Many sports people, from serious athletes to recreational trainers, now use various
forms of creatine supplementation to enhance their training and contest
performance. Many of the published studies on performance enhancement have
been based on anaerobic disciplines that require explosive energy over a short
period of time, such as sprinting. The role of creatine and its benefits really first
became Public knowledge when it was found that several British athletes, including
Linford Christie, Colin Jackson and Sally Gunnell were using it to enhance their
performance at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Since the interest in creatine
became worldwide numerous studies have been carried out, most of which
conclude that its effects are beneficial and varied. They include:
increased lean muscle tissue mass has been reported in subjects who use
supplementation
increased levels of glycogen uptake within the muscles of athletes who supplement
with creatine has been reported
it has been suggested that creatine can actually cause cell-volumisation. This is due
to the action of creatine drawing more water into the cell, also referred to as super-
hydration. Scientific studies show that this state within the muscle may trigger
protein synthesis,
it is thought that creatine could delay lactic acid build up, but this has not proved
conclusive in scientific studies
Finally there has been a case that received worldwide coverage in the newspapers
as well as specialist training magazines. It highlighted the fact that three college
wrestlers in the U.S.A. died from heart attacks, and it was known that they had been
supplementing with creatine. There has been no correlation found between the two
factors, and it is widely accepted that many athletes in sports such as wrestling use
drugs such as anabolic steroids to enhance performance. The use of diuretics is also
prevalent, as it is often necessary to drop weight drastically in order to compete in a
specific weight division. In Britain the use of creatine supplementation became
front-page news when it was revealed that the England football team had been
using it to enhance performance. No evidence of side effects has been proven, and
it is rarely stated that it is in fact a naturally occurring substance within our bodies
and in the food that we eat. It may be worth considering if the team had in-fact won
the world cup would such a fuss have been made?
There are many forms of creatine supplementation available on the market, and
many brands to choose from. The more widely recognised form to be found is
creatine monohydrate, which is a creatine molecule bonded to a single water
molecule. This delivers the maximum amount of pure creatine for its molecular
weight. Also available, at least in the U.S.A., are creatine citrate (which is a more
soluble compound) and creatine phosphate (which will deliver phosphate groups
along with the creatine). It seems that creatine monohydrate is the preferred
delivery medium for creatine supplementation and all of the controlled scientific
studies have used this form.