If you are under 18, you should consult your doctor and parents before taking creatine.
Creatine is found in almost all meats including fish, beef, pork and chicken. It is one of the most well studied supplements in the world with very few if any side effects.
Key Point: Because creatine is a naturally occurring ingredient, we believe that it is fine for teens to supplement with additional creatine.
How Much Creatine Should Teens Supplement With?
If you make the decision to supplement with creatine, the amount you should supplement with depends on your body weight.
In general, we recommend 1g of creatine per day per 20lbs of body weight. So if you weigh 100lbs, then 5g per day. If you weigh 150lbs, 7.5g. And if you weigh 200lbs, then 10g per day.
The Benefits of Creatine Supplementation for Teens
Creatine is one of the most powerful natural supplements in existence. Not only does it help improve strength and power, but there are also studies showing it has benefits for your brain. Here is a list of the six most well studied benefits of creatine:
- Better high intensity performance (HIIT workouts, athletic bursts, etc)
- Strength gains from resistance training
- Muscle gain from hypertrophy
- Neuroprotection and cognitive performance
- More ATP for more cellular energy
- Short term memory improvement
How Teens Can Get Creatine Through Foods
If you’re hesitant to supplement with creatine, you can get it through foods. Here is a list of twelve common foods with high creatine content:
- Hotdogs
- Hamburger (Beef)
- Chicken nuggets
- Scrambled eggs
- Tuna
- Bacon
- Milk
- Herring
- Salmon
- Lamb
- Pork chop
- Duck
Unfortunately, there are not many vegan or vegetarian options for creatine.
How Teen Athletes Benefit from Creatine
The bottom line is that an athlete supplementing with creatine will perform better than an athlete not supplementing with creatine. Why? Because you’ll get in more reps, gain more muscle, and increase your total strength faster.
Who benefits the most? Teen athletes that require short bursts of high intensity exertion/explosion like football players. Other sports where teen athletes can benefit include soccer, basketball, hockey, tennis, track, lacrosse, cross country, mountain biking, and more.
Summary
We believe that teens will benefit both physically and mentally from supplementing with creatine. This is especially true for teen athletes. However, you should consult your doctor before starting any supplement routine.
