Quick answer: After a loading phase, drop to 3–5 g of creatine monohydrate per day, every day, including rest days. The weight-based version is about 0.03 g per kg (2 g for a 60 kg woman, 3 g at 90 kg), which is why 3 g is a safe floor and 5 g covers essentially everyone. The maintenance dose keeps your muscles saturated indefinitely; there is no need to cycle off or reload unless you've stopped for several weeks.
Maintenance calculator → your grams per day + what happens if you miss 1, 3 or 7 days
| Body weight | Minimum maintenance (0.03 g/kg) | Practical daily dose |
|---|---|---|
| 50 kg / 110 lb | 1.5 g | 3 g |
| 60 kg / 132 lb | 1.8 g | 3 g |
| 70 kg / 154 lb | 2.1 g | 3–5 g |
| 80 kg / 176 lb | 2.4 g | 5 g |
| 90 kg / 198 lb | 2.7 g | 5 g |
| 100 kg+ / 220 lb+ | 3 g | 5 g |
Why the maintenance dose is the one that matters
Loading fills the tank; maintenance keeps it full. Muscle creatine turns over at roughly 1–2% per day, and that's what the daily dose replaces. The original research showed 2 g a day held stores after loading; later work settled on 3–5 g as the practical range because it covers larger bodies, vegetarians (who start lower), and days when absorption isn't perfect. If you take nothing, stores fall back to baseline over about 4–6 weeks, along with the extra water in muscle.
What if you never loaded?
Same dose. 3–5 g a day from day one reaches full saturation in about 3–4 weeks and then maintains it. The word "maintenance" is a loading-era term; for most people it's simply the dose. See Do you need to load?.
Is more than 5 g better?
No, for muscle. Once saturated, extra creatine is excreted within hours. The only reasons to use higher daily doses are specific: very large or very muscular people (up to ~0.1 g/kg), and research protocols looking at brain effects, which sometimes use 5–10 g. For the ordinary goal of strength and training quality, 5 g is the ceiling of usefulness. "How much is too much" in practice means "enough per dose to upset your stomach": keep single doses at 5 g or under. See Loading side effects.
Rest days, missed days, and vacations
- Rest days: take it. Saturation doesn't know your training schedule.
- Missed a day or two: nothing changes. Resume the normal dose; don't double up.
- Missed a week: stores are slightly down; resume 3–5 g daily and you're back within days. No reload needed.
- Stopped for a month or more: you're near baseline. Either load again (0.3 g/kg for 5–7 days) or simply restart 3–5 g and wait 3–4 weeks. Same result.
When to take the maintenance dose
Any time, with a meal. Consistency beats timing by a wide margin. If you want the small edge the data suggests, pairing creatine with a post-training meal on training days is reasonable; on rest days, breakfast is fine. Details: Creatine before or after workout.
Do you need to cycle off?
No. There's no evidence that continuous creatine use reduces its effect or that your body "stops making" creatine permanently; natural production resumes when you stop. Long-term daily use at 3–5 g has been studied for years in healthy adults without safety signals. Cycling only guarantees weeks at lower saturation.
Maintenance dose for women
The same 3–5 g, usually 3 g for women under about 65 kg. Because women often start with lower stores, the maintenance dose does proportionally more. Everything else: Creatine for women.
FAQ
How much creatine should I take after the loading phase?
3–5 g a day. About 0.03 g per kg if you want precision; 5 g covers everyone.
Is 2 g of creatine a day enough?
It's the floor shown in early research for smaller adults. 3 g is a safer everyday minimum; 5 g if you're heavier or vegetarian.
Can I take 5 g every day forever?
For healthy adults, yes; that's how it's meant to be used. Tell your clinician you supplement before blood tests, since creatine raises creatinine readings.
Do I need to reload after a break?
Only if the break was a month or more, and even then it's optional; 3–5 g daily gets you back in 3–4 weeks.
Should I take more on training days?
No. The daily dose is the same; the muscle doesn't care which day it is.
How much creatine is too much?
Anything over ~5 g/day after saturation is wasted; single doses over 5–10 g are what cause stomach upset. There's no toxicity at these levels in healthy adults.
Sources
- Hultman E et al. Muscle creatine loading in men. J Appl Physiol. 1996.
- Kreider RB et al. ISSN position stand on creatine supplementation. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017.
- Antonio J et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2021.
Creatine Dosage team. Educational content, not medical advice.