Justin Frost

Nutrition 302
Research Paper

Creatine’s effect of athletic performance on adults

The objective of performance enhancing supplements is to take something and make it better,

by making it bigger, stronger, and faster. People who have not heard of creatine supplementation you

will soon. It is considered and viewed as a muscular performance enhancer, and there is scientific

information to support this evidence. Often the latest and trendy supplements turn out to do nothing or

even worse are harmful to one’s body. Creatine supplementation offers short-term limited benefits,

whether or not it is harmful to ones health is yet to be fully determined. The important concept to

remember is to understand creatine supplementation is to realize that it only helps with certain

activities, physical activities.

To understand how creatine effects athletic performance its important to understand what

creatine is, and how it is used in the body. To start we begin with the fundamentals. Creatine consists of

three amino acids: arginine, glycine and methionine. Our bodies naturally produce creatine to supply

our muscles with energy. After production in the kidneys, liver, and pancreas, creatine flows to our

muscles via the blood stream. When muscle cells generate mechanical work a chemical reaction takes

place that releases energy. During this chemical reaction a molecule called Adenosine Triphoshphate

is broken down in and divided into Adenosine Diphosphate and Phosphate. This is an exothermic

reaction in which releases energy.

Adenosine Triphosphate is used by muscle cells very rapidly and there is only an limited

amount, usually only enough for a few seconds of highly intense work. Once the Adenosine
Triphosphate is not available the work ends. In turn the human body has multiple ways to manifest and

convert Adenosine Diphosphate back to Adenosine Triphosphate.

Creatine, in respect to converting Adenosine Diphosphate back to Adenosine Triphosphate is a

key component of the energy compound Phosphocreatine which functions as a storage of high energy

phosphate. “In fact, over half of the creatine in muscle at rest is in the form of Phosphocreatine”( 2 ).

So what happens is the Phosphocreatine replenishes Adenosine Triphosphate in a muscle that is

contracting . Remember, that muscle contractions require energy, and that energy is obtained by the

hydrolysis of Adenosine Triphosphate. The key, is that Adenosine Triphosphate in muscle can only

suffice energy for a fraction of a second. But, with Phosphocreatine stored in the muscle and containing

a higher phosphate group transfer potential than Adenosine Triphosphate, Phosphocreatine can transfer

a phosphate group catalyzed by Creatine Kinase to Adenosine Diphosphate thus reforming Adenosine

Triphosphate and helping the regeneration process of Adenosine Triphosphate. With that said, a more

effective and efficient regeneration process Adenosine Triphosphate is going to provide more energy

available for muscular activity.

So, high levels of Phosphocreatine in one’s body will keep Adenosine Triphosphate levels up

for several extra seconds, which allows longer work potential (6). Now that this concept is understood

we can begin to go in to how this type of supplementation could help someone break through physical

barriers beyond their natural physiological potential. Just based on science alone it seems if a human

being has the ability to work harder and faster than their normal ability, then that person would

physically adapt and grow accordingly to their new physical demands. Dr. Richard Kreider states,

“Athletes can increase the amount of creatine in muscle by taking creatine supplements. Although some

studies report no ergogenic effect, most indicate that creatine supplementation (e.g. 20 g per day for 5
to 7 days) increases sprint performance by 1-5% and work performed in repeated sprints by up to 15%.

These ergogenic effects appear to be related to the extent of uptake of creatine into muscle. Creatine

supplementation for a month or two during training has been reported to promote further gains in sprint

performance (5-8%), as well as gains in strength (5-15%) and lean body mass (1-3%)”( 1 ). In his

typical study, a creatine dose of 5 g was given four times a day for five to seven days to ensure that

muscle creatine increases.

Another study based on research from Katholieke University in Belgium they state, “the daily

oral ingestion of supplementary creatine monohydrate can substantially elevate the creatine content of

human skeletal muscle. The major part of the elevation of muscle creatine content is already obtained

after one week of supplementation, and the response can be further enhanced by a concomitant exercise

or insulin stimulus.

The elevated muscle creatine content moderately improves contractile performance in sports

with repeated high-intensity exercise bouts. More chronic ergogenic effects of creatine are to be

expected when combined with several weeks of training. A more pronounced muscle hypertrophy and a

faster recovery from atrophy have been demonstrated in humans involved in resistance training”( 4 ).

So based on these two research studies the elevated levels of creatine in ones body helped the subject

progress physically, and the longer they use creatine supplementation the overall body mass increased.

The science explained earlier in this paper seems to be backed up by research and real results.

Another research study was done by Oklahoma University in respect to the effects of creatine

supplementation and three days of resistance training on muscle strength, power output, and

neuromuscular function. The study consisted of twenty-five men, thier age was 21 +/- 3 years, stature

= 177 +/- 6 cm, and body mass = 80 +/- 12 kg.( 5 ) “It was a 9-day, double-blind, placebo-controlled

study and were randomly assigned to either the creatine (CRE; n = 13) or placebo (PLA; n = 12) group.
The CRE group ingested the treatment drink (280 kcal; 68 g carbohydrate; 10.5 g creatine), whereas the

PLA group received an isocaloric placebo (70 g carbohydrate). Two servings per day morning and

afternoon were administered in the laboratory on days 1-6, with only 1 serving on days 7-8. Before and

after resistance training was performed to measure the effectiveness of creatine in correlation to

performance. “Such as maximal voluntary concentric isokinetic leg extensions at 30, 150, and 270

degrees x s(-1) were performed.

Three sets of 10 repetitions at 150 degrees x s(-1) were performed on days 3, 5, and 7. Peak

torque increased (p = 0.005; eta(2) = 0.296), whereas acceleration time decreased (p < 0.001; eta(2) =

0.620), from pre-training to post training for both the CRE and PLA groups ( 5 ).

“Peak torque increased by 13% and 6%, whereas acceleration time decreased by 42% and 34%

for the CRE and PLA groups. These results indicated that 3 days of isokinetic resistance training was

sufficient to elicit small, but significant, improvements in peak strength (PT) and acceleration for both

the CRE and PLA groups. Although the greater relative improvements in Peak torque and Acceleration

time and for the CRE group were not statistically significant, these findings may be useful for

rehabilitation or strength and conditioning professionals who may need to rapidly increase the strength

of a patient or athlete within 9 days”.( 5 )

These results from those research study’s are fairly typical of all experiments done on this topic,

the subjects all tend to have some slight or significant increase in performance rather its speed or

strength. The science is definitive, if it mechanically aids a physiological mechanism then its going to

work. So, these creatine effects are those based on sound scientific theory and backed up by well-

controlled studies. A number of studies on creatine and athletic performance have clearly shown that its

benefits are limited to anaerobic sports such as like weight lifting, sprinting and jumping ( 3 ). No

direct performance benefit of creatine has been shown for endurance athletes.
 Although increased muscle mass could conceivably enhance endurance performance, the weight

gain from water and muscle weight may even result in a decline in performance. The benefits of

creatine are likely to be due to an increased ability to train harder, thus increasing strength. This might

be good news to athletes who are training intensely, but it means that creatine alone would probably

have very little effect on the muscle mass of sedentary individuals. A significant gain in physical

performance in high-intensity exercise has been shown with creatine doses of 20 to 30 g/day. Creatine

has the best effect on people with physically active lifestyles.

In my opinion which is a reflects personal experience and use of creatine, plus the results from

the research acknowledged previously in this paper. It would be and accurate statement to say that with

a proper work regimen and diet, creatine can help an athlete break through personal barriers. Creatine

will enhance the performance of adults.