Caffeine and Creatine Together for Strength and Sprint Performance
What it found
Caffeine may reduce the performance boost that creatine gives for short, intense exercise.
This comes from studies in people, though the research is limited.
What they found
Studies in people
Creatine for strength
Hundreds of studies show creatine consistently improves strength and power for short bursts of exercise lasting 30 seconds or less at high intensity.
Caffeine for endurance
Caffeine improves endurance exercise performance, but results are mixed for strength and sprint performance.
Coffee vs caffeine
Studies comparing coffee and caffeine powder give conflicting evidence about their performance effects.
Caffeine may blunt creatine
Limited research suggests that taking caffeine may reduce the performance benefit of creatine. This is not thought to be due to how the body processes them.
Other findings
Possible reasons
Authors have suggested the effect might come from opposite actions on muscle relaxation time, or from stomach and gut side effects when both are taken at once.
What the authors conclude
“Although scarce, research has suggested that caffeine ingestion may blunt the ergogenic effect of creatine.”
Also in their conclusions
- They aim to evaluate the ergogenic potential of creatine and caffeine in the context of high-intensity exercise.
- They discuss research directly comparing coffee and caffeine anhydrous, along with previous studies evaluating the concurrent supplementation of creatine and caffeine.
How it was done
Creatine and caffeine are among the most commonly used supplements by athletes, and some products combine them. The authors wanted to check whether taking them together still gives the expected benefits.
The authors reviewed existing studies on creatine and caffeine for high-intensity exercise. They looked at research comparing coffee with caffeine powder, and studies where the two supplements were taken together.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- The research on taking creatine and caffeine together is scarce, so the findings may not be reliable.
- Most studies are in athletes, so results may not apply to other people.
The paper
- Title
- Creatine and Caffeine: Considerations for Concurrent Supplementation
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Trexler ET, Smith-Ryan AE (2015). Creatine and Caffeine: Considerations for Concurrent Supplementation. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2014-0193PubMed 26219105DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error