Effects of Creatine Supplementation during Resistance Training Sessions in Physically Active Young Adults

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 12; no. 6; p. 1880
• Main Authors: Mills, Scotty, Candow, Darren G, Forbes, Scott C, Neary, J Patrick, Ormsbee, Michael J, Antonio, Jose
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 24.06.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Ankle; Chest; Creatine; Creatine - administration & dosage; Creatine - pharmacology; Dietary Supplements; Double-Blind Method; Drug dosages; Elbow; endurance; Exercise; Exercise - physiology; Female; Flexors; Humans; Ingestion; intra-workout; Jumping; Leg; Male; muscle mass; Muscle strength; Muscle Strength - drug effects; Muscle, Skeletal - physiology; Muscular fatigue; Muscular function; Physical fitness; Physical training; power; Power plants; Resistance Training; Skeletal muscle; strength; Strength training; Variance analysis; Young Adult; Young adults; muscle mass; power; strength; endurance; intra-workout
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu12061880

The purpose was to examine the effects of creatine supplementation during resistance training sessions on skeletal muscle mass and exercise performance in physically active young adults. Twenty-two participants were randomized to supplement with creatine (CR: = 13, 26 ± 4 yrs; 0.0055 g·kg post training set) or placebo (PLA: = 9, 26 ± 5 yrs; 0.0055 g·kg post training set) during six weeks of resistance training (18 sets per training session; five days per week). Prior to and following training and supplementation, measurements were made for muscle thickness (elbow and knee flexors/extensors, ankle plantarflexors), power (vertical jump and medicine ball throw), strength (leg press and chest press one-repetition maximum (1-RM)) and muscular endurance (one set of repetitions to volitional fatigue using 50% baseline 1-RM for leg press and chest press). The creatine group experienced a significant increase ( < 0.05) in leg press, chest press and total body strength and leg press endurance with no significant changes in the PLA group. Both groups improved total body endurance over time ( < 0.05), with greater gains observed in the creatine group. In conclusion, creatine ingestion during resistance training sessions is a viable strategy for improving muscle strength and some indices of muscle endurance in physically active young adults.