Creatine is a natural source of energy created by the body. It is created to give energy boosts when you need them, like during activities such as weight lifting.

Even though creatine is produced naturally, consuming creatine supplements can be a big boost for your fitness regimen, increasing your workout intensity and providing faster results.

Creatine supplement use is often talked about in terms of loading and maintenance phases. An example of loading and maintenace cycles is:

· Creatine Loading Phase - 1 week

· Creatine Maintenance Phase - 3 weeks

· Off-Creatine Phase - 4 weeks

What Is Creatine Loading?

If you are familiar with creatine and its many benefits, then you might already know all about creatine loading. If that's not the case, never fear -- it's an easy concept to get a handle on. The theory is that consuming larger amounts of creatine supplement for a short period of time will inundate your body and provide more immediate results from the creatine use.

A creatine loading phase is typically from 5 days to a week. While in this phase, a significantly larger amount of creatine is taken, with the dosage divided up and sprinkled throughout the day.

Although creatine loading is not mandatory to get results, studies have shown it in most cases will cut down on the amount of time it takes to start observing the results of the supplement by up to 4 weeks.

What Is Creatine Maintenance?

If you opt to do a loading phase, you should follow it with a creatine maintenance period. This cycle is advised to be between 3 and 6 weeks long, depending on your body’s needs and how it is reacting to the creatine supplements. For some users, longer cycles will be OK, and for others a shorter cycle is preferable.

Once the body has been saturated during a loading phase, taking a smaller amount in a creatine maintenance period can continue the level of saturation.

An example of daily creatine dosages for loading versus maintenance phases, based on weight, is:

· 156-175 lbs.: 13-17 grams (Loading), 5-9 grams (Maintenance)

· 200-225 lbs: 15-19 grams (L), 7-11 grams (M)

These are just example dosages, and will vary based on individual's requirements, as with all other creatine cycles. Also, the creatine dosage for women will be less than for men, because women naturally have higher levels of creatine.

Can I Use Creatine All The Time?

Creatine, much like other supplements, should be cycled with off periods (weeks where you take no supplement), as illustrated in the sample periods earlier in this article. A complete cycle should look like this: Loading, Maintenance, Off.

The timeframe of off phases can vary and should be tailored to what works best for you. For a starting point, though, an off period can be three to four weeks.

It's always important to remember that every single cycle is able to be varied widely and and need to be tailored to your needs. A complete cycle, including loading, maintenance and off phases, might take between 4 to 12 weeks, which includes and will vary based on the combined length of all three cycles.

Remember, listen to what your body is telling you and adjust your phases as best suits you. One person's ideal cycle might be completely different from the next person's.