Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Review
The most-studied supplement in sports nutrition, from a brand that doesn't need to lie about it.
✓ Pros
- Creatine monohydrate is the most-researched performance supplement in existence
- Single-ingredient label: no proprietary blends, no fairy dust
- Micronized powder mixes better than bargain-bin creatine
- Around $0.25 per serving - evidence has never been cheaper
✗ Cons
- Unflavored means gritty-neutral - most stir it into juice or a shake
- Some water-weight gain in early weeks is normal and bothers some users
- Benefits are real but modest - it assists training, it doesn't replace it
What the evidence says
Creatine monohydrate is the closest thing sports nutrition has to a settled question: decades of peer-reviewed research consistently associate 3-5g daily with modest improvements in strength, power output, and training volume for people doing resistance exercise, with a well-characterized safety profile in healthy adults. No loading phase drama required - a small daily dose saturates muscles within weeks. This is what a well-supported supplement looks like; calibrate expectations for everything else accordingly.
Living with it
The routine is aggressively boring: one rounded teaspoon in whatever you're already drinking, daily, forever. ON's micronized grind dissolves better than cheap versions - a genuine quality-of-life difference if you've fought the sandy bottom of a bargain tub. Expect nothing for two weeks, then noticing an extra rep or two on late sets. Drink normal amounts of water, and know the scale may tick up slightly from intramuscular water - that's the mechanism working, not fat.
Should you buy it?
If you train with weights and buy exactly one performance supplement, the research says it should be this one - and ON's version balances quality and cost well. Endurance-only athletes see smaller benefits. As with any supplement: check with your doctor first, especially with kidney conditions or medications in the picture - general research is not personal medical clearance.
Best for
Anyone doing resistance training who wants the one performance supplement with genuinely deep evidence.
Buying through the link below costs you nothing extra and helps fund our independent testing.
Community discussion
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