Creatine improves bike sprint performance

In competitive sprint cycling, winners and losers are separated by the smallest fraction of a second. New Australian research shows how creatine can help cyclists gain the winning edge.

 

Creatine, a naturally occurring substance made from amino acids, has been heartily embraced by elite sports competitors and bodybuilders for its ability to boost energy and pump the muscle cells.

 

Ingested creatine monohydrate converts in the body to creatine phosphate, which accelerates synthesis of ATP, the energy molecule. Intense physical activity rapidly depletes creatine phosphate and creatine monohydrate is believed to assist in replenishing this supply.

 

A team of researchers from the University of Western Australia and the WA Institute of Sport tested for enhanced long-term sprint exercise performance and metabolism in a group of creatine users. Their findings are published in the April Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

 

Fourteen active but not well-trained men performed ten sprints each of five or six-seconds with varying recovery times (24, 54 or 84 seconds) over an 80-minute period.

 

Muscle biopsies and blood and urine samples were taken before, during and after the sprints, enabling researchers to assess work done (in kilojoules burned) and peak power (in watts).

 

Seven men supplemented with 20g creatine monohydrate per day, while seven took a placebo.

 

The researchers found that total work done increased significantly in the creatine group from 251.7kJ to 266.9kJ - a 6 percent increase. Peak power was also significantly increased in the creatine group, authors of the study reported. No significant change was recorded in the placebo group.

 

Authors of the bike sprint study tested for the presence of creatine phosphate after supplementation. They found that resting muscle concentrations of phosphocreatine increased 12.5 percent with total creatine increasing 48.9 percent. Phosphocreatine was significantly higher immediately and three minutes after completion of exercise in the creatine group.