Antonio & Ciccone 2013: Pre- vs Post-Workout Creatine Timing

Study Overview

Citation: Antonio J, Ciccone V. (2013). The effects of pre versus post workout supplementation of creatine monohydrate on body composition and strength. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 10, 36.

This was a 4-week, double-blind, randomized trial testing whether the timing of creatine intake — before versus after training — affects body composition and strength in recreational bodybuilders (Antonio & Ciccone, 2013) .

Study Design and Methods

• Participants: 19 healthy recreational male bodybuilders (mean age ~23 years).
• Protocol: a periodized, split-routine bodybuilding programme 5 days/week for 4 weeks.
• Groups (double-blind, randomized): 5 g of creatine monohydrate immediately before exercise (PRE) versus immediately after exercise (POST); both groups took 5 g on non-training days.
• Outcomes: body composition by air-displacement plethysmography (Bod Pod) and 1-repetition-maximum (1-RM) bench press.

Key Findings

Post-workout intake trended better for body composition

There was a significant improvement over time in fat-free mass and bench press for both groups. Using magnitude-based inference, taking creatine post-workout appeared possibly more beneficial than pre-workout for fat-free mass, fat mass, and bench press strength.

The mean changes were: fat-free mass +0.9 kg (pre) versus +2.0 kg (post); fat mass −0.1 kg (pre) versus −1.2 kg (post).

Strength increased in both groups

Bench press 1-RM rose by about 6.6 kg (pre) and 7.6 kg (post), confirming that creatine plus resistance training increases strength regardless of timing.

The differences were small

The between-group interactions did not reach statistical significance; the post-workout advantage came from magnitude-based inference in a small sample. The practical takeaway is modest.

What This Study Does — and Does Not — Show

This is a timing and body-composition study, not a long-term safety study. It ran for 4 weeks in 19 young men. For creatine’s long-term safety, see the 21-month monitoring of athletes by Kreider et al. (2003), the up-to-5-year renal data of Poortmans & Francaux (1999), and the ISSN Position Stand (Kreider et al., 2017) .

Practical Implications

1. Consistency first — take creatine every day; that matters most.
2. Slight edge to post-workout — if you want to optimise, taking creatine after training (with carbohydrate and protein) is a reasonable choice.
3. Either timing works — both groups gained fat-free mass and strength.

Limitations

• Small sample (n=19), short duration (4 weeks), young male bodybuilders only.
• The post-workout advantage relied on magnitude-based inference, not statistically significant group interactions.

Malaysian Relevance

For Malaysian lifters, the easiest way to apply this is to take creatine with a post-training meal — rice or another carbohydrate source common in the Malaysian diet supports uptake — while keeping daily intake consistent.

Sources and References

• Antonio J, Ciccone V. (2013). The effects of pre versus post workout supplementation of creatine monohydrate on body composition and strength. JISSN, 10, 36.
• Kreider RB, et al. (2017). ISSN position stand. JISSN, 14, 18.

Further Reading

• Creatine timing: when to take it
• Creatine before or after a workout
• Creatine dosage guide
• Is creatine safe?
• Creatine research library