The Effect of Continuous Low Dose Creatine Supplementation on Force, Power, and Total Work
in International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise MetabolismClick name to view affiliation
Dietary supplementation (SUP) has become a significant part of athletic training. Studies indicate that creatine (Cr) can enhance short-duration, high-intensity activities. This study examined the effect of 21 days of low dose Cr SUP (~7.7 g/day) and resistance training on force output, power output, duration of mean peak power output, and total work performed until fatigue. A double-blind protocol was used, where an individual, who was not part of any other aspect of the study, randomly assigned subjects to creatine and placebo groups. Forty-one male university athletes were randomly assigned to either Cr (n= 20) or placebo (n = 21) SUP. On the first and last day of the study, subjects were required to perform concentric bench press movements until exhaustion on an isokinetic dynamometer. The dynamometer was hard-wired to a personal computer, which provided force, velocity, and duration measures. Force and power output until fatigue, were used to determine total work, force-time, and power-time relationships. ANOVA results revealed that the Cr subjects performed more total work until fatigue, experienced significantly greater improvements in peak force and peak power, and maintained elevated mean peak power for a longer period of time. These results indicate that Cr SUP can significantly improve factors associated with short-duration, high-intensity activity.
D.G. Burke is with the Department of Human Kinetics at St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, S7N 5C2, Canada, and the College of Kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. S. Silver is with the Department of Human Kinetics at St. Francis Xavier University. L.E. Holt is with the School of Health and Human Performance at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3J5, Canada. T. Smith-Palmer is with Department of Chemistry at St. Francis Xavier University. C.J. Culligan is with the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University. P.D. Chilibeck is with the College of Kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatcheewan, SK S7N 4L3, Canada.
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