Does creatine impact athletic performance?

Introduction

Creatine supplementation is widely used in the athletic community to enhance performance. This synthesis examines the impact of creatine on various aspects of athletic performance, including strength, sprinting, endurance, and recovery, based on data from multiple research studies.

Key Insights

Short-Duration, High-Intensity Exercise:
- Creatine supplementation improves performance in repeated short-duration, high-intensity activities such as cycling sprints and weight lifting by increasing myofibrillar protein synthesis and enhancing ATP resynthesis .
Strength and Power:
- Significant improvements in maximal strength, power production, and work output have been observed with creatine supplementation, particularly in resistance training and sprinting activities .
Sprint Performance:
- Mixed results are reported for single sprint performance, but creatine consistently enhances repeated sprint performance and reduces fatigue in activities like soccer and intermittent sprint running .
Endurance and Submaximal Exercise:
- Creatine does not appear to benefit endurance or submaximal exercise performance and may even be detrimental due to weight gain from water retention .
Recovery and Muscle Damage:
- Creatine supplementation may speed up recovery time between bouts of intense exercise by mitigating muscle damage and promoting faster recovery of lost force-production potential .
Individual Variability:
- There are responders and non-responders to creatine supplementation, with greater benefits observed in individuals with lower initial creatine levels, such as vegetarians.

Conclusion

Creatine supplementation is effective in enhancing performance in short-duration, high-intensity exercises and improving strength and power. It is particularly beneficial for repeated sprint activities and resistance training. However, it does not enhance endurance performance and may lead to weight gain, which could be detrimental in mass-dependent sports. Individual responses to creatine can vary, with some individuals experiencing more significant benefits than others.

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Does creatine impact athletic performance?

Summary

Consensus Meter

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Oral Creatine Supplementation and Athletic Performance: A Critical Review

Oral creatine supplementation shows ergogenic effects in maximal stationary cycling sprints, but its effects on mass-dependent activities like running and swimming remain inconclusive, and its effects on strength in weight lifting require further study.

Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Exercise Performance

Creatine supplementation may enhance short-term energy and muscle resynthesis during high-intensity exercises, but its effects on endurance and incremental exercises remain inconclusive.

Effect of Creatine Supplementation on Intermittent Sprint Running Performance in Highly Trained Athletes

Creatine supplementation does not have a significant ergogenic effect on single or repeated 40-m sprint times in highly trained athletes.

Creatine for Exercise and Sports Performance, with Recovery Considerations for Healthy Populations

Creatine supplementation improves short-duration, high-intensity exercise performance and may speed up recovery time, but its benefits during endurance exercise and tasks with increased body mass may be contradictory.

Creatine Use in Sports

Creatine supplementation is safe and effective for short-duration, maximal-intensity resistance training, but its long-term safety and impact on sports performance remain unclear.

Creatine supplementation and sprint performance in soccer players.

Creatine supplementation improves repeated sprint performance and limits the decay in jumping ability in highly trained soccer players, but does not affect intermittent endurance performance.

Effect of Oral Creatine Supplementation on Jumping and Running Performance

Oral creatine supplementation significantly enhances performance in sprinters and jumpers, improving their maximal power output and endurance.

Acute creatine supplementation and performance during a field test simulating match play in elite female soccer players.

Acute creatine supplementation improved performance in repeated sprint and agility tasks simulated soccer match play, despite an increase in body mass.

International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine

Creatine supplementation improves exercise performance, enhances recovery, and is safe and well-tolerated for use in healthy individuals and various patient populations.

Creatine supplementation during resistance training in college football athletes.

Creatine supplementation during resistance training improves cell hydration and enhances performance in college football athletes compared to training alone.

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