Work Sample

Justin Frost Nutrition 302 Research Paper

Creatine’s effect of athletic performance on adults The objective of performance enhancing supplements is to take something and make it better, by making it bigger, stronger, and faster. People who have not heard of creatine supplementation you will soon. It is considered and viewed as a muscular performance enhancer, and there is scientific information to support this evidence. Often the latest and trendy supplements turn out to do nothing or even worse are harmful to one’s body. Creatine supplementation offers short-term limited benefits, whether or not it is harmful to ones health is yet to be fully determined. The important concept to remember is to understand creatine supplementation is to realize that it only helps with certain activities, physical activities. To understand how creatine effects athletic performance its important to understand what creatine is, and how it is used in the body. To start we begin with the fundamentals. Creatine consists of three amino acids: arginine, glycine and methionine. Our bodies naturally produce creatine to supply our muscles with energy. After production in the kidneys, liver, and pancreas, creatine flows to our muscles via the blood stream. When muscle cells generate mechanical work a chemical reaction takes place that releases energy. During this chemical reaction a molecule called Adenosine Triphoshphate is broken down in and divided into Adenosine Diphosphate and Phosphate. This is an exothermic reaction in which releases energy.

Adenosine Triphosphate is used by muscle cells very rapidly and there is only an limited amount, usually only enough for a few seconds of highly intense work. Once the Adenosine

Triphosphate is not available the work ends. In turn the human body has multiple ways to manifest and convert Adenosine Diphosphate back to Adenosine Triphosphate. Creatine, in respect to converting Adenosine Diphosphate back to Adenosine Triphosphate is a key component of the energy compound Phosphocreatine which functions as a storage of high energy phosphate. “In fact, over half of the creatine in muscle at rest is in the form of Phosphocreatine”( 2 ). So what happens is the Phosphocreatine replenishes Adenosine Triphosphate in a muscle that is contracting . Remember, that muscle contractions require energy, and that energy is obtained by the hydrolysis of Adenosine Triphosphate. The key, is that Adenosine Triphosphate in muscle can only suffice energy for a fraction of a second. But, with Phosphocreatine stored in the muscle and containing a higher phosphate group transfer potential than Adenosine Triphosphate, Phosphocreatine can transfer a phosphate group catalyzed by Creatine Kinase to Adenosine Diphosphate thus reforming Adenosine Triphosphate and helping the regeneration process of Adenosine Triphosphate. With that said, a more effective and efficient regeneration process Adenosine Triphosphate is going to provide more energy available for muscular activity.

So, high levels of Phosphocreatine in one’s body will keep Adenosine Triphosphate levels up for several extra seconds, which allows longer work potential (6). Now that this concept is understood we can begin to go in to how this type of supplementation could help someone break through physical barriers beyond their natural physiological potential. Just based on science alone it seems if a human being has the ability to work harder and faster than their normal ability, then that person would physically adapt and grow accordingly to their new physical demands. Dr. Richard Kreider states, “Athletes can increase the amount of creatine in muscle by taking creatine supplements. Although some studies report no ergogenic effect, most indicate that creatine supplementation (e.g. 20 g per day for 5

to 7 days) increases sprint performance by 1-5% and work performed in repeated sprints by up to 15%. These ergogenic effects appear to be related to the extent of uptake of creatine into muscle. Creatine supplementation for a month or two during training has been reported to promote further gains in sprint performance (5-8%), as well as gains in strength (5-15%) and lean body mass (1-3%)”( 1 ). In his typical study, a creatine dose of 5 g was given four times a day for five to seven days to ensure that muscle creatine increases. Another study based on research from Katholieke University in Belgium they state, “the daily oral ingestion of supplementary creatine monohydrate can substantially elevate the creatine content of human skeletal muscle. The major part of the elevation of muscle creatine content is already obtained after one week of supplementation, and the response can be further enhanced by a concomitant exercise or insulin stimulus.

The elevated muscle creatine content moderately improves contractile performance in sports with repeated high-intensity exercise bouts. More chronic ergogenic effects of creatine are to be expected when combined with several weeks of training. A more pronounced muscle hypertrophy and a faster recovery from atrophy have been demonstrated in humans involved in resistance training”( 4 ). So based on these two research studies the elevated levels of creatine in ones body helped the subject progress physically, and the longer they use creatine supplementation the overall body mass increased. The science explained earlier in this paper seems to be backed up by research and real results. Another research study was done by Oklahoma University in respect to the effects of creatine supplementation and three days of resistance training on muscle strength, power output, and neuromuscular function. The study consisted of twenty-five men, thier age was 21 +/- 3 years, stature = 177 +/- 6 cm, and body mass = 80 +/- 12 kg.( 5 ) “It was a 9-day, double-blind, placebo-controlled study and were randomly assigned to either the creatine (CRE; n = 13) or placebo (PLA; n = 12) group.

The CRE group ingested the treatment drink (280 kcal; 68 g carbohydrate; 10.5 g creatine), whereas the PLA group received an isocaloric placebo (70 g carbohydrate). Two servings per day morning and afternoon were administered in the laboratory on days 1-6, with only 1 serving on days 7-8. Before and after resistance training was performed to measure the effectiveness of creatine in correlation to performance. “Such as maximal voluntary concentric isokinetic leg extensions at 30, 150, and 270 degrees x s(-1) were performed.

Three sets of 10 repetitions at 150 degrees x s(-1) were performed on days 3, 5, and 7. Peak torque increased (p = 0.005; eta(2) = 0.296), whereas acceleration time decreased (p < 0.001; eta(2) = 0.620), from pre-training to post training for both the CRE and PLA groups ( 5 ). “Peak torque increased by 13% and 6%, whereas acceleration time decreased by 42% and 34% for the CRE and PLA groups. These results indicated that 3 days of isokinetic resistance training was sufficient to elicit small, but significant, improvements in peak strength (PT) and acceleration for both the CRE and PLA groups. Although the greater relative improvements in Peak torque and Acceleration time and for the CRE group were not statistically significant, these findings may be useful for rehabilitation or strength and conditioning professionals who may need to rapidly increase the strength of a patient or athlete within 9 days”.( 5 ) These results from those research study’s are fairly typical of all experiments done on this topic, the subjects all tend to have some slight or significant increase in performance rather its speed or strength. The science is definitive, if it mechanically aids a physiological mechanism then its going to work. So, these creatine effects are those based on sound scientific theory and backed up by wellcontrolled studies. A number of studies on creatine and athletic performance have clearly shown that its benefits are limited to anaerobic sports such as like weight lifting, sprinting and jumping ( 3 ). No direct performance benefit of creatine has been shown for endurance athletes.

Although increased muscle mass could conceivably enhance endurance performance, the weight gain from water and muscle weight may even result in a decline in performance. The benefits of creatine are likely to be due to an increased ability to train harder, thus increasing strength. This might be good news to athletes who are training intensely, but it means that creatine alone would probably have very little effect on the muscle mass of sedentary individuals. A significant gain in physical performance in high-intensity exercise has been shown with creatine doses of 20 to 30 g/day. Creatine has the best effect on people with physically active lifestyles. In my opinion which is a reflects personal experience and use of creatine, plus the results from the research acknowledged previously in this paper. It would be and accurate statement to say that with a proper work regimen and diet, creatine can help an athlete break through personal barriers. Creatine will enhance the performance of adults.