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Creatine for
RUGBY PLAYERS
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Creatine for Rugby Players
Will Creatine help your performance as a Rugby
Player? Creatine is produced by the body at rate of 1-2g/day from the amino
acids, glycine, arginine and
methionine. The liver is the major site of production but some is also produced
in the kidney and pancreas. It exists as free Creatine and Creatine phosphate
(CP). The average adult stores 120g of Creatine. 95% is stored in skeletal
muscle with higher concentrations in fast twitch muscle fibres. 60-70% binds to
phosphate (CP) and 30-40% is free Creatine. The typical concentration of
Creatine in muscle is 120-125mmol/kg dry weight of muscle. The remaining 5% is
in heart, smooth muscle, brain and the testes. Creatine is transported into the
muscle against a high concentration gradient via saturable transport processes
that are insulin stimulated.
Primary sources of Creatine in the diet are
fish and red meat (3-5g Creatine/kg uncooked meat/fish) - however as people
increasingly move away from eating red meat - as a Rugby Player you could well
seriously benefit from taking additional Creatine.Cooking may degrade some of
the Creatine found in food. It would be difficult to consume more than 3-4g
Creatine per day via diet. Vegetarians have reduced body Creatine stores as
their intake is less and the body’s production cannot compensate for this.
Creatine phosphate (PCr) provides a rapidly available but small source of
phosphate for the resynhthesis of ATP during maximal exercise and is therefore
an important fuel source in maximal sprints or ‘all-out’ muscular effort lasting
up- to 5-10seconds. Other metabolic functions of PCr include the buffering o0f
hydrogen ions produced during anaerobic glycolysis and an ATP shuttle, by which
ATP generated by aerobic metabolism is transported from the muscle cell
mitochondria to the cytoplasm where it can be utilised for muscle contraction.
How does it work?
As discussed, PCr serves as readily accessible source of ATP in skeletal muscle
and other tissues.
Supplementation can increase muscle PCr concentration by 6 – 16%, theoretically
enhancing ATP turnover during maximal exercise. So Creatine is potentially
ergogenic only for activities that have a high anaerobic component.
Supplementation increases whole body pool of Creatine and facilitates generation
of PCr. It also buffers elevations in ADP, high levels of which can inhibit some
ATP reactions. It also helps to buffer H ions, produced through accumulation of
lactate, high levels of which decrease pH levels in the muscles and cause
fatigue.
Increased availability of PCr will enhance the body's ability to maintain power
output during intense exercise as well as promote recovery between bouts of
exercise. For example during repeated exercise paradigms (30sec sprints,
separated by 4min rest periods), it becomes increasingly difficult to
restimulate the glycogenolytic/glycolytic pathway for ATP provision. Provided
the rest periods are sufficiently long to allow for rephosphorylation of a large
fraction of PCr by oxidative phosphorylation, any increase in the total Cr pool
would have a greater impact on performance during the subsequent repeated bouts.
For example, if by the 3rd sprint in this scenario, the fraction of ATP supplied
by PCr increased to 50%, then a 10-20% increase in PCr from Cr supplementation
could translate into a 5-10% increase in energy supply, and thereby improved
performance compared with the control condition. Even if there were not enough
time for full PCr recovery between exercise bouts, an increase in PCr with Cr
supplementation would be expected to increase energy supply above the control
condition. In this scenario it is of course superb for Rugby Players.
Creatine may also be a signal to stimulate protein synthesis directly.
Does it improve performance?
Despite the early discovery of Creatine, it wasn’t until 1992 that a surge in
its used began, when Harris et al showed that oral supplementation with high
doses of Creatine resulted in a 20% increase in skeletal muscle Creatine
concentration. Studies indicate that Cr supplementation significantly enhances
the ability to produce higher muscular force and/or power output during bouts of
maximal exercise in healthy young adults. (6-30secs with 20sec – 5min rest)
Subjects in these studies have been of mixed athletic ability and training
status from relatively untrained novices to competitive level athletes.
Research shows that exercise performances that are improved the greatest
improvements in performance are to be found during a series of repetitive high
power output exercise bouts. Exercise performance during the latter bouts of a
series (e.g. 3rd. 4th, 5th) can be increased by 5-20% over that measured for the
placebo group. These experimental protocols typically employed exceptionally
high power output efforts separated by a fairly short rest e.g. 30-60secs -
which is similar to the effects of a typical Rugby Player.
Evidence does not support single bout or first bout sprints. A recent
Meta-analysis (Branch 2003) showed this to be the case where the effect size of
Creatine supplementation for repetitive bouts of exercise was greater than for
single bout or first bout exercise.
The available data supports the conclusion that Creatine supplementation will
improve performance in isotonic resistance tasks such as 1RM and number of
repetitions to failure. Branch showed it may improve performance in isometric
work and leg ergometer power.
Acute Creatine supplementation is beneficial for a single event in sports
involving repeated high intensity intervals with brief recovery periods. This
description includes team games (which would include Rugby) and racquet sports.
Chronic supplementation will enhance training performance and long term
adaptation to exercise programs based on repeated high intensity exercise. These
benefits may apply to the across season performance of athletes in team and
racquet sports, as well as the preparation of athletes who undertake interval
training and resistance training (such as Rugby Players) (Burke 2000).
The majority of studies support the finding that short term (5-7 days) Creatine
supplementation (Creatine loading) increases lean body mass. A weight gain of
0.5 – 1.6kg may occur during the 5 day loading phase and even more with
prolonged use. The weight gain is initially water then after a longer period (1
year) weight gain may be due to protein synthesis. (Juhn 1999).
Long term (14 days or longer) Creatine supplementation will augment the effect
of resistance exercise on gains in body mass and fat free mass. Investigations
on the effects of long term (2-12 weeks) Creatine supplementation on body mass
and composition have been conducted primarily with physically active individuals
or athletes who are usually involved in some form of training – either
resistance training or training specific to their sport. 80% of studies show
significant gains in either lean body mass or various measures of fat free mass
after Creatine supplementation.
A number of studies indicate that Creatine supplementation in conjunction with
heavy resistance training (4-12 wks) enhances the normal physiological
adaptations to the weight training program. Typical training adaptations,
including increases in body mass, fat free mass, maximal strength and power,
lifting volume, and muscle fibre hypertrophy are all significantly enhanced
concurrent with Creatine supplementation.
A meta analysis by Nissen in 2003 showed that with resistance training Creatine
supplementation increased lean mass by 0.36% per week and net strength by 1.09%
per week.
For Rugby Players which is the best form of Creatine to take?
Currently we are hearing reactions from
customers on a full range of Creatine Supplements - most popular amongst serious
rugby payers are:
Creatine Chewies
- with these you can keep them in your training back, or easily take them at
work or in the car.
Or if you want to the biggest increases in raw
size and strength in the shortest space of time then take one of the new
generation of HIGH POTENCY Creatine Capsules.
References
American college of sports medicine: The physiological and health affects of
oral Creatine supplementation. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. Vol.32, No3 pp 706-717,
2000
Branch J D. Effect of Creatine supplementation on body composition and
performance: A meta-analysis. Int J Sports Nut and Exercise Met 2003, 13,
198-226
Mayhew D L. Effects of long term Creatine supplementation on liver and kidney
functions in American college football players. Int J Sports Nut and Exercise
Met. 2002, 12, 453-460
Steenage, G.R, Simpson, E.J, Greenhaff, P.L, Protein and carbohydrate induced
augmentation of whole body Creatine retention in humans. J. Appl.Physiol. 89:
1165-1171, 2000
Ostojic S M. Creatine supplementation in young soccer players. Int J Sports Nut
and Exercise Met., 2004, 14, 95-103
Preen D, et al. Creatine supplementation: A comparison of loading and
maintenance protocols on Creatine uptake by human skeletal muscle. Int J sports
Nut and Exercise Met, 2003, 13, 97-111
Nissen S L., Sharp R L, Effect of dietary supplements on lean mass and strength
gains with resistance exercise: a meta-analysis. J Appl Physiol 94:651-659, 2003
Poortmans, J. R., Francaux M. Adverse effects of Creatine supplementation Fact
or Fiction? Sports. Med Sep; 30(3): 155-170, 2000.
Juhn, M. S.: Oral Creatine supplementation separating fact from hype.
Physic.and Sportsmed.vol.27, no.5, May 1999.
Williams, M. H., Kreider, R. B., Branch, J. D., Creatine the power supplement.
(Pub. Human Kinetics) 1999.
Williams, M. H.: The ergogenics edge. (Pub Human kinetics) 1998.
Kreider, R. B., Dietary supplements and the promotion of muscle growth with
resistance exercise. Sports Med., Feb, 27(2), pp. 97-110. 1999.
Butterfield, G.: Ergogenic aids: evaluating sport nutrition products. Int. J.
Sport Nutr. 6, 191-197, 1996.
Kraemer W. J, Volek J S.: Creatine supplementation, its role in human
performance. Clinics in sports medicine Vol 18. No. 3 July 1999
Burke D G., Silver S., Holt L. E. et al., The effect of low dose Creatine
supplementation on force, power and total work. Int J Sports Nut. Vol. 10, No.
3, Sept 2000
Burke et al, Clinical sports nutrition, 2nd ed., McGraw Hill, 2000
Greenhaff P L. Creatine. In: Maughan R J Ed Nutrition in sport. Oxford:
Blackwell Science, 2000: 367- 378.
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