Oh man, the crazy biohackers are at it again, especially one whose name rhymes with Barry Drecka, whose new claim is bat-poo bonkers.

His new claim to fame is that the creatine supplement he recomends beats plain old creatine monohydrate.

Hmmm. I have my doubts as I sit at my computer in the full impress-me-bro stance of some dooodes at the back of the SLAYER pit last week, pretzeled arms.

The version he is touting as superior is creatine-HCl.

Yawwwwwn.

Now, if I am in a generous mood — as I am since Game 2 of the NFL season is on tonight and my Vikings play this Sunday — I’d say creatine HCl may be equivalent to creatine monohydrate.

… But there is zero, nada, zippo human data showing that HCl is superior in any meaningful facet (Londoño-Velásquez et al., 2025; Eghbali et al., 2024; Eghbali et al., 2025).

Data Pleeeeze

First up, the ballers. A triple-blind RCT (athletes, researchers, and the stats nerds all kept in the dark) put 31 elite handball and softball players on 5 g/day of CrM, Cr-HCl, or a maltodextrin placebo for 8 weeks. Both creatine groups jumped higher and packed on fat-free mass.

Between the two creatine forms? Statistically, a big fat nothing.

The one small difference that did show up went the wrong way for Team HCl, since only the monohydrate group bumped its fat-free mass index. The authors didn’t mince words either, calling HCl superiority claims “unfounded and misleading” (Londoño-Velásquez et al., 2025).

Next, 40 young men lifting for 8 weeks, split three ways: Cr-HCl, CrM with a loading phase, and CrM without one. If HCl were the magic molecule, this is where it should have lapped the field. Instead, all three groups crossed the finish line together on strength, skeletal muscle mass, muscle cross-sectional area, and anabolic hormone responses (Eghbali et al., 2024).

Even the no-load monohydrate crew kept pace, so skipping the loading phase didn’t cost them a thing here.

And yes, we have data on female lifters too, for anyone about to hit reply with “but what about women?” Trained women taking either form saw oxidative stress markers drop and antioxidant enzymes climb in lockstep.

HCl brought nothing extra to the party (Dadvand & Arazi, 2025). Fair warning: this one measured oxidative stress, not strength, so it speaks to recovery chemistry more than PRs.

Details, Details

It is true that Cr-HCl is about 38-fold more water-soluble than CrM. That part is legit nerd chemistry, not supplement fairy dust (Gufford et al., 2010; Kreider et al., 2022)…

…but before the great Drecka drags that fact into a full marketing parade, here is the buzzkill: better solubility has not been shown to produce greater muscle creatine retention or better performance/body-composition outcomes in humans.

Cool story Bro as it does look prettier in your shaker cup; however that is not the same thing as working better.

Keep in mind that there is no problem to even solve here Columbo as CrM is nearly 100% bioavailable in humans, and the human head-to-head data still do not show an HCl advantage (Kreider et al., 2022; Londoño-Velásquez et al., 2025).

Read dem studies and weep in your fancy-pants creatine form, Mr. Human Biologist.

Summary

Creatine HCl and creatine monohydrate deliver comparable exercise-performance benefits across strength, power, and body-composition outcomes.

Claims of Cr-HCl superiority are unsupported by the head-to-head hooooman trials. So I don’t care what a study in three-eyed old ferrets, a petri dish, or a marketing deck says.

Creatine monohydrate remains the winner: it has the deepest evidence base, performs at least as well as HCl in direct comparisons, and is much cheaper to boot (Fazio et al., 2022; Kreider et al., 2022; Londoño-Velásquez et al., 2025).

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Much love and creatine monohydrate for the win!

Dr Mike

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References

Dadvand, S. S., & Arazi, H. (2025). Effects of resistance training combined with creatine hydrochloride or creatine monohydrate supplementation on oxidative stress-antioxidant markers in trained women: A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. Comparative Exercise Physiology, 21(3), 157–170.

Eghbali, E., Arazi, H., & Suzuki, K. (2024). Supplementing with which form of creatine (hydrochloride or monohydrate) alongside resistance training can have more impacts on anabolic/catabolic hormones, strength and body composition? Physiological Research, 73(5), 739–753.

Eghbali, E., Riahy, S., & Arazi, H. (2025). Creatine hydrochloride or creatine monohydrate plus resistance training: Which combination has a greater effect on oxidative stress, muscle damage, performance, and body composition in soldiers? Sport Sciences for Health, 21(1), 225–238.

Fazio, C., Elder, C. L., & Harris, M. M. (2022). Efficacy of alternative forms of creatine supplementation on improving performance and body composition in healthy subjects: A systematic review. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 36(9), 2663–2670.

Gufford, B. T., Sriraghavan, K., Miller, N. J., Miller, D. W., Gu, X., Vennerstrom, J. L., & Robinson, D. H. (2010). Physicochemical characterization of creatine N-methylguanidinium salts. Journal of Dietary Supplements, 7(3), 240–252.

Kreider, R. B., Jäger, R., & Purpura, M. (2022). Bioavailability, efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of creatine and related compounds: A critical review. Nutrients, 14(5), 1035.

Londoño-Velásquez, D., Zuluaga-Narváez, Y., Rojas-Posada, L., Kammerer-López, M., Cardona-Arenas, Ó. M., Quiroz-Bastidas, O. L., Quintero-Velásquez, M. A., Rojas-Jaramillo, A., Kreider, R. B., & Bonilla, D. A. (2025). Creatine monohydrate versus creatine hydrochloride on strength and body composition in elite team-sport athletes: A placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial comparing low dosages. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 22(Suppl. 1), 2533658.

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Mike T Nelson CISSN, CSCS, MSME, PhD
Associate Professor, Carrick Institute
Owner, Extreme Human Performance, LLC
Editorial Board Member, STRONG Fitness Mag

Mike T Nelson is a PhD and not a physician or registered dietitian. The contents of this email should not be taken as medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem - nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician. Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health.

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