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Creatine Boosts Effects Of Weight Training

Although more than 300 studies have been conducted on creatine monohydrate since 1993, the majority of them lasted no longer than a month and lacked muscle anatomical/biochemical measurements.

A new 12-week study, conducted by Jeff Volek, Ph.D., of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, in collaboration with colleagues from Ohio University in Athens and the University of Melbourne in Australia, tracked the health of 18 weight-trained males through a combined supplementation/ weight training program. The subjects, whose average age was 25, did not use creatine or anabolic steroids prior to the study. They were randomly and blindly assigned to receive either placebo or creatine monohydrate, provided by Muscular Development of Hauppauge, N.Y., a TwinLab company, which also provided partial funding for the study.

Ten subjects took 25 g of creatine monohydrate/day (divided in five doses) for seven days and then 5 g/day for 11 weeks. The placebo group took an equal number of capsules throughout. All subjects participated in a supervised 12-week resistance-training program. Baseline measures included muscle performance (bench press and squat); body composition; and a muscle biopsy to determine muscle fiber cross-sectional area and fiber type as well as muscle ATP, creatine and phosphocreatine content. After weeks one and 12, muscle performance and body composition were measured again; biopsies were performed only after week 12.

The results, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise [1999 Aug;31(8):1147-56], showed 12 weeks of creatine supplementation had no side effects and significantly increased muscle, or fat-free, mass and maximal bench press strength compared with placebo. Muscle mass was also greater in the creatine group after the first week. The muscle gains seen at week 12 appeared to be due, in part, to increases in muscle fiber size. Interestingly, the creatine group showed a declining trend in muscle creatine and phosphocreatine after 12 weeks of training. The researchers postulated this was due either to a decrease in muscle creatine uptake or a need for a higher maintenance dose to keep the creatine-loaded state.