Creatine

Creatine has been used as a supplement by athletes for the last 15-20 years. Muscle cells use creatine to form creatine phosphate which provides instant energy to the muscle. Creatine also helps to buffer (neutralise) the acid produced by intense exercise.

I will now report on various pieces of research that have been done on the use of creatine. I am not advocating the use of creatine by any one because I don't know enough about it, but I still find this research interesting.

The International Journal of Sports Medicine issue 22 2001 reported on research carried out in Birmingham. It found that a group of elite squash players taking creatine improved their sprint drill performance by 4.7% as opposed to 1.5% for the placebo group.
However the same journal reported another study showing no significant improvement in stroke quality or power for elite tennis players after taking creatine.

In the early 1990's Richard Kreider, at the University of Memphis, looked at the benefits of creatine in a study of 52 American footballers. He split them into 4 groups: No supplements; Extra carbohydrates; 20g/day of creatine monohydrate (Phosphagain); 25g/day creatine monohydrate (Phosphagainll).
The Creatine groups improved their 1 rep max (maximum able to lift for 1 repetition) for the bench press by 100% when compared to the no supplement group and by 33% compared to the carbohydrate group.
Kreider also found that creatine supplementation improved the 100m time by 0.93secs in junior elite swimmers.
With respect to endurance athletes Kreider believes that it can still help despite the accompanying weight gain. He believes that the increase could help to preserve muscle mass during intense training. Also it may help runners to cope with hills and surges of speed.
He also stated that it is important to take creatine with carbohydrate as the release of insulin pushes the creatine into the muscles.

The European Journal of Applied Physiology vol78 1998 reported on work from Kingston University and The University of Tasmania. They looked at Creatine supplementation for endurance kayakers.
The creatine group took 20g/day for 5 days:
They increased weight by an average of 4.4lbs.
They improved performance by 16% in 90secs intervals.
Improvement was 14% for 150secs intervals.
Improvement was 7% for 300secs intervals.

There is obvious benefit for the kayakers from the previous piece of research, but what about runners? Running Research News vol 14 1998 found runners taking 3g/day for 30 days procduced the same muscle creatine level as taking 20g/day for 5 days, but without any weight gain.

There has been concern over health risks with the use of creatine, but Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise vol 31 1999 found no problem with kidney function after taking creatine for 5 years.
The same journal in Feb 2000 looked at the safety of taking 20g/day for 5 days. It reported that blood pressure and kidney function were okay and also there was no increase in the level of the potentially damaging enzyme creatine kinase. It also found that on average men increased in weight by 2% and women by 0.8%. Fat free body mass increased by 2% in men and 1% in women.

There certainly appears to be plenty of evidence supporting the use of creatine as a supplement. But I would strongly encourage anyone who was thinking of using it to research it thoroughly.