Creatine NZ

There is no single best tub. Every creatine supplement in this collection lists 5 g of creatine per serve, so choose on price per serve, format and testing. Picks by need, with prices per serve checked in September 2026:

• Plain powder: ProSupps Creatine, $0.60 a serve.
• Bulk tub: Nexus Creatine Monohydrate 500 g, 100 serves, $0.63 a serve.
• Flavoured: Ronnie Coleman Creatine Adventure, $1.00 a serve, rated 4.87 from 885 reviews.
• No shaker: Swoleys Sour Creatine Gummy Bears, $1.65 a serve.
• Drug tested: Athletech Purest Creatine Monohydrate, $0.72 a serve, part of our tested for sport collection. Match the batch number on your tub to the testing programme's listing before you compete.

Our best creatine NZ guide puts every tub side by side.

Right here: we stock 31 creatine supplements, and orders of $70 or more ship free nationwide. Under $70, the courier rate is shown at checkout before you pay. Orders placed before 1pm on a business day are usually dispatched the same day from our Palmerston North warehouse, with a tracking link emailed as your order leaves. Rural addresses need another one to two business days. Adding a protein powder is one way to reach free shipping.

Creatine helps your muscles do more work in repeated short, hard efforts, such as an extra rep or two on a heavy set. It tops up phosphocreatine, the fuel for lifting and sprints, and monohydrate has the most extensive evidence for supporting repeated high-intensity exercise and training adaptations. It is not a stimulant, so it will not kick in like a pre workout. It builds up in muscle instead, so expect about a week if you load and about four weeks at 3 to 5 g a day. In a 1996 study of 31 men, muscle creatine rose about 20% after six days at 20 g a day, and by a similar amount over 28 days at 3 g a day. Judge it on your logbook over a month, not on feel.

Creatine monohydrate, because it is the form nearly all creatine research has used. Micronised creatine is the same monohydrate milled finer so it mixes with less grit, and Creapure is a branded source of monohydrate, not a new form. Creatine HCl dissolves more easily in water, but it has not shown better results than monohydrate, and we do not stock it. Creatine types explained covers powder, gummies, flavoured blends and testing.

Most people take 3 to 5 g of creatine a day, and loading is optional. Once muscle stores are full, more adds nothing. A load is about 20 g a day in four 5 g doses for 5 to 7 days, which fills stores in about a week instead of about four weeks at 5 g a day. A 7 day load uses 105 g of extra powder, three weeks of normal serves, so it pays only if you have a date to be ready for. If you load, use a 100-serve tub such as the 500 g Nexus creatine monohydrate, because a load uses 28 of the 30 serves in the 150 g size. Our creatine loading phase guide shows the maths.

Take creatine every day at a time you will remember, rest days included. Timing matters far less than taking it daily, so tie it to breakfast or a post-training shake. On rest days you are keeping muscle stores topped up, not fuelling a session. If you miss a day, carry on with your usual serve rather than doubling up. If you stop, muscle creatine drifts back to where it started over about four to six weeks, with no need to taper.

On the label, yes: three Swoleys Sour Creatine Gummy Bears list 5 g of creatine monohydrate, the same labelled dose as a scoop of creatine powder. The difference is cost. In September 2026, creatine gummies work out at $1.65 a serve, against $0.60 a serve for ProSupps Creatine powder. Gummies earn the extra only if skipping the shaker is what keeps you taking creatine every day. Our creatine gummies vs powder comparison shows how to check a gummy label.

Flavoured creatine is worth it if you drink creatine on its own and would otherwise skip it, because the flavour does not change the creatine. A flavoured scoop weighs more for the same 5 g: MusclePharm Creatine-Hydrate lists a 7.6 g scoop, and it also lists potassium, sodium and magnesium. Flavoured tubs usually cost more per serve than plain ones, so compare price per serve in the grid.

For healthy adults at 3 to 5 g a day, research has not linked creatine monohydrate to kidney damage or hair loss. Most of the bloat people notice is water held in the muscle, not body fat, and large single doses can upset some stomachs, so split a loading dose across the day. On hair loss, the first randomised trial to measure hair follicles directly found no difference after 12 weeks of 5 g a day, though it was one short study in healthy young men. On kidneys, a 2025 systematic review found a small rise in creatinine on blood tests, but no significant change in kidney filtration. Our creatine self-check links the full kidney, hair loss and water guides.

Women can take the usual daily serve, and creatine will not make you bulky on its own: any early change on the scales is water in muscle, not fat. Products marketed for women do not contain a different creatine, so compare grams per serve before paying for the branding. Teenagers are different: if you are under 18, talk to your doctor first. The same applies if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, on medication or have a kidney condition. Our guide to creatine for women covers dose, timing and bloating.