Creatine Without the Bloat: Con-Cret’s Founder on HCL vs. Monohydrate
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Mark Faulkner - Con-Cret Supplements
Social Media: @concret_creatine
Brad opened by sharing your personal experience with creatine monohydrate — its benefits for strength and endurance, but also the downside of bloating and water retention that kept you from using it consistently. Mark clarified that “HCL” vs. “hcl” is just a marketing capitalization difference and explained that creatine hydrochloride (HCL) can offer the same benefits with fewer side effects due to its superior bioavailability.
Mark shared his science-heavy background (physics, biochemistry, toxicology) and his experience co-founding a forensic toxicology lab. His team built the NFL’s steroid testing program, which sparked his interest in safe, legal performance enhancers. After selling the lab, he partnered with sports medicine researchers to find steroid alternatives that could help athletes recover and maintain strength safely. This search led to creatine HCL, which showed strong results for strength, endurance, and recovery without the typical side effects of monohydrate.
Bioavailability & Efficiency: Creatine HCL is more easily absorbed due to its chemical structure and compatibility with stomach acid (HCL), allowing smaller doses to deliver more creatine to muscle, brain, and immune cells.
Side Effects: Princeton research shows over 50% of men and 75% of women experience bloating and GI distress with monohydrate, which is largely avoided with HCL.
Performance Benefits: Faster recovery, increased training capacity, and leaner muscle gains compared to monohydrate.
Mark emphasized that creatine supports all cells — not just muscles:
Brain health & cognition: Supports energy for thinking and memory.
Immune system: T-cells upregulate creatine receptors before attacking pathogens or abnormal cells (e.g., cancer), so adequate creatine helps them “win the fight.”
Disease prevention & longevity: The CDC is investigating low creatine levels as a factor in rising chronic disease rates.
Mark provided a three-tier approach:
Daily Health: 750 mg per day for most people.
Exercise / Biohacking: 750 mg per 100 lbs of body weight 30–60 minutes pre-workout (double up on very strenuous days).
Medical/Disease States: Higher doses (up to 4–6 g daily) split into multiple servings.
He also noted that creatine should be taken daily with no need to cycle off, and extra doses can help with fatigue, poor sleep, or jet lag.
Mark stressed that over 90% of creatine is made in China, and quality can vary dramatically. Con-Cret is the only U.S.-made creatine, manufactured in an NSF-certified facility in Nebraska, ensuring purity and safety for athletes who undergo drug testing. Con-Cret holds multiple patents for its creatine HCL technology, further setting it apart.
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