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Benefits - CREATINE
There is overwhelming evidence which shows that creatine supplementation does cause an increase in the amount of creatine phosphate in muscles. Dr. Harris a few years back conducted a study examining creatine content in the quadriceps femoris muscle in 17 subjects after supplementation of 5 g of creative monohydrate 4-6 times a day for two days. The results found a significant increase in the total creatine level in all subjects but the results were especially noticeable in those with the lowest muscle creatine store at the start of the study. These subjects were most often vegetarians. To determine whether exercise could affect the amount of creatine absorbed by muscles, some of the participants followed a unique training program. During supplementation, they pedaled a bicycle ergometer for one hour each day while using only one leg to supply the pedaling force. With supplementation, the unexercised legs increased their creatine levels by about 25 percent, but the exercised legs increased their creatine levels by 37 percent. It is hypothesized that exercise increases the flow of blood to the muscles or changes the rate at which muscles absorb creative from the blood, thus improving the creatine loading effect.
Several studies also show that creatine supplementation does cause an increase in muscle strength. Dr. Earnest conducted a study investigating the influence of creatine monohydrate supplementation on muscular power and strength in 10 experienced weight trained male subjects. Three series of high intensity, anaerobic type muscular workouts were used. The first series consisted of three consecutive 30 second Wingate bike tests, followed by five minuets of rest. Peak anaerobic power was defined as the greatest power achieved in a given five second work interval. Anaerobic work was defined as the total amount of work performed in a 30 second period. The second series used a one repetition maximum (lRM) free weight bench press as a test of muscular strength. The third series utilized complete lifting repetitions at 70% of the bench press IRM until fatigue. Fatigue was defined as the inability to complete one lifting repetition or the inability to maintain a lifting cadence of one second eccentric and one second concentric (lifting and lowering the weight). Total lifting volume was calculated as 70% of pre-test IRM multiplied by the number of complete lifting repetitions. Subjects received either a glucose placebo or creatine monohydrate supplement in a double blind fashion. (After 14 days of supplementation, each subject was re-tested on the Wingate bike tests. Re-testing for the weight lifting trials was done after 28 days of supplementation.
Within the creatine group, total anaerobic work from the Wingate tests was significantly higher during all post-test trials. The increases were (13%) for series one, 18% for series two and 18% for series three. No changes were noted in the placebo group. Greater total anaerobic work resulted from the creatine subject's ability to achieve and maintain higher levels of anaerobic power consistently over- each five second time interval. Bench press IRM increased (6% )in the creatine group. Total lifting volume was significantly higher within the creatine group, whether expressed in absolute terms (26%) or relative terms (29%). Increases in the total lifting volume were associated with the ability of the creatine group to perform (26%) more lifting repetitions. The authors conclude that the ability of the creatine group to perform a greater total lifting volume demonstrates the effectiveness of creatine as an ergogenic aid.
In Hultman's study (cited in Anderson, 1974) these results were replicated. Each day, creatine was given in six separate doses of five grams a day. During the six-day period, five other Estonian runners of comparable ability received a glucose placebo instead. All runners were unaware of the actual composition of their supplements. Before and after the six-day supplementation, the athletes ran four 300-meter and (on a separate day) four 1000-meter intervals, with three minutes of rest between the 300-meter intervals and four minutes of rest between the 1000-meter intervals. Improvement on the final 300-meter interval (from pre-to-post supplementation) was more than twice as great for creatine users, and improvement was more than three times as great for creatine supplements in the final 1000-meter interval. Total time to run all four 1000-meter intervals improved from 770 to 757 seconds after creatine supplementation. In comparison, the placebo group actually slowed from 774 to 775 seconds.
The majority of studies support the claim that creative increases muscle strength. However, a study conducted by Cooke compared creatine supplementation to placebo supplementation and examined power output and fatigue. Their results showed that oral ingestion of creatine had no significant effect on any of the mechanical parameters associated with short-term power output and fatigue during single bouts of maximal exercise performed on a specially modified cycle ergameter.
The Study conducted by Earnest assessed body composition using hydrostatic weighing techniques. There was a significant increase in body weight (86.5 +-13.7 vs. 88.2 +-14.1 kg) as well as a nonsignificant increase in calculated fat free muscle mass (77.6 +-10.8 vs. 79.2 +-11.6 kg) or the creatine monohydrate group. No changes in body weight (82.6 -+ 2.2 vs. 62.5 +- 1.8 kg) or fat -free mass (74.7 +- 6.6 vs. 74.4 +- 6.2 kg) were noted for the placebo group. However, the authors have not been able to conclude whether or not creatine monohydrate is directly responsible for the increase in body weight. However, they do hypothesize that with creatine supplementation individuals suffer less muscle fatigue at a given intensity level, thus allowing for more intense and longer workouts. In order for a muscle to grow massively, it must be stimulated by a greater workload. This increased overload is accomplished by increasing intensity, increasing duration, or increasing exercise frequency. Therefore creatine allows for longer and more intense workouts, thus creatine may lead to greater muscle mass.
In Hultman's study (cited by Anderson, 1994) creatine supplementation was very important during the last interval of each workout. Creatine supplementers doubled their advantage during the final 300-meter interval and tripled their advantage in the closing 1000-meter sprint. This supports Hultman's hypothesis that creatine is likely to be most helpful when lactic acid levels are highest and fatigue is greatest. Hultman thus feels that creatine serves as a buffer lowering lactic acid muscle burn and delaying fatigue, thus allowing an athlete to perform longer workouts.
In contrast, Balsom investigated the influence of creatine supplementation on endurance exercise performance in the form of a 6 km run and showed that creatine supplementation does not enhance performance or increase peak oxygen uptake during prolonged continuous exercise. There was actually decreased performance in the creatine supplementation group, which may be attributed to the participants weight gain.
In support of Balsam (1993), Febbraio (1995) conclude that creatine supplementation "may not increase performance during exercise where a significant proportion of energy is derived form aerobic metabolism." This aerobic metabolism occurs during more prolonged, sustained exercise as opposed to anaerobic metabolism which occurs during fast, nonsustained muscle contractions. It is therefore more likely that if creatine supplementation has an effect it will only be seen during brief, anaerobic exercise such as sprinting or weight lifting.
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Creatine Benefits
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