Creatine is one of the most popular supplements in fitness, used to boost muscle mass and aid in exercise metabolism.
Should a boxer take it to improve performance and energy? Keep reading to find out!
Do Boxers Take Creatine?
Generally no, boxers don’t take creatine because:
- Creatine Is Better For Short, Explosive Movements
- Creatine Will Increase Your Water Weight
- There’s Lots Of Misinformation About Creatine
Creatine monohydrate is an amino acid that increases short-term production of ATP, which is your body’s main energy source.
It can also increase lean muscle mass, as well as aid muscle growth and treat muscle soreness.
While there are little to no downsides to taking creatine, many boxers don’t see it as essential to their success.
Furthermore, competing boxers want to avoid creatine’s effect on their water weight, since making weight is an important task.
Creatine Is Better For Short, Explosive Movements
First, boxers don’t take creatine because it’s better for short, explosive movements.
Creatine supplementation supplies the amino acids necessary for a quick burst of anaerobic power output.
This is why creatine is popular with weightlifting. Many compound lifts, like a bench press or squat, require a short-period intense movement and could use that extra push from creatine.
On the other hand, even though boxing requires some explosive movements, most of the time it requires long-period endurance and marathon-type conditioning.
Creatine Will Increase Your Water Weight
Next, boxers don’t take creatine because it increases water weight.
This is the biggest reason why boxers are skeptical when it comes to taking creatine.
Creatine is naturally located in your muscles. As you take creatine, it draws water into your muscles via osmosis, away from circulation and other bodily functions.
As a result, you’ll feel thirsty and will drink extra water to compensate, which will likely increase your body weight.
Most fighters have a training routine and fight strategy that are specific to their weight class, so this isn’t the best supplement to take if you’re trying to make weight for a fight.
If you’re trying to cut weight and move down a weight class, you definitely shouldn’t take creatine.
The compounded dehydration of weight cutting and creatine supplementation can potentially be dangerous to your health.
There’s Lots Of Misinformation About Creatine
Lastly, boxers generally don’t take creatine because there’s lots of misinformation about it.
Athletes of all sports tend to hear about creatine by word-of-mouth.
Without doing any research, their view of creatine is shaped by the experience of the person telling them about it.
If you hear about it from a weightlifter, you’ll most likely only hear good things about it. From a boxer, not so much.
Regardless of what you hear, we recommend that you take the time to research it and come to your own conclusion.
How Much Creatine Should You Take For Boxing?
If you do decide to take creatine for boxing, take the standard dose of 5 grams or 1 scoop per day.
Research shows that taking 5 grams of creatine a day has the same physiological effect as taking 20 grams.
Take too much creatine at once or load a large amount over a short period of time, and you’ll dehydrate rapidly.
Along with a balanced diet for boxing, drink more water than usual to balance out your creatine intake.
When Should You Take Creatine For Boxing?
If you decide to take creatine for boxing, take it before your workout to enhance your performance.
You’ll have more energy for high-intensity actions like sprints or combinations.
It shouldn’t have a big effect on your overall boxing performance, as this depends more on your skill than any supplement you take.
You can also take creatine post-workout to aid your boxing recovery. Keep in mind this will require you to drink more water than usual.
If you plan on competing soon, you shouldn’t be taking creatine. As you approach your fight day, taper off your creatine use weeks before the event.
Since creatine intake encourages water retention and water weight gain, it’ll be harder for you to stay in the same weight class.
Conclusion
In combat sports, taking creatine can be beneficial if done correctly and in moderation.
Any athlete who does high-intensity exercise or resistance training and wants to level up their performance should take boxing supplements like creatine or whey protein powder.
It won’t make a significant difference to your boxing performance though, as this is more dependent on your skill than any supplement you can take.
Recently, there are some preliminary studies suggesting that creatine reduces the risk of brain injury and concussion since it increases the amount of water that makes up the blood-brain barrier.
If so, creatine supplementation might be the next big thing in boxing and combat sports.
If you’re having trouble deciding what boxing equipment to get, check out these articles:
- Best Boxing Jump Ropes
- Best Boxing Gloves
- Best Boxing Hand Wraps
- Best Boxing Head Gear
- Best Boxing Shoes
- Best Boxing Groin Protectors
Sources
- Branch JD. Effect of creatine supplementation on body composition and performance: a meta-analysis. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2003 Jun;13(2):198-226. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.13.2.198. PMID: 12945830.
- Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Nutrition, Trauma, and the Brain; Erdman J, Oria M, Pillsbury L, editors. Nutrition and Traumatic Brain Injury: Improving Acute and Subacute Health Outcomes in Military Personnel. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011. 10, Creatine.