Creatine Monohydrate – Counterpoint
Hypothesis
Our hypothesis is that Creatine Monohydrate does not improve exercise performance
during short term, explosive exercise. In the debate, we will be discussing evidence that supports
that Creatine Monohydrate does improve exercise performance during short term, explosive
exercise and refuting these articles that oppose our argument.
Clinical and Non-Clinical Usage
Clinically, Creatine has been used to benefit patients with Parkinson’s disease by
increasing upper body strength through resistance training [5]. Additionally, Creatine is used for
improving muscular strength and neuromuscular symptoms in several types of muscular
dystrophies in adults and children, such as Becker’s muscular dystrophy, Duchenne muscular
dystrophy, and sarcoglycan-deficient limb girdle muscular dystrophy [7].
In non-clinical settings, Creatine Monohydrate is taken as an ergogenic aid to benefit
muscular strength and time to muscular exhaustion. As one of the most commonly used exercise
supplements, Creatine Monohydrate is found to be most effective in men between the age 18-35
for performance enhancement [3, 9, 10]. This could be due to the findings that people reach their
peak muscular power and strength around the ages 20-35 years [4].
Supplementation Dosage
The literature seems to conclude that 20 grams per day or 0.3 grams of Creatine
Monohydrate per kilogram of body mass taken 3-4 times throughout the day is an ideal intake
method [1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, & 10]. Generally, these doses are taken for the initial 5-7 days and then
doses are lowered to 3-5 grams per day, for up to 6 months in duration. For a short period after
supplementation has ceased, Creatine concentration level will remain high in the muscle cells.
Approximately 160 mmol/kg dry mass is the upper limit for total intramuscular Creatine level;
when muscles have reached this capacity, the excess Creatine will be excreted in the urine [1].
There has been no set recommended dietary allowance for the average daily intake of Creatine
Monohydrate.
Supporting the Counter Point
Three major findings that support the notion that Creatine Monohydrate is not an
effective ergogenic aid for explosive power are:
1. Creatine was not effective in maximal 30 second peak power for cycling. The participants
had a monitored diet and supplementation intake and were tested on multiple occasions.
Participants started a moderate pace for warm-up and within 30 seconds, after an
immediately added resistance, they achieved their maximal repetitions per minute; these
results were measured and creatine supplementation provided no benefit [6].
2. Age differences show that there is no additional benefit for supplementing with Creatine
and/or protein in elderly people. Generally, older people are performing less extreme
training programs, have lower concentration of muscle protein, and have lower resting
phosphocreatine concentration in the muscles [2].
3. Lastly, the overall evidence has expressed that Creatine Monohydrate is more effective
and beneficial to strength gain, but not peak power, by increasing fat-free mass and
improving performance by increasing time to fatigue. Even though increased time to
fatigue benefits physical performance, the change is not significant enough to improve
peak and explosive power [8, 10].
Evidence Against Counter-Point and Refute
Explosive Power in Golfing: Ziegenfuss and colleagues conducted the study with a mixed dietary
supplement, containing: creatine monohydrate, vitamin D, calcium fructoborate and coffea
arabica extract. They predicted that it would improve explosive power in men aged 23 to 36, and
more specifically improve explosive power of golf drive distances [9].
Refute: However, golf swings consist of a complex series of movements and require
mental focus. Power is not the lone or most important factor in drive distance. Additionally, there
were many different ingredients in the supplement and they did not record the amount of
Creatine Monohydrate added to the supplement. Any of of the ingredients could have aided the
improvement of the swing power, such as vitamin D helping minimize chronic pain.
Gender Differences: Creatine supplementation improves muscular performance in older women.
Gotshalk and colleagues concluded that the Creatine group shows increased upper and lower
body strength, mean explosive power, and lower extremity functioning. They were tested on 1 –
repetition maximum (RM) bench press and 1-RM leg press [4].
Refute: However, this research had the participants take a capsule supplement for only 7
days with no recorded diet or set exercise regimen. The peak power in this study was calculated
by a study; therefore, not representing a true 1-RM. Lastly, there may have been a bias in the
results because almost 75% of the Creatine group presumed they were in the experimental group.
Additionally, we will compare this article to another article on women that concludes no
significant differences between the Creatine supplement compared to a placebo. While both
groups improved in strength with an effective training program [3].
Reference List
1. Andre, T. L., Gann. J. J., McKinley-Barnard, S. K., Willoughby, D. S. Effects of five
weeks of resistance training and relatively-dosed creatine monohydrate supplementation on body
composition and muscle strength, and whole-body creatine metabolism in resistance-trained
males. Int. J. of Kinesiol. and Sports Sci. 4(2), 2016.
2. Bemben, M. G., Witten, M. S., Carter, J. M., Eliot, K. A., Knehans, A. W., Bemben, D. A.
The effects of supplementation with creatine and protein on muscle strength following a
traditional resistance training program in middle-aged and older men. J. Nutr. Health Aging.
14(2): 155-159, 2010.
3. Ferguson, T. B., Syrotuik, D. G. Effects of creatine monohydrate supplementation on body
composition and strength indices in experienced resistance trained women. J. Strength Cond.
Res. 20(4): 939-946, 2006.
4. Gotshalk, L. A., Kraemer, W. J., Mendonca, M. A., Vingren, J. L., Kenny, A. M., Spiering,
B., A., . . . Volek, J. S. Creatine supplementation improves muscular performance in older
women. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 102(2): 223-231, 2007.
5. Hass, C. J., Collins, M. A., Juncos, J.L. Resistance training with creatine monohydrate
improves upper-body strength in patients with parkinson disease: a randomized trial. Am. Soc.
Neurorehab. 21(12): 107-115, 2007.
6. Odland, L. M., MacDougall, J. D., Tarnopolsky, M. A., Elorriaga, A., Borgmann, A. Effect
of oral creatine supplementation on muscle [pcr] and short-term maximum power output. Med.
Sci. Sports. 29(2): 216-219, 1997.
7. Walter, M. C., Lochmuller, H., Reilich, P., Klopstock, T., Huber, R., Hartard, M., Hennig,
M., Pongratz, D., Muller-Felber, W. Creatine monohydrate in muscular dystrophies: a doubleblind placebo-controlled clinical study. Am. Acad. Neurol. 54: 1848-1850, 2000.
8. Wang, C.-C., Yang, M.-T., Lu, K.-H., & Chan, K.-H. The effects of creatine supplementation
on explosive performance and optimal individual postactivation potentiation time. Nutr. 8(3):
143, 2016.
9. Ziegenfuss, T. N., Habowski, S. M., Lemieux, R., Sandrock, J. E., Kedia, A., Kerksick, C.
M., & Lopez, H. L. Effects of a dietary supplement on golf drive distance and functional indices
of golf performance. J. Int. Soc. Sports Nut. 12(1): 4, 2015.
10. Zuniga, J. M., Housh, T. J., Camic, C. L., Hendrix. C. R., Mielke, M., Johnson, G. O.,
Housh, D. J., Schmidt, R. J. The effects of creatine monohydrate loading on anaerobic
performance and one-repetition maximum strength. J. Strength Cond. Res. 26(6): 1651-1656,
2012.