Common workout supplements may not be as useful as they were thought. In this month’s study, scientists found that creatine helps build significantly more muscle than usual during training.
Researchers from the University of New South Wales led the research, Published Last week, with Journal Nutrients. Clinical trials compared people who received resistance training when taking or not taking the typical daily dose of creatine, and found no significant differences in lean body mass by the end. Everyone gained mass during training. Scientists, as expected, saw no further mass in the creatine group. The findings could mean that more regular supplement doses are needed to see the benefits of building muscle, the researchers say.
Creatine It is naturally produced by the body and is found in certain foods such as seafood and lean meat. It helps to supply energy to the muscles, especially during the explosion of intense activities such as weight lifting. It’s in some research Proposed That creatine supplementation helps improve people’s athletic performance and their ability to pack muscle mass, including placebo-controlled trials (the gold standard in the study).
However, UNSW researchers say these previous trials may have had significant flaws. Because they often start taking creatine just like when people started a new exercise routine. This design means it is more difficult to distinguish between other benefits from creatine movement.
To avoid this possible limitation, researchers were forced to take creatine one week before the exercise part of the test known as the “wash-in” period (a 12-week course of resistance training). Volunteers took 5 grams of creatine a day. This is a commonly used dose for maintenance when people start taking it regularly (researchers note that there is no need to reach the loading stage or the maximum amount of stored creatine that our bodies respond to in order to reach saturated levels of creatine). People in both groups were relatively healthy, but were not major campaigners before the study. In total, 54 people completed the trial.
The creatine group appeared to experience a slight boost in lean weight, on average over the first week (about 0.5 kilograms). But these benefits ultimately didn’t mess up control on people. By the end of the study, both groups had on average gained about 2 kilograms of lean mass added.
“People taking creatine supplements saw changes before they started exercising, which leads them to believe it’s potentially water retention rates, not actual muscle growth.” statement From university. “Then when they started exercising, they didn’t see the added benefit of creatine, which suggests that 5 grams per day is not enough if you’re taking it with the aim of building muscle.”
The findings don’t necessarily sink creatine as muscle building aid, researchers say. For example, in the long term, people taking creatine may still experience greater muscle mass. Alternatively, higher maintenance doses may be required to see how effective these are (researchers should note that 10 grams per day is safe to take). The researchers also avoided using a “load stage” that starts with a much higher dose of creatine, up to 25 grams, for the first week, but they expected it to have some effect from the doses used in the study.
Finally, researchers say more research is needed to test different doses and lengths of treatment. However, the current findings could already help people to curb expectations if they decide to start taking creatine for muscle mass.
“For the average person taking creatine to boost profits in the gym, I hope this will change their perception of what they will help them achieve,” said Prime Minister Imitias Desai, UNSW’s Health Sciences and Neuroscience Research Australia (Neuros). “For professional athletes, especially those who need to protect a certain weight for sports, the findings may inform you of how and how you take the supplement.”
