Your bench press gains about 1.43kg more than on placebo
Across 92 trials, lifters taking creatine beat placebo on bench press, squat, jump height and peak power. Handgrip and leg press showed no difference.
What the study found
Creatine adds real strength, and 1.43kg of it on the bench
The gain is real and it is small. Across 92 trials and roughly 2,400 people, creatine alongside resistance training beat placebo on bench press, squat, jump height and peak power, though the largest analysis put the bench-press edge at 1.43kg. Handgrip and leg press showed nothing there.
The caveat · Only 40 women across two trials
Twenty of the 23 trials in one analysis enrolled only men, and just 40 women appear across its two female-only trials, so the weaker showing in women reflects how little has been measured rather than a settled absence. Gains were most consistent in younger adults. And these are pooled averages, not what any one lifter should expect.