For a long time now creatine has been used by bodybuilders and strength athletes due to the unique, research-supported properties that creatine has. This has meant that many people who take part in non-strength or power sports who might benefit from creatine have tended to avoid or dismiss using it as a supplement, as it is often simply branded as a strength supplement.
So, how does creatine work? Creatine, when taken as a supplement, is taken up inside the muscle cells and there it binds to phosphate, which creates phosphocreatine (PCR). This is important as it allows more phosphate to be stored in the muscle and phosphate is an important molecule in the production of energy. Our energy currency is called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and it is the release of a phosphate ion that produces energy for muscle movement. This process converts ATP to ADP (adenosine diphosphate) and in order to be recycled to produce ATP for more energy, ADP needs to regain a phosphate ion. The more phosphate we can store in the muscle, the quicker this recycling process can take place.
Now, ATP can be regenerated from both the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats, but this takes a relatively longer amount of time than stealing the phosphate from phosphocreatine stored in the muscle. It is for this reason the body uses phosphocreatine for high demand, rapid energy production, before carbs and fats can get in on the act, to regenerate ATP. However, this ATP-PCR system only provides a small amount of energy for short bursts of high demand activity, although by increasing PCR levels in the muscle we can sustain high demand, high intensity activity for longer, which can equate to greater performance in these kind of activities and greater explosive power and strength as a result.
The notions of improvement of strength and power are demonstrated through creatine supplementation in many studies, for many people, this means that those who take part in endurance or mixed-sports (those that contain strength and endurance components) feel it is not going to be beneficial for them. However, even within those sports, there are going to be times when you need to pull on those reserves to ‘kick on’ and produce moments of explosive power or sprint for the finish and this is where creatine can potentially give them the edge. Studies on the effects of creatine on endurance performance often give mixed results when working consistently at sub-maximal intensities, which often constitute a bulk of the work when looking at endurance performance. What is interesting for endurance athletes is that in studies that have used an activity that contains bursts of high intensity work, creatine has a much more notable effect on improving performance.
Because creatine can give an increase in water retention, as it pulls water into the muscles, some people worry that the increase weight can reduce power to weight ratios, and this might affect performance, especially in sports like running. However, this is likely to only be a few lbs in weight and it has also been suggested that the extra hydration might be beneficial for performance, even in endurance sports activities by helping to reduce cramping and increased nutrient delivery. Even if there are concerns over water weight affecting performance, creatine can still be used during training phases that support development of the sprint or power aspects of a sport and then be taken out closer to the event which will reduce body weight, but some of the training effects gained will still be evident.
Whatever your sport or fitness goal, there is a potential benefit to using creatine throughout various stages of training and competition. If you are interested in giving creatine a try, then supplementation with creatine monohydrate at around 5g per day is the recommended dosage of supplement, and this should typically be taken after training. For those wanting to feel the effects quicker, a ‘loading phase’ can be employed where 20-25g of creatine is taken for a period of five to seven days. Although this is not essential, it just means that the muscles become saturated with creatine to maximum capacity quicker, but this will eventually occur even with smaller doses.
Paul Rimmer (BSc, MSc, PhD).
