A 12 Week Creatine Study Tracking Strength and Recovery

A 12 week personal study tracking the effects of creatine supplementation on strength, recovery, and training performance under consistent real world conditions.

Posted Jan 4, 2026 Updated Jan 13, 2026

By Deniz Yilmaz

9 min read

Introduction

On 5 January 2026, I began a 12 week self-study to track the impact of creatine supplementation on strength training performance and recovery.

This post is a living document. It captures the protocol, baseline measurements, and is updated weekly as the study progresses.

I’m not expecting dramatic changes. Over the past year, improvements in diet, consistency, and recovery have already produced significant strength gains at a stable bodyweight of 78kg. This is the strongest I’ve been. The question is whether creatine supports continued progression when the fundamentals are already in place.

What this isn’t
This is not a supplement endorsement. Not a transformation narrative. Not an attempt to optimise every variable. It’s a personal log tracking whether creatine makes a measurable difference under real-world conditions. Life continues—recovery sessions, travel days, Sunday football. When something deviates from routine, I note it. Otherwise, I train, eat, sleep, and document what happens.

The Protocol

Supplement: Creatine Monohydrate from Nutrition Geeks — single ingredient, no additives.

Loading phase

20 grams per day (5g × 4)
Duration: 7 days

Maintenance phase

5 grams per day
Duration: Remaining 11 weeks

Timing is not treated as a variable. Daily intake is prioritised over specific timing relative to training.

Prior Creatine Use

Earlier in the year, I supplemented with approximately 3.5g of creatine per day for around 90 days. During that period, I achieved several lifetime personal records.

I then stopped supplementing. By the start of this study, I had been off creatine for approximately six weeks — enough time for muscle creatine levels to return close to baseline.

This study exists to test whether those earlier gains can be reproduced and documented under structured conditions.

What I’m Tracking

Primary Lifts

Six compound movements, each with a defined rep range:

Lift	Rep Range	Notes
Barbell bench press	4–6
Bent over barbell row	6–8
Standing shoulder press	3–6
Squat	3–5
Deadlift	2–5	Chalk and alternate grip
Weighted pull ups	4–6	Wide grip, full stretch

For each lift, one top working set (the heaviest set within the rep range) is recorded, pushed to or near failure.

Secondary Indicators

Bodyweight movements performed to technical failure, once per week:

Exercise	Standard
Press ups	Nose to floor
Pull ups	Wide grip, full stretch
Dips	Bodyweight

Other Metrics

Metric	Frequency
Bodyweight	Weekly (morning, fasted)
Recovery rating (1–5)	Weekly
Contextual notes	As needed

Week 0 — Baseline

Baseline testing completed across a training week prior to starting creatine. Full context documented in Strength Snapshot — January 2026.

Primary Strength Metrics

Lift	Top Working Set	Notes
Barbell bench press	110kg × 3	Within 4–6 rep range
Bent over barbell row	110kg × 5	Grip limited. Within 6–8 rep range.
Standing shoulder press	70kg × 3	Within 3–6 rep range. Third rep was a grind.
Squat	130kg × 4	Within 3–5 rep range
Deadlift	160kg × 3	Within 2–5 rep range
Weighted pull ups	40kg x 3	Within 4–6 rep range

Secondary Performance Indicators

Exercise	Repetitions	Notes
Press ups	80	Nose to floor
Pull ups	20	Full stretch at bottom
Dips	54	Bodyweight

Bodyweight and Recovery

Metric	Value	Notes
Bodyweight	78kg	Stable for several months
Recovery rating	4/5	Average across baseline week

Baseline Notes

Early sessions affected by underfuelling (2-meal days)
Best performances came after rest day and consecutive 3-meal days
190kg deadlift PB achieved during baseline week (outside tracked rep range)
30 minutes rotator cuff rehab performed before each session

Baseline context
These values represent typical training performance under normal conditions, not maximal effort or peak performance.

Why These Rep Ranges

Rep ranges are lift-specific rather than standardised. Each reflects the movement’s demands:

Lower body (squats, deadlifts) — Lower rep ranges. These lifts impose significant systemic fatigue. Heavier loading with fewer reps reduces fatigue accumulation and technical breakdown.

Upper body pressing (bench, shoulder press) — Moderate rep ranges. These respond well to heavier loading while allowing enough volume for progression signals.

Rows — Higher rep range. Preserves technical consistency and limits lower back fatigue under load.

This approach balances load intensity, fatigue management, and the ability to detect meaningful changes over time.

What Counts as a Tracked Set

For each lift, only one set per week is recorded: the best qualifying set within the defined rep range.

Example
If bench press sets are:
100kg × 6
105kg × 4
110kg × 3
Only 105kg × 4 is recorded — the heaviest set within the 4–6 rep range.

Progression is attempted when performance allows, not enforced on a fixed schedule. Holding performance under fatigue counts as a valid outcome.

Testing Approach

Lifts are recorded when they occur naturally in training—not forced into every week to fill the table.

If a qualifying set happens (heaviest set within rep range), it gets logged. If a lift doesn’t come up that week, the cell stays empty. Empty cells aren’t gaps in the study—they’re just weeks where that lift wasn’t tested.

Dedicated testing weeks at Week 6 (halfway) and Week 12 (end) will hit all six primary lifts and three secondary indicators intentionally, mirroring the baseline week protocol. This gives three clean data points per lift (W0, W6, W12) plus any incidental progressions recorded along the way.

The goal is to track progression under normal training conditions, not to optimise the study at the expense of how I actually train.

Lifestyle Context

These factors reflect my normal routine. Nothing was changed for the study.

Training

5–6 sessions per week
Morning training (typically 7:00–9:00)
60–90 minutes per session
Fasted, with filter coffee beforehand
Organised around movement patterns, not a fixed split

Recovery

~8 hours sleep per night
~10,000 steps daily
Sunday league football (90 mins, high intensity)
Mondays typically rest days

Nutrition

~150g protein per day (~1.9g per kg bodyweight)
Moderate carbohydrates, minimal added sugar
No alcohol
3 meals minimum (learned during baseline week that 2 meals affects performance)

Other Supplements

These are part of my existing routine and unchanged during the study:

Magnesium
Vitamin D
Omega 3
Vitamin B12
Zinc
Lion’s Mane
Turmeric

What I Expect

Creatine is not expected to override fatigue or force personal records.

The potential value lies in:

Improved repeatability of heavy sets
Better tolerance to training stress
Fewer stalled sessions
Supporting recovery between sessions

If creatine does nothing measurable, that’s a valid finding. The goal is to document what actually happens, not to prove a predetermined conclusion.

The real question
Does creatine meaningfully support progressive overload when sleep, nutrition, and consistency are already dialled in?

Weekly Progress

Primary Lifts

Lift	W0	W1	W2
Bench press	110kg × 3	—
Bent over row	110kg × 5	—
Shoulder press	70kg × 3	—
Squat	130kg × 4	—
Deadlift	160kg × 3	—
Weighted pull ups	40kg × 3	—	40kg × 4

Secondary Indicators

Exercise	W0	W1	W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8	W9	W10	W11	W12
Press ups	80
Pull ups	20
Dips	54

Bodyweight & Recovery

Metric	W0	W1	W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8	W9	W10	W11	W12
Bodyweight (kg)	78	79.3	79
Recovery (1-5)	4	3.5

Weekly Notes

Week 1

Creatine phase: Loading (20g/day)

Summary:

6 training sessions completed (chest, back/recovery, legs, back, shoulders, legs)
No strength or endurance improvements yet—still recovering from heavy baseline week where I pushed for PRs
Noticeable pump/fullness from around day 5-6, likely water being pulled into muscle
No difficulty taking 20g across 4 doses, no GI issues from creatine itself
Sleep consistent all week (~7-8 hours, 11pm to 6-7am)
Nutrition on track—3 meals daily
Football Sunday: first match after a month off due to Christmas, felt good, legs tired after in cold conditions
Weighted pull-ups baseline established: 40kg × 3 reps

Bodyweight: 79.3kg at start of week (up from 78kg baseline). Dropped to 79kg by start of Week 2 despite loading—possible factors include Sunday football, sauna, or individual response to creatine.

Recovery: 3.5/5 average

Observations:

Wednesday leg session impacted by doing 3 sets of sprints on speed machine (hit 20mph each set) before training. Heart rate stayed elevated, took about an hour to feel normal again. Energy depleted for the entire session. Second time this has happened—avoid high-intensity cardio before lifting going forward.
Spinach on empty stomach post-training causes discomfort—fine later in day. To be tested further.
Monday rest day followed by sauna (20 mins), swim (10 laps), steam room (10 mins) for recovery before starting Week 2.

Reflection:

Going into Week 1, I wasn’t sure what to expect from loading. Strength and endurance felt no different—if anything, I was weaker due to residual fatigue from baseline week. But the pump and fullness were noticeable by day 5-6. That’s the first sign creatine is doing something, even if performance hasn’t caught up yet.

Interestingly, two days into maintenance (5g/day), that pump feeling has faded. Could be the drop from 20g to 5g, could be coincidence, could be placebo wearing off. Worth watching over the coming weeks to see if it returns or stabilises.