An opening stretch of a programme that uses more compound than the rest of it, either a larger amount or more frequent dosing, before settling to a lower ongoing level. The intention is to reach a working concentration in the body sooner than the ongoing amount would reach it on its own. Whether a compound needs one at all depends on how slowly it builds up.

Why it matters here

A loading phase only does anything for compounds that take a long time to accumulate, and for a fast-clearing compound it raises early exposure without changing where the programme ends up. Where a record describes a loading phase, the effects and side effects reported during it belong to the loading amount rather than the ongoing one.

Also called

• loading phase
• loading
• load
• loading dose
• loading period
• front load
• frontload
• front-loading
• frontloading
• kickstart
• saturation phase
• loading protocol

Front-loading is the usual informal name and comes from supplement culture, creatine in particular, where a loading phase is a standard part of the routine and tends to get assumed elsewhere.

Compounds carrying this term

None on file yet. This term is in the controlled vocabulary but no compound record currently uses it — which is a statement about our coverage, not about the term.

See also

• Maintenance Phase — Dosing and scheduling
• Titration — Dosing and scheduling
• Steady State — Dosing and scheduling
• Dose — Dosing and scheduling