One of the most common questions about creatine is whether it’s worth taking during periods when you aren’t exercising regularly.

A new 2026 study gives us an interesting answer.

Researchers examining the effects of creatine supplementation with and without exercise and diet intervention studied 64 sedentary adults aged 45–65 for 12 weeks.

Some exercised.

Some didn’t.

Some took creatine.

Some took placebo.

The No-Exercise Result

Participants taking 10 g of creatine per day without structured exercise gained approximately 1.1 kg of lean tissue.

They also improved selected measures of strength and muscular endurance.

That’s a significant finding because the changes occurred without participation in the study’s structured training program.

Exercise Still Produced Broader Benefits

This isn’t evidence that creatine can replace exercise.

Participants following the exercise and dietary intervention experienced broader improvements in body composition.

And combining creatine with exercise produced particularly interesting results.

The exercise + creatine group gained approximately 1.27 kg of lean tissue, compared with around 0.14 kg in the exercise + placebo group.

There Were Cognitive Findings Too

Researchers also reported encouraging results in selected measures of memory, recall, recognition and reaction time.

However, not every cognitive test improved and the researchers considered these findings exploratory.

More research is needed.

The Important Detail: 10 g Per Day

Participants weren’t taking a typical 3–5 g maintenance dose.

They consumed 10 g per day for 12 weeks.

We therefore shouldn’t assume lower doses would produce identical results.

But the study challenges the idea that creatine only has value when you’re following a structured training program.

Exercise + nutrition + creatine produced the broader results.

But creatine alone produced some surprisingly interesting changes too.