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Creatine: The Athletic Supplement

Written By Samuel Biesack

Female athlete running across a bridge in the morning.

Creatine monohydrate should be at the top of your supplement list due to its effectiveness at improving athletic ability, increasing metrics of strength and power, and its positive influence on enhancing body composition (1-4).

Amazingly, creatine is also well researched with hundreds, if not thousands of studies showing its safety, effectiveness, and reliability.

Because of these benefits and creatine’s affordability, just about any athlete that requires improvements in muscle mass, strength, and power can and should harness its power.

To come, we’ll dive into what creatine is, how it works, what factors of athleticism it benefits, and how you can use it properly to improve your performance and body composition.

WHAT IS CREATINE?

Derived most often from animal protein sources, creatine is one of the most popular and surprisingly well-researched supplements known to man. Undoubtedly, creatine has taken to the spotlight due to its safety and effectiveness for a wide range of athletes.

Creatine in supplemental form is a peptide, which is a string of amino acids, including L-arginine, glycine, and methionine. When stored in the muscle, creatine is bound to a phosphate group and termed creatine phosphate (CrP) or phosphocreatine (1, 5).

Despite some previous claims of creatine being harmful to kidneys or even being compared to more potent steroids, the plethora of available evidence suggests that creatine is safe and can augment a sound strength-training program to build lean mass and improve performance (1, 3).

Creatine’s status as a safe and reasonable supplement undoubtedly stems from the fact that our bodies synthesize creatine from the amino acids we consume. Additionally, many of the foods we eat, such as animal protein, contain various amounts of creatine, meaning, you probably consume some creatine without realizing it (6).

Because of this reality, you may ask why using creatine would be necessary. Mostly, the answer is that while the body does indeed synthesize creatine phosphate, using creatine in supplemental form can help ensure that your muscles are maximally saturated, putting yourself at an advantage competitively (7).

WHAT DOES CREATINE DO IN THE BODY?

Our bodies rely on various energy sources to produce thought, movement, and even breathing. Of the energy our bodies produce, the main systems it relies upon are the phosphagen system, the glycolytic (anaerobic) system, and the oxidative (aerobic) system (8).

These energy systems ultimately have the goal of generating the type of energy that most cells in the body can use, known as adenosine triphosphate; ATP for short.

Roughly speaking, the body does rely on all three systems simultaneously to replenish or provide ATP. However, one of these systems is typically prioritized based on the intensity and duration of the activity.

The phosphagen system, for instance, relies heavily on the rapid donation of phosphate from ATP molecules. In doing so, muscles can contract quickly and forcefully. However, this system is limited, only providing energy over the short term, such as 15-30 seconds or fewer (8).

Thus, the phosphagen system is prioritized when performing brief, high-intensity movements, such as during a sprint or when doing a high-intensity strength training set.

The glycolytic and oxidative systems are a bit slower in their ability to generate and replenish ATP but do so far more efficiently. This means that each of these energy systems produces higher amounts of usable ATP, and they do so using different fuel sources (8).

For example, the glycolytic system relies heavily on the conversion of glucose into a usable form of ATP. While this process of glycolysis is not as quick as the phosphagen system, it does provide more substantial amounts of usable ATP for more sustained muscle contraction.

The oxidative (aerobic) system then relies on the conversion of fat molecules and ketones into usable ATP. Again, while slower than the phosphagen and glycolytic systems, aerobic metabolism generates far more ATP per molecule than the other systems. Mostly, this energy system lends itself to lower intensity, long-duration events like endurance running (8).

For creatine, we're most concerned with the phosphagen system because creatine's primary purpose is to saturate your muscles with creatine phosphate, which donates its phosphate group for rapid ATP replenishment during short-duration, activities (9).

For example, when doing a high-intensity activity, phosphate molecules are being cleaved from ATP, literally changing the ATP molecule into ADP or adenosine diphosphate and then ultimately, AMP or, adenosine monophosphate. This cleaving of phosphate molecules releases energy, which then translates to muscle contraction.

Eventually, the concentration of ATP to ADP and even AMP will decline rapidly until usable energy is not readily available.

During high-intensity events, this creatine phosphate donates its phosphate group, allowing the accumulated ADP to gain another phosphate, thus being converted back into usable ATP.

As you can imagine, this benefit would be applicable for a wide range of athletes extending from improved performance in the gym leading to more significant improvements but also a greater ability for high-intensity performance during athletic events.

Summary: When saturated in the muscle, CrP donates phosphate to convert ADP back into usable ATP. This is particularly useful during short-duration, high-intensity activity, and often translates to improvements in force and power output (9).

Female CrossFit athletes using creatine to improve performance.

RESEARCH & CREATINE

Fortunately, creatine monohydrate has been thoroughly studied across different types of athletes for many different purposes. This means that many of the claims made about its effectiveness are likely correct. This is rare in the supplement industry and paints an image of how useful creatine can be for several different benefits.

CREATINE IMPROVES EXERCISE PERFORMANCE

Research on creatine suggests that its use can lead to improved power and force production and overall exercise performance while also helping the body maintain power production despite fatigue. While this is useful on the field, it's also quite useful as a training aid.

As an athlete, you know the importance of spending quality time in the gym, honing your abilities, and making your body faster and stronger. By using creatine, research suggests that you'll be able to produce higher amounts of power and force during your sets, ultimately leading to greater effectiveness in your workouts (1).

Research suggests that creatine can also improve performance during single sets and the workout as a whole, leading to greater training volume. Higher training volume means you're able to use more substantial resistance for more repetitions, leading to faster progress (1, 3, 18).

In one fascinating study, 49 individuals were recruited with 19 being vegetarians. During the investigation, subjects were provided with creatine or placebo and exposed to an 8-week resistance-training program, while undergoing measurements of muscle creatine content, body composition, and exercise performance.

For the first seven days, subjects followed a loading pattern of 0.25 grams of creatine per kilogram of lean body tissue, daily. The seven-day loading period was followed by a maintenance dose of 0.0625 grams per kilogram of lean mass, daily.

On average, this equaled around 17 grams during the loading period and 4 grams during maintenance each day.

Importantly, this study is interesting because vegetarians can have lower creatine levels than their non-vegetarian counterparts because the meat is one of the best sources of natural creatine. By providing creatine to vegetarians, we can observe the direct power of creatine supplementation when levels are lower than would be expected (10).

After the 8-week resistance training program, both vegetarians and non-vegetarians showed significant muscle gains. Amazingly, vegetarians using creatine showed an improvement of 2.4 kg, while non-vegetarian creatine users only increased by 1.9kg. Participants in the placebo group showed small improvements with none reaching significance (11).

Additionally, creatine use in this study leads to significant improvements when measuring 1-RM (rep max) bench and leg press performance. The data also showed a significant positive correlation between total creatine content and the change in exercise performance (11).

Finally, the same data also indicates that when subjects used creatine, they performed higher volumes of work, meaning creatine users were able to complete exercises using more resistance, for more sets, and more repetitions per set. Higher training volume could result in faster progress and perhaps more exceptional performance during sporting events (11).

CREATINE CHANGES CONDUCTION VELOCITY IN MUSCLE FIBERS

In a different study, scientists recruited 16 moderately trained males and after preliminary testing, provided them with 20 grams of creatine monohydrate, spread evenly across four doses, daily for five days.

During preliminary testing, subjects underwent isokinetic contraction tests of elbow flexion (biceps curl), where measurements of torque production, power output, and muscle fiber conduction velocity were measured.

Importantly, measuring conduction velocity can show us if creatine is changing how the nervous system works. Without getting too deep into the science, our brains send a message via neurons (brain cells) through the spinal cord and eventually to the muscle through a process known as action potential (12, 13, 14).

At the end of these neurons are large groups of muscle fibers. Action potentials or messages of muscle contraction are then sent through these neurons, which ultimately tell the fibers to contract. The frequency and velocity that these messages are sent then influence how the muscle contracts. Essentially, a faster, more frequent message means a quicker and more robust muscle contraction (12).

In this study, researchers reported a 15% improvement in conduction velocity associated with creatine intake, which suggests that creatine influences strength and power at the neural level and seems to do so shortly after supplementation begins. Ultimately, this means that creatine's effect extends further than merely maximizing CrP storage (15).

CREATINE IMPROVES POWER & STRENGTH

Power output is simply a measure of the amount of work or energy applied per unit of time. More work completed in a shorter amount of time translates to higher power production (16).

In sport, power production is one of the most critical factors in success (17).

For a football player, more power means a faster sprint or a harder hit. In soccer, improved power means a harder and further kick of the ball or the ability to reach the ball faster than the opponent. For a swimmer, greater power results in a further distance traveled per arm stroke. Together, more power means a higher chance of winning.

With regards to creatine, most studies and meta-analyses indicate a potent influence on strength ability and power when used alongside a sound resistance and strength-training program.

In fact, according to one meta-analysis, when creatine supplementation was paired with resistance training, athletes on average showed a 20% increase in weight used during one, three, and ten maximum rep tests compared to a 12% increase for placebo (1, 5).

Additionally, the same analysis showed that when athletes used creatine, they displayed a 26% increase in repetitions at a given weight compared to only 12% improvement for placebo (1, 5).

Based on these findings, an athlete able to bench press 225 pounds for ten repetitions could expect an improvement of two to three repetitions while those only resistance training could expect an increase of one repetition.

While this might not seem drastic, an improvement of two to three repetitions is significant for top athletes, especially when it's afforded without additional effort. Further, this information shows us that while resistance training does indeed improve metrics of strength and power, creatine can potentially amplify those effects (1, 5).

Female CrossFit athlete benefiting from creatine supplementation during her kettlebell workout.

CREATINE IMPROVES LEAN MASS

As a secondary effect of improving ability during exercise, creatine has been shown to play a role in building lean muscle tissue. Mostly, this is likely due to creatine’s ability to improve strength and power, while also allowing for more considerable amounts of training volume, which is considered to be one of the main pillars of building muscle (18).

This influence on lean muscle mass not only presents an opportunity for those looking to build muscle for vanity or performance but also for those experiencing conditions such as muscle loss from disease. While creatine alone won't directly build muscle, research suggests its use can improve the response from resistance training, compared to exercise alone (2, 3).

For more on how creatine can work as a potential testosterone optimizer see our blog post, "How To Naturally Boost Testosterone Levels".

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM CREATINE?

There are few sports or athletes that would not benefit from creatine usage. At the simplest level, using creatine allows for intramuscular stores of creatine phosphate to be maximized, which puts any athlete in a strong position to excel particularly during short, high-intensity bursts of activity.

Team PNP Supplements CrossFit athletes competing at Wodapalooza.

STRENGTH TRAINING ATHLETES

Creatine is a smart move if you use strength training to improve performance. By maximizing creatine levels in the muscle, you'll have more energy available for muscle contraction and potentially greater force production and power output (1).

Ultimately, this means you'll be able to use more resistance in the gym, which can result in faster progress and more significant improvements in performance. Additionally, even if you're not explicitly training for sport, using creatine can make your efforts in the gym a bit more productive.

INTERMITTENT SPRINT SPORTS

Sports that require intermittent sprints or rapid changes in movement can likely benefit from creatine usage. Sports like soccer, hockey, basketball, football, swimming, martial arts, and sprinting rely heavily on the phosphagen system since these sports involve short, high-intensity movements.

By using creatine, you can ensure that your muscles have a maximum amount of creatine phosphate available for repeated bursts of activity over an extended period. This should translate to higher performance throughout the event.

Interestingly, one study showed precisely these results.

Nineteen elite soccer players were recruited and were either provided 20 grams of creatine daily, (split over four doses) or placebo for a period of six days. Just before supplementation began, these soccer players underwent different performance tests such as repeated sprints, repeated countermovement jumps, and also an intermittent endurance test, meant to exemplify the conditions of a soccer match.

Unsurprisingly, those using creatine displayed significant improvement. When testing for repeated sprint ability, creatine users showed consistently faster times for both five and fifteen-meter sprints (19).

Additionally, the study reports that when athletes used creatine, they showed consistent counter jump ability even after an intermittent endurance test. Under the same condition, the placebo group showed a decline in performance, which suggests that maximizing creatine stores can help maintain performance, even after physical exertion (19).

Fortunately, it’s reasonable to suggest that similar findings would be revealed for other sports like hockey, football, and basketball.

BODY COMPOSITION IMPROVEMENT

Finally, creatine can undoubtedly be used by anyone looking to improve his or her body composition through exercise. Using creatine can allow for greater force and power production over time, which translates to improved performance during exercise (1, 11).

By using creatine alongside a sound resistance training program, any benefit gained is likely more robust and will likely occur faster than without using creatine, due to improved performance.

HOW TO USE CREATINE

Creatine usage is quite straightforward as long as you use it consistently. Contrary to how most people use sports supplements, creatine is most effective after you've used it for a while. That means it's unlikely that you'll see an immediate improvement after the first dose.

Creatine’s effectiveness stems from its ability to saturate creatine phosphate levels within the muscle so that when your muscle uses energy, it can be quickly replenished for additional activity.

This is why, in most studies, we see the use of a "loading" protocol, rather than consistent doses throughout the study. By "loading" or using higher doses of creatine daily, you’re able to saturate the muscle with creatine phosphate as quickly as possible.

In most studies, researchers employ approximately 0.3g/kg of body weight daily for the loading period, which typically extends anywhere from 5-7 days. This is followed by a "maintenance" dose of around 0.03g/kg of bodyweight indefinitely. For a 180-pound individual, this equates to approximately 25 grams daily during loading and 2.5 grams as maintenance (3, 20, 21).

Keep in mind that using a loading protocol is not entirely necessary. Over time, daily doses of 3-5 grams of creatine will saturate the muscle, but more slowly. So, while loading isn’t a requirement, it should expedite the saturation process.

Lastly, know that high doses of creatine have been known to produce gastrointestinal distress. This is why most studies and recommendations suggest breaking 20-25-grams into smaller and easier-to-digest doses, spread out across the entire day (22).

Summary: Creatine must be loaded in the muscle to benefit performance. For fastest results, load with 0.03g/kg of body weight, split over four doses, for 5-7 days. After that, reduce intake to around 0.03g/kg of body weight daily.

WHEN TO USE CREATINE

With many supplements, the timing of when you use the supplement influences effectiveness. For instance, a pre-workout drink typically includes one or more supplements that allow for acute improvements, meaning, you see the effect immediately after use.

Creatine, however, is not meant to work after a single dose. This, again, is why many studies employ a loading period to ensure that muscle is saturated as quickly as possible.

One study on the subject did, however, show that when participants used creatine in the post-workout period, there was a non-significant trend for more significant improvements of strength and lean mass, compared to using creatine pre-workout (23).

The reason for this trend is likely because the muscle is more receptive to nutrients after contraction, allowing creatine to enter the muscle more readily (24).

However, once the muscle is saturated with CrP, it's unlikely that the timing of creatine use will make much difference unless you're competing in multiple events over 1-2 days, where the timing of nutrient replenishment is paramount.

Based on the current evidence, it’s recommended that you prioritize using creatine post-workout during the loading period to maximize saturation. Once you reach the maintenance phase of creatine use, the best practice will be to use it at the time that you’re able to do so consistently.

WHICH FORM OF CREATINE IS BEST?

Since creatine has become one of the more popular sports supplements, researchers and manufacturers have begun searching for better and more effective versions for both study and sale. Because of creatine's popularity, we've seen the emergence of different creatine such as creatine HCL, micronized creatine, and creatine ethyl ester, in addition to others.

The truth, however, is that the vast majority of research covers the use of creatine monohydrate, which happens to be the cheapest and arguably, most effective form of creatine.

Simply, many of the other forms of creatine are more expensive, unproven, and frankly, not necessary. For example, creatine HCL is simply creatine bound with hydrochloric acid; the same substance found in the stomach. Users suggest that because of this reality, required doses would likely be smaller than simply using creatine monohydrate. However, the difference in price is likely not worth the trouble.

Additionally, many people attempt to argue that different forms of creatine will work faster or “better” than monohydrate. But the speed that your muscles become saturated is mostly irrelevant in the long run. Once muscles are saturated, they’ll likely stay that way with maintenance dosing.

Do understand that other forms of creatine may work differently for each individual using it, and as research progresses, we may learn that one form is better than the other.

In fact, some people have found supplementing with creatine monohydrate to result in bloating while the same doses of creatine HCL do not. Everyone has individual responses to supplements, so one may work better for your situation.

However, since creatine monohydrate has the most evidence and is ironically the cheapest option, it's best to stick with it until evidence suggests there is a superior option or unless it’s a requirement to try a different form.

Summary: While there are many different types of creatine available, your first choice should be creatine monohydrate due to its affordability and effectiveness. Other forms should be saved for experimentation or as alternatives.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS

IS CYCLING CREATINE NECESSARY?

Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that cycling creatine is necessary. Creatine is found in many regular food sources such as meat protein, and the body already utilizes stored creatine phosphate, regardless of supplementation.

When you supplement with creatine, you're simply maximizing the amount of creatine phosphate present in the muscle, essentially helping to optimize a process that naturally occurs.

To see more on creatine loading and cycling, see our blog post, "How To Properly Cycle Creatine".

CREATINE CAN INCREASE WATER WEIGHT

Importantly, creatine has been reported to result in excess water retention. This, unsurprisingly, can lead to increased weight gain with use. Fortunately for performance, this isn't much of an issue. After all, a hydrated muscle will contract more readily than a dehydrated one (25, 26).

Just keep this reality in mind if you’re attempting to improve your physical appearance for a bodybuilding show or participate in a sport that regularly requires weight cuts.

FINAL WORD ON CREATINE

Creatine is the king of supplements available and that's no fluke. With an abundance of research indicating a strong influence on lean mass, strength, and power, it's arguably one of the most important supplements an athlete can use.

Keep in mind that creatine works by saturating the muscle and requires consistent use. With regular supplementation and a sound training program, you can expect to improve different metrics of performance at a faster rate than training alone.

Recover Surge post workout supplement with creatine.

References:

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Bartolomei, S., Stout, J. R., Fukuda, D. H., Hoffman, J. R., & Merni, F. (2015). Block vs. weekly undulating periodized resistance training programs in women. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 29(10), 2679-2687.
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Rønnestad, B. R., Hansen, J., Thyli, V., Bakken, T. A., & Sandbakk, Ø. (2016). 5‐week block periodization increases aerobic power in elite cross‐country skiers. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 26(2), 140-146.