Creatine, the supplement popular with athletes for its ability to help build strength and power, is increasingly being recognized for its broad health benefits.
The compound’s usefulness extends well beyond the gym, according to Dr. Richard Kreider, professor and director of the Exercise & Sport Nutrition Lab at Texas A&M University. Kreider has spent more than 30 years investigating the effects of creatine, a naturally occurring compound stored in the muscle that combines with phosphate to form creatine phosphate, which is needed for cellular energy.
When the body is stressed, like in exercise or under metabolic conditions like some diseases, creatine phosphate is needed to maintain energy in the cell, and therefore has a lot of protective and health benefits, in addition to the exercise performance effects that have been seen.”
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Dr. Richard Kreider, professor and director of the Exercise & Sport Nutrition Lab, Texas A&M University
How much creatine do we need?
Our bodies create about a gram per day, but it’s recommended to get two to four grams of creatine per day, depending on muscle mass and activity levels. According to Kreider, most people fall short of getting enough creatine from diet alone. The best sources of creatine in the diet are meat and fish.
“You only get about a gram of creatine per pound of red meat or fish, like salmon, so it’s expensive and takes a lot of calories to get a gram,” Kreider said. This is why supplementation matters, especially for vegetarians or vegans who do not consume enough creatine in their diet.
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For athletes with performance-related goals, Kreider said it’s recommended to supplement 5 grams, four times a day for a week. Supplementation “helps load the muscle up with more energy,” which makes for improved high-intensity exercise, recovery and even cognitive function. After that, consuming 5 to 10 grams per day will maintain creatine stores and provide enough creatine for the brain.
Beyond boosting athletic performance, creatine is important for everyone as they age throughout their lives, Kreider said. It can help older adults who lose muscle mass and cognitive function as they age, he said, and in adolescents, low dietary creatine intake is associated with slower growth, less muscle mass and higher body fat.
Is creatine safe?
In a comprehensive review published in February in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, Kreider and colleagues analyzed 685 clinical trials on creatine supplementation to assess its safety and the frequency of reported side effects. The analysis showed there were no significant differences in the rate of side effects for participants taking a placebo and those taking creatine.
As for anecdotal concerns like bloating or cramping, Kreider says those claims don’t hold up under scrutiny, and studies have shown creatine can actually prevent cramping because it helps the body retain more fluid.
Despite the strong evidence base, Kreider said creatine has long been the subject of misconceptions and misinformation. He’s among the members of the International Society of Sports Nutrition who recently issued a letter affirming the safety and efficacy of creatine, urging lobbyists and policymakers not to restrict access to it.
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“There’s absolutely no data supporting any negative side effect anecdotally reported about creatine on the internet and in the media,” he said. “Creatine is safe, and it’s important for everybody, not just bodybuilders and athletes.”
Source:
Journal reference:
Kreider, R. B., et al. (2025). Safety of creatine supplementation: analysis of the prevalence of reported side effects in clinical trials and adverse event reports. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2025.2488937.
I was in my early 20s when I first experienced the power of strength training firsthand. I was working at Women’s Health magazine and was tasked with learning to deadlift for twelve weeks at a CrossFit-style gym with a personal trainer.
I’d always been into movement, but found the concept of weights pretty terrifying before that. Most of the gyms were male-dominated spaces, and the gym plans were male-specific, too; plus, I’d grown up in a generation terrified of weight training making you “bulky” and determined to typecast muscle mass as “non-feminine.”
Thankfully, most of the stigma has shifted in recent years: numerous and extensive studies have proven time and time again how pivotal strength training is not only for muscle mass, bone density and overall wellbeing, but healthy ageing, too. One large study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that people who participated in muscle-strengthening activities had a 10-17% lower risk of all-cause mortality, as well as a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.
Speaking from personal experience, strength training has changed my life. After a twelve-week induction in my early twenties, strength training became a non-negotiable part of my weekly routine, and I’d head to the gym at least once a week to build strength, move my body and support my mental wellbeing.
That said, in recent years, I was definitely plateauing from a lack of structure. While I enjoyed heading to the gym and moving through whichever compound lifts or mobility exercises took my fancy, I knew it wasn’t the most productive approach. Plus, as a runner, I wasn’t targeting the muscle groups so essential to efficient, injury-resistant running; rather, maintaining a general baseline.
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So when Run Coach and Founder of female running collective PASSA, Lillie Bleasdale, offered me the chance to follow a three-month, female-specific strength training programme designed to complement my running, I jumped at the opportunity. A 2:54 marathoner herself, she founded the company with one simple aim: to support women through every stage of their running journey and to offer a holistic approach to performance.
I loved that Bleasdale had built a pretty game-changing female-only online coaching model, but also that her entire approach centres around balancing your training alongside the demands of being a woman. “We recognise that women aren’t simply smaller versions of men; factors such as menstrual cycles, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, perimenopause and menopause can all impact training, recovery and performance,” Bleasdale shares when we chat. “We also work with women navigating conditions such as endometriosis, PCOS/PMOS and adenomyosis, helping them train in a way that supports their bodies, rather than fights against them.”
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Bottom line? “We want training to enhance their lives, not become another source of stress.”
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So, could a more structured approach unlock performance gains that years of inconsistent gym sessions had left on the table? Over the course of three months, I worked with Bleasdale day in, day out. Below, I share my story and why I think trying your own female-focused strength training plan could be transformative for not only your running, but your general life. Don’t miss our guides to the best strength training moves for runners and the best Pilates moves for runners, plus our guides to running advice for beginners, how to run a mile without stopping and how to run faster, here.
My three-month strength training journey
Getting set up
I check in with Bleasdale for the first time on a video call to discuss my goals, timeframe, and lifestyle, alongside current training load and previous injuries. The chat was informal but detailed; Bleasdale wanted to paint a full and complete picture before cracking on with programming. “The first thing we always do is look beyond race goals and understand the athlete sitting in front of us,” she shares.
For me, my aim was simple: I wanted to get strong ahead of the Boston Marathon and to gain expert insight into the best workout plan and moves to injury-proof my body and support it over both the training block and distance. That said, I also have a demanding 9-5, and knew I needed a sustainable plan that I’d be able to stick to week on week.
Bleasdale was really reassuring on this front, and told me that for most marathon runners, particularly those balancing work and life commitments, one or two high-quality sessions deliver the best balance between adaptation and recovery. “It’s enough to build meaningful strength, resilience and running economy without creating excessive fatigue that compromises key run sessions,” she explains.
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At PASSA, they view strength training as part of the overall training load, rather than something that sits separately from their running – a common mistake that many runners fall for.
On the type of strength you’ll need to build for Boston specifically, Bleasdale had done her research. “The course is famous for its challenging downhills, which place huge demands on the quadriceps,” she explained to me. In training, that translated to significant amounts of quad-dominant work, progressing heavy strength-focused lifts into higher-volume, more marathon-specific endurance work as race day approached.
A typical strength session
Following our onboarding call, Bleasdale sent me some simple instructions to download and set up their dedicated strength training app, Everfit. Each week, following a weekend check-in and progress update, she’d upload my workouts: a Tuesday morning session and a Thursday morning session.
While the movements and phases varied over the course of the block, the basic structure was the same:
The mobility and dynamic movement: Five to ten minutes designed to improve movement quality and activate key muscle groups.
The main section of the workout: Which centred around one primary compound lift. “This was the ‘hero lift’ of the session and typically involved a squat, deadlift, leg press or another large movement pattern that allowed us to build meaningful strength,” shares Bleasdale. (She often paired these with core exercises to maximise efficiency, too).
The accessory work: Usually organised into supersets or tri sets. “This is where much of the running-specific work took place,” she explains. “We incorporated unilateral lower body exercises, calf strengthening, rotational and anti-rotation core work, balance exercises and plyometric drills.”
She explained to me that there isn’t one “magic” exercise for strength improvement or injury prevention; rather, it’s the benefit of a balanced programme. “For runners, we want to ensure six key movement patterns are consistently represented: a squat, a lunge, a hinge, a calf strengthening exercise, a core exercise and a balance-based exercise,” she shares. Throughout my programme, this looked like heavy squats and deadlifts for overall strength, split squats and Bulgarian split squats for unilateral control, calf raises for lower leg resilience, Pallof presses and side planks for core stability, and plyometric exercises such as pogo jumps, box jumps and broad jumps to improve force production and tissue resilience.
The overall goal was simple – every exercise needed a purpose, and every session needed to contribute towards making me a stronger, more resilient marathon runner.
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How does a female-specific strength training journey differ?
Good question. As Bleasdale explains, “Female-specific coaching isn’t about creating a completely different exercise list for women – rather, about understanding the individual woman in front of you and building a programme that reflects her physiology, circumstances and goals.”
At PASSA, every plan factors in a woman’s menstrual health, hormonal changes, previous pregnancies, medical conditions, injury history, lifestyle demands, stress levels and recovery capacity. For the first time in my life, a coach asked me about my menstrual health and health conditions – something simple, but often overlooked. Bleasdale then paid attention to how consistent strength training could support my PCOS/PMOS management and checked in on my symptoms over the course of the programme.
My strength training journey: Phase one
The training block had three distinct phases, with the first five weeks focused on building maximum strength through heavy compound lifts such as front squats, trap bar deadlifts and deadlift variations. Alongside that, a big focus was on getting me comfortable with the gym equipment. As Bleasdale put it, I had a solid strength-training background and the foundations were already there, but I did lack confidence and a structured strength training routine.
Each workout, I’d film my movements and send them to Bleasdale for review. She’d then send detailed feedback, gradually challenging some of the limits I was subconsciously holding. “Week after week, she realised she was capable of lifting significantly more than she thought,” Bleasdale shares.
One of the most rewarding aspects of the block, for both Bleasdale as a coach and me as a client, was seeing the confidence grow. By the third week, I was moving through more complex compound moves (front foot elevated split squats, I’m looking at you) with relative ease, and felt settled into my new routine.
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While the step up to two more workouts a week alongside my runs was definitely noticeable, Bleasdale was always on hand to help me organise my calendar and slot in my movement even when my week was busy, or I was travelling for work – a level of coaching that seriously encourages accountability and which I found incredibly motivating. My strength training workouts were no longer about whether I could fit them in, but when I’d be doing them.
Perhaps the biggest surprise during this first phase was how quickly the sessions stopped feeling intimidating. Walking into a weights area can feel overwhelming, particularly as a woman. But repetition builds familiarity and, in turn, confidence. My sessions felt purposeful, rather than daunting, and I noticed a shift in my mindset as much as my physical strength.
For month one, Ally’s main focus was on getting comfortable with the gym equipment and building her confidence.
(Image credit: Ally Head)
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Phase two:
Come week five, and we’d entered a new phase: a six-week maintenance and hypertrophy phase where the focus shifted slightly towards running-specific resilience, unilateral strength and managing fatigue. Mixing things up kept the programme interesting and meant I looked forward to my sessions; I was challenging my body in new ways again, rather than going through the motions.
Single-leg work became more prominent in my workouts, helping to address the imbalances and weaknesses that often creep into a runner’s training. I liked that these exercises felt more transferable to running itself, and demanded balance, coordination and stability with every session. Rather than simply lifting heavier weights, I was learning how to generate force efficiently and control my body under fatigue.
I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly my body adjusted to the training load; I was tired, but I felt physically fitter and like my body was recovering more easily, too. Bleasdale observed this as well: “Sessions that initially created fatigue quickly became manageable, allowing us to progress load, complexity and challenge while maintaining overall freshness.”
During this point of my training block, I ran the Reading Half Marathon as a training race, coming away with a 1:28 personal best and, perhaps more importantly, feeling stronger than I ever have before over the half marathon distance. While it’s impossible to attribute this performance to any one factor, I noticed a distinct difference in how capable I was of maintaining form when fatigue set in, and I was able to kick in the later stages of the race when I’d previously faded.
My strength gains were becoming evident outside of the gym, too. Hills felt less taxing, fast sessions felt smoother, and I felt stronger even as my mileage increased. As a runner, that’s the ultimate goal: not dramatic overnight changes, but the gradual accumulation of resilience that makes training feel easier and more enjoyable.
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Ally was pleasantly surprised at how quickly her body adjusted to the training load; she felt physically fitter and like her body was recovering more easily, too.
(Image credit: Ally Head)
Phase three:
For the final few weeks of the training block, I entered a taper phase, prioritising mobility, movement quality, light strength work and low-level plyometrics. “This keeps the body feeling sharp while allowing fatigue to dissipate before race day,” Bleasdale explains.
Although the volume and intensity of the gym work reduced, the sessions still had a clear purpose. The focus shifted away from building fitness and towards arriving at race day feeling fresh, confident and ready to perform. Mobility drills, explosive movements and lighter strength exercises helped maintain the adaptations we’d built over the previous months without creating unnecessary fatigue.
What struck me most during this phase was how calm, confident, and excited I felt for race day. All of my hard work had led up to this point, and I felt like a different person; Bleasdale had helped me to get to race day not only feeling the physically strongest I’d ever felt, but the mentally fittest, too. The months of consistent strength work had given me tangible evidence of progress, not just in the numbers I was lifting, but in how I moved and carried myself as a runner.
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Come race day, I surprised even myself, running a 3:08 marathon and feeling by far the strongest I’ve ever felt during a marathon. Bleasdale is undoubtedly to thank: her unwavering support and belief in me made me a stronger runner, athlete, and woman, too.
On the fence about trying your own female-specific strength training plan? Trust me on this one – you won’t regret it.
Come April, Ally ran the 130th Boston Marathon in 3:08 – a five minute PB.
Books are getting Australians into the gym and keeping them there longer, and the benefits of this emerging health trend aren’t just physical – they’re mental too.
Listening to audiobooks and podcasts helped Yvonne Kong, 41, and her husband get back into fitness after becoming parents and lose a combined 50 kilos.
Yvonne Kong, 41, used podcasts to get back into exercise and stay motivated. Yvonne Kong
It also helped them broaden their minds and carve out a bit of “me time” in our busy modern world.
Audiobooks and podcasts have given Aussies the chance to turn exercise into a vehicle for learning, training their minds and bodies simultaneously. Some are even taking their e-readers and paperbacks to the gym (more on that later).
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“Listening to a story while working out actually helped me stay motivated and more consistent,” Kong told nine.com.au.
Like many Aussies, she used to dread hitting the treadmill and constantly found herself counting down the minutes until her session was over.
That changed when she hit play on a true-crime podcast during a workout.
Kong got so caught up in the story she forgot about the timer on her treadmill until her workout was over.
“I did an hour treadmill course and actually finished it without noticing,” she said.
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Have you got a story? Contactreporter Maddison Skipper atmleach@nine.com.au
Since then, she’s found herself looking forward to exercising because it gives her an hour of dedicated listening time.
Her husband does the same while running; he took up listening to audiobooks because it motivated him to run longer and more often so he could get through the story.
The benefits of reading/listening while exercising
About one in three Aussies now listen to audiobooks when they exercise, according to data from Audible.
More than a third of them exercise for longer because of it, one quarter work out more often, and half experience better mood during exercise.
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Data released exclusively to nine.com.au revealed both men and women reported these positive experiences at an almost identical rate, despite often having different workout routines and attitudes towards exercise.
Audiobooks are particularly popular with runners, more than a third of whom say they feel more focused on their run while listening.
Personal trainer Ben Lucas is one of them; he started listening while running to make time pass quickly and train his mind as well as his body.
“You’re out there anyway, so you may as well be learning something valuable while you do it,” he told nine.com.au.
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What the experts think
Mindfulness expert Luke McLeod told nine.com.au there has even been some research into how exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which helps information retention.
Lucas devours business and personal development audiobooks like Atomic Habits by James Clear while working out, a trend which has become known as ‘personal development/PD stacking’.
The goal is to “double-up of some type of personal development like listening to an e-book, which works out the mind, while also working out the body,” McLeod said.
‘PD stacking’ is the new health optimisation trend, according to Luke McLeod. Luke McLeod
It’s all about optimising time in our busy world, which is particularly appealing to Aussies who are time-poor; like new parents trying to juggle work and a baby.
“When I’m with [my daughter], I’m trying to be present for her, so I’m not going to be listening to podcasts or anything,” Kong said.
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“When I exercise, that’s my time.”
Personal trainer Ben Lucas has been using audiobooks to stay on track with his running. Ben Lucas
McLeod agreed that reading or listening while working out can be a great form of self-care for some Aussies.
The only pitfall is that not every workout is suited to it.
It’s hard to keep up with an audiobook or podcast if you’re trying to count reps while strength training, and there’s no way to read an e-book on a rowing machine.
“I find podcasts and audiobooks work best during longer, slower cardio sessions,” Lucas said.
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“Whether it’s an easy run, walk, or long ride, you can relax into the session, tune out a little, and focus on what you’re listening to while still getting the work done.”
He also warned Aussies to stay aware of their surroundings and hazards like traffic, cyclists, other pedestrians, or uneven paths if they listen while exercising outdoors.
McLeod added that stacking habits like exercise and reading isn’t worth it if one interrupts the other.
Road testing reading at the gym
I’ve been in and out of the gym a lot over the last decade, jumping from strength training, to reformer Pilates, and other programs in between.
But my favourite way to exercise is to hop on a treadmill with my Kindle.
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I rest it on the console, set a slight incline and a moderate speed and lose myself for an hour. No workout has ever felt faster or easier.
My Kindle fits perfectly into the little divot on the treadmill console meant for a phone or tablet. Maddison Skipper
The pros: Focusing on what I’m reading takes my mind off the clock and get through an hour of cardio without getting bored or losing motivation.
Reading at the gym also helps me stay consistent because it’s one of the few places I can just switch off and focus on my book without interruptions, so I want to keep coming back.
That hour of dedicated reading time has also been great for my mental health because it forces me to slow down and focus on something completely removed from any stress in my own life.
The cons: It did take a few sessions to get used to reading while moving, but raising the brightness on my Kindle and setting it to a larger font really helped.
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Those who prefer to listen don’t have to worry about any of that though; just download an audiobook and you’re good to go.
I also invested in a pair of noise-cancelling headphones to muffle the dance music that plays over my gym’s loudspeakers, which made it much easier to focus.
Reading at the gym allows Aussies like me to work on my physical and mental fitness simultaneously. Maddison Skipper
Now the only downside to reading at the gym that I sometimes hit a slump after I finish a really good book because I don’t want to hit the gym again until I find something new to read.
The verdict: It’s not for everyone, but I have found that reading at the gym has been the best way for me to stay motivated and consistent.
I feel good about taking the time to work on both my body and my mind a few times a week, and I’ve been able to check some amazing books off my ‘to be read’ list while working out.
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Audiobooks make it even easier for Aussies who want to exercise without the hassle of a physical book or e-reader, or who have different accessibility needs.
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — 8News got a visit from two special guests Friday to learn about the benefits of Pilates and try out some beginner moves.
8News anchors Autumn Childress and Delaney Hall were joined by Laura Mae Harper and Angie Madison with Point and Flex Pilates. The studio, which opened on Sept. 3 last year, offers a variety of classes, ranging from beginner to intermediate and advanced.
“We went through years of teaching at other places and developed this beautiful studio for them and this community, and we’re super excited about it,” Harper said.
For more information, visit Point and Flex Pilates.
