Creatine supplementation augments the increase in satellite cell and myonuclei number in human skeletal muscle induced by strength training.

What was studied

A double-blind study examined whether creatine or protein altered satellite cells, myonuclei and muscle-fiber growth during 16 weeks of heavy resistance training.

Who / model studied

Thirty-two healthy men aged 19–26 years entered creatine, protein, placebo-training or nontraining-control groups; the trained subgroups contained only 8–9 men.

Studied dose & schedule

Training occurred three days weekly. Daily creatine ranged from 6–24 g, protein was 20 g, and comparators received placebo or no training.

What the study found

Creatine produced larger early satellite-cell increases, more myonuclei per fiber and 14–17% greater mean fiber area across weeks 4, 8 and 16. No side effects were reported.

Limitations & context

Very small groups and repeated biopsy outcomes limit certainty. Fiber area is not whole-body lean mass, and the study does not isolate how much of the response was due to creatine versus training.

Read summary source ↗ · Prepared 10/6/2026 · AI-assisted, source-based summary