One question that often comes up regarding Creatine is whether or not the loading
phase is required. Originally the advice for getting optimal results was to load up on
Creatine followed by a maintenance dose there after. This advice was based on the fact
that the human body already contains approximately 120 grams of Creatine (as Creatine
and Creatine phosphate) stored in tissues and to increase total Creatine stores, one had
to load for several days in order to increase those stores above those levels.
The idea also seemed to work well in practice with people noticing considerable
increases in strength and weight during the loading phase. All was not perfect however
as many people found the loading phase to be a problem, with gastrointestinal upset,
diarrhea and other problems. At the very least, loading was inconvenient and potentially
expensive.
The need for a loading phase was a long held belief, but is it really needed to derive
the bene ts of Creatine? The answer appears to be no as both research and real world
experience have found the loading phase may not be needed after all. A 1996 study
compared a loading phase vs. no loading phase 31 male subjects.
The subjects loaded for 6 days using 20 g/day and a maintenance dose 2 g/day for a
further 30 days. As expected, tissue Creatine levels went up approximately 20% and
the participants got stronger and gained lean mass. Nothing new there! And, not
surprisingly, without a maintenance dose Creatine levels went back to normal after 30
days.
Then the group was given 3g of Creatine without a loading dose. The study found a
similar – but more gradual – increase in muscle Creatine concentrations over a period
of 28 days. The researchers concluded:
“...a rapid way to Creatine load human skeletal muscle is to ingest 20 g of Creatine for
6 days. This elevated tissue concentration can then be maintained by ingestion of 2
g/day thereafter. The ingestion of 3 g Creatine/day is in the long term likely to be as
e ective at raising tissue levels as this higher dose.”
A more recent study done in 1999 found that 5 g of Creatine per day without a loading
phase in 16 athletes signi cantly increased measures of strength, power, and increased
body mass without a change in body fat levels (whereas the placebo group showed no
signi cant changes).
The researcher of this 1999 study concluded:
“...these data also indicate that lower doses of Creatine monohydrate may be ingested
(5 g/d), without a short-term, large-dose loading phase (20 g/d), for an extended period
to achieve signi cant performance enhancement.”
So, don’t su er through the loading, thinking it’s the only way to maximize the e ects
of your Creatine , it appears a 3 - 5 gram per day dose over and extended period of time
will probably do the same thing.
Creatine and athletics
It’s only normal for people writing about a compound that is well accepted by athletes
and researchers alike to assume that everyone understands what this particular product
is and what it does. However, I am quite sure there are plenty of people who have heard
the word “creatine,” or might even be using the stu , and still don’t have a clue what it
is and how it works. If you are one of those people, the beginning of this section is for
you.
As mentioned in previous sections, the body uses the high energy compound adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) as its main energy producing compound. During short maximal
bouts of exercise such as weight training or sprinting, stored ATP is the energy source.
However, stored ATP is depleted rather quickly which is why after only a few reps
on a heavy lift things come to a fast nish and you run out of steam. To give energy,
ATP loses a phosphate and becomes adenosine diphosphate (ADP). At this point the
ADP must be converted back to ATP to derive energy from this ATP energy producing
system. So how does this happen? That’s where creatine comes in. Creatine is stored in
the human body as creatine phosphate (CP) also called phosphocreatine.
When ATP is depleted, it can be recharged by creatine phosphate. That is, the CP donates a phosphate to the ADP making it ATP again! Got all that? An increased pool
of CP means faster and greater recharging of ATP and therefore more work can be
performed for a short duration, such as sprinting, weight lifting, and other explosive
anaerobic endeavors. Now of course the above explanation of how creatine works
was highly simpli ed and there are many other biochemical functions going on (e.g.
possible increases in protein synthesis, increased cell hydration, and others) relating to
creatine’s ability to enhance strength, muscle growth, and performance, but the above
explanation is basically the way it works.
Creatine works to increase strength and performance in sports that require short
duration high intensity performance, such as sprinting, football, and weight training.
It’s much less e ective for endurance sports such as long distance running, but may
still have some bene cial e ects that are outlined in this report, such as the research
showing reduced in ammation after long distance running. Research that has looked
at creatine’s e ects endurance sports has not been impressive however. Bodybuilders
tend to love creatine, football players and sprinters like creatine, and swimmers and
runners tend to have mixed opinions, so this pretty much keeps in sink with the research
fi ndings to date.
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