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The Effect of Creatine Supplementation on Markers of Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Human Intervention Trials

Bethany Northeast, Tom Clifford

Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 2021 31(3):276-291

Bibliography

PubMed: PMID 33631721
DOI: 10.1123/ijsnem.2020-0282
Funding: No explicit funding statement was located in the accessible PubMed and institutional-repository records during Biohack Blueprint's 2026-10-02 audit. This is an audit-status statement, not confirmation that the review received no funding.
Competing interests: No explicit competing-interests statement was located in the accessible PubMed and institutional-repository records during Biohack Blueprint's 2026-10-02 audit. This is an audit-status statement, not confirmation that no competing interests existed.

Study snapshot

Design	Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled human intervention trials
Model	Human
Sample	13 studies; 278 participants (235 male, 43 female)
Intervention	Creatine before and/or after muscle-damaging exercise versus a non-creatine comparator
Duration	Varied; recovery outcomes assessed from immediately post-exercise through 96 hours
Endpoints	Muscle strength recovery; Muscle soreness; Range of motion; Inflammation; Creatine kinase; Oxidative stress

What the study showed, in plain terms

Meta-analysis evaluating whether creatine accelerates recovery of function, soreness and muscle-damage markers after damaging exercise.

Key findings

Creatine did not significantly improve muscle strength, soreness, range of motion or inflammation across follow-up times. Creatine kinase was lower at 48 hours, but not consistently at other time points. The authors concluded that creatine did not clearly accelerate recovery after exercise-induced muscle damage.

What this study can and cannot tell us

Only 13 relatively small studies were included; participants were predominantly male and heterogeneity was high for several outcomes. Biochemical damage markers should not be treated as equivalent to clinically meaningful recovery of performance or soreness.

Citation network

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Oct 2, 2026 Creatine for Strength and Performance: Power, Sprints and Endurance EvidenceCreatine performance evidence separated by outcome: strength, repeated high-intensity work, power, sprinting and why endurance results are much weaker.Read analysis

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Last verified 02 October 2026

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