Creatine Builds Muscle

Title: Performance and muscle fiber adaptations to creatine supplementation and heavy resistance training.

Researchers: Volek JS, Duncan ND, Mazzetti SA, Staron RS, Putukian M, Gomez AL, Pearson DR, Fink WJ, Kraemer WJ.

Institution: Department of Kinesiology/Center for Sports Medicine, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA. Source: Med Sci Sports Exerc 1999 Aug;31(8):1147-56 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut

Summary: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of creatine supplementation in conjunction with resistance training on muscle fiber hypertrophy and muscle creatine accumulation.

Methods: Nineteen healthy resistance-trained men were matched and then randomly assigned in a double-blind fashion to either a creatine or placebo group. Periodized heavy resistance training was performed for 12 wk. Creatine or placebo capsules were consumed (25 g x d(-1)) for 1 wk followed by a maintenance dose (5 g x d(-1)) for the remainder of the training period.

Results: After 12 wk, significant increases in body mass and fat-free mass were greater in creatine (6.3% and 6.3%, respectively) than placebo (3.6% and 3.1%, respectively) subjects. After 12 wk, increases in bench press and squat were greater in creatine (24% and 32%, respectively) than placebo (16% and 24%, respectively) subjects. Compared with placebo subjects, creatine subjects demonstrated significantly greater increases in Type I (35% vs 11%), IIA (36% vs 15%), and IIAB (35% vs 6%) muscle fiber cross-sectional areas. Muscle total creatine concentrations were unchanged in placebo subjects. Muscle creatine was significantly elevated after 1 wk in creatine subjects (22%), and values remained significantly greater than placebo subjects after 12 wk. Average volume lifted in the bench press during training was significantly greater in creatine subjects during weeks 5-8. No negative side effects to the supplementation were reported.

Conclusion: Creatine supplementation enhanced fat-free mass, physical performance, and muscle morphology in response to heavy resistance training.

Discussion: Creatine is a naturally occurring compound made within our own bodies. It is also found in many foods we eat, especially meat. Creatine monohydrate has been used as a dietary supplement for at least a decade now, though it was first discovered nearly 170 years ago.

People seem to want to pigeonhole creatine into some sort of hit-or-miss water-retention supplement. Creatine is so much more than that. Creatine is truly one of the greatest supplements there is for building muscle and strength.

There was significant weight gain in this study. The creatine group "loaded" creatine the first 7 days. This was followed by 5 grams per day thereafter. One would expect a significantly greater weight gain the first week over placebo simply because of the well known effect of creatine loading on acute intracellular water retention (cell volumizing). But if this was the only way creatine lead to weight gain, this accelerated weight gain should have tapered off by the end of the first week, then stayed parallel to the placebo group through week 12. Instead, the acceleration of weight gain continued throughout the entire study period reaching nearly 10 pounds of lean mass by week 12! The placebo group gained only 4—in the same period. The creatine group literally doubled their muscle growth by using creatine. This means that creatine continued to effect lean mass gains long after its initial effect on water levels. This increase in body weight was then demonstrated to be true hypertrophy of muscle fibers.

In this study they were able to show, that in trained subjects, creatine supplementation increased muscle mass by nearly twice as much as placebo. Type I muscle fibers increased 35% with creatine but only 11% without it. Likewise, type IIA increased 36% compared to 15%. And finally, Type IIAB fibers increased 35% with creatine supplementation compared to only 6% without it. So on average, creatine supplementation produced 3 times the percentage of muscle fiber growth as placebo. You'd have to be a fool to ignore that!

There's no time to go into the many of other beneficial effects of creatine monohydrate. Suffice it to say, we will be taking a closer look at a lot of research on creatine in the issues to come. Stay tuned!

Reference: http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/HSreport/iss01/