Does creatine improve endurance performance?

Introduction

Creatine supplementation is widely recognized for its potential to enhance athletic performance, particularly in high-intensity, short-duration activities. However, its effects on endurance performance remain a topic of debate. This synthesis aims to analyze the existing research to determine whether creatine improves endurance performance.

Key Insights

Improvement in Lactate Threshold and Anaerobic Performance:
- Creatine supplementation significantly increased the lactate threshold in elite rowers, indicating improved endurance performance.
- Enhanced anaerobic performance was also observed, with athletes able to sustain high-intensity efforts for longer durations.
Enhanced Endurance in Animal Models:
- In trained rats, creatine supplementation significantly increased running endurance, suggesting potential benefits for endurance performance in humans.
No Significant Improvement in Endurance Running Performance:
- Studies on handball players and soccer players found no significant improvement in endurance running performance following creatine supplementation .
- Similarly, creatine did not enhance submaximal aerobic training adaptations in healthy young men and women.
Mixed Results in Military and Obstacle Course Performance:
- Creatine supplementation improved performance in controlled strength tests but did not significantly enhance military obstacle course performance.
No Effect on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Parameters:
- Creatine supplementation did not influence cardiovascular system metrics, oxygen uptake, or blood lactate concentration during endurance exercise in triathletes.

Conclusion

The evidence on creatine's impact on endurance performance is mixed. While some studies indicate improvements in specific endurance metrics like lactate threshold and running endurance in animal models, others show no significant benefits in human endurance running performance or submaximal aerobic adaptations. Overall, creatine may offer some advantages in endurance performance, particularly in activities that involve high-intensity efforts, but its effectiveness appears to be limited and context-dependent.

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Does creatine improve endurance performance?

Summary

Consensus Meter

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Effect of creatine supplementation on aerobic performance and anaerobic capacity in elite rowers in the course of endurance training.

Creatine supplementation improves endurance and anaerobic performance in elite rowers, regardless of the effect of intensive endurance training.

Effects of creatine supplementation on muscle power, endurance, and sprint performance.

Creatine supplementation improves lower-body strength, repetitive high-power exercise bouts, and sprint performance in highly trained handball players, but does not affect upper-body strength or endurance running performance.

Creatine Supplementation Enhances Endurance Performance in Trained Rats

Creatine supplementation significantly enhances endurance performance in trained male rats, potentially improving athletes' performances.

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.

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.

Creatine supplementation improves sprint performance in male sprinters

Creatine supplementation improves sprint performance in male sprinters, potentially due to increased skeletal muscle creatine phosphate (PCr).

Effect of creatine supplementation on sprint exercise performance and muscle metabolism.

Creatine supplementation increased muscle total creatine content but did not improve sprint performance or alter anaerobic muscle metabolism.

The Effect of Creatine Monohydrate Supplementation on Obstacle Course and Multiple Bench Press Performance

Creatine supplementation over 5 days improved bench press performance but did not significantly improve military obstacle course performance.

Creatine supplementation does not enhance submaximal aerobic training adaptations in healthy young men and women

Creatine supplementation does not significantly enhance submaximal aerobic training adaptations or improve endurance performance in healthy young men and women.

Creatine supplementation in endurance sports.

Creatine supplementation at 6 g daily improves short-term interval power performance in aerobic endurance exercise without affecting cardiovascular system, oxygen uptake, and blood lactate concentration.

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