The Creatine Everyone Recommends Is Making You Puffy

I posted a set of photos on X last week that got over a million views.

Two before-and-after shots, taken from different angles.

Left side of each: No Tirzepatide. Just Creatine Monohydrate.
Right side of each: Tirzepatide, plus Creatine HCL and Betaine, the formula in Kino Gains.

The before photo was taken about five years ago, and my muscles didn’t have that same fullness or definition, even though I was training just as hard.

Two things have changed since then.

Tirzepatide got me leaner.

With Tirzepatide, staying lean is automatic now and feels much more effortless.

But the creatine switch is what I want to talk about today, because it’s the piece most guys overlook.

For years, I only used creatine during winter when bulking.

When I wanted to be camera-ready and sharp, I’d always avoid it.

But when I went off creatine, I’d lose some of that strength.

So with creatine monohydrate, I got stronger and my muscles filled out, but I also got puffy.

So there was a tradeoff.

That sharp, dialed-in look I was chasing kept slipping away under a layer of subcutaneous water.

I had a love-hate relationship

Loved the strength but hated losing sharpness, so I used it strategically.

Where Creatine Monohydrate Falls Short

Monohydrate has a solubility score of 1.0, and creatine HCL scores 39.3.

*Creatine HCL is almost 40 times more soluble, which means your body actually absorbs it instead of storing the excess as retained water under your skin.

With creatine monohydrate, you’re getting more spillover.

The creatine that doesn’t get absorbed into the muscles causes that bloating and water retention under the skin

What Changed When I Switched

Once I switched to Creatine HCL, my muscle fullness and strength improved like monohydrate, but I wasn’t dealing with the bloat.

That’s the formula behind Kino Gains.

Creatine HCL: Nearly 40x more soluble than monohydrate, so you absorb it instead of holding onto water weight.
Betaine: Drives protein synthesis and has been shown to help subjects add 5 pounds of muscle while losing 6 pounds of fat in 6 weeks.

You get the strength, fullness, and definition, all at once.

If you have only used creatine monohydrate, I recommend you try our HCL + Betaine formula instead.

You’ll notice a big difference.

Try Kino Gains Now

Talk soon,

Greg O’Gallagher

Kino Clinic works exclusively with licensed 503A compounding pharmacies to provide physician-prescribed, pharmacy-grade compounded Tirzepatide. All medications are prescribed by licensed physicians for individually identified patients based on documented clinical need. Compounded medications are not FDA-approved finished drug products and are not intended as substitutes for FDA-approved medications such as Mounjaro® or Zepbound®. Individual results vary. This is not medical advice. Use only under the supervision of a licensed healthcare provider.