The metabolic effects of supplemental creatine

Abstract

Creatine supplementation at recommended levels exerts the following three effects: improves repetitive performance in muscular strength and short-term power activities, augments short bursts of muscular endurance, provides greater muscular overload to enhance training effectiveness. Research has determined the effects of creatine supplementation plus resistance training on body composition, muscle fibber hypertrophy and exercise performance adaptation. The aim of the study is to estimate the metabolic effects of supplemental creatine. 12 athletes were recruited for this study. Supplementation consisted of 25 g (g) daily for 10 days, followed by maintenance with 5 g daily. The athletes were engaged in resistance training for 12 weeks. Body mass increases of between 0.5 and 2.3 kg often accompany creatine supplementation. In this study the creatine supplementation produced no detrimental effect on systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides, serum HDL- cholesterol, serum creatinine and urea.

Key words:

creatine supplementation, athletes, metabolic effects.