performance

There’s a lot of noise in the supplement industry.

My job isn’t to carry everything.

It’s to help separate products backed by evidence from products backed primarily by marketing.

That’s why creatine has a place at MV Health & Wellness.

Health • Fitness • Vitality

As with any supplement, individual needs vary. If you have a medical condition, take medications, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have concerns about whether creatine is appropriate for you, discuss supplementation with a qualified healthcare professional.