Bodybuilders and other strength athletes who use creatine during a workout – because their muscle cells can absorb the energy supplement better at that moment – will benefit more by taking it after the training session rather than before. Researchers at Nova Southeastern University write about this in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Bodybuilders and other strength athletes who use creatine during a workout – because their muscle cells can absorb the energy supplement better at that moment – will benefit more by taking it after the training session rather than before. Researchers at Nova Southeastern University write about this in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
The researchers did an experiment with 19 male recreational bodybuilders. The bodybuilders trained for four weeks, sticking to the same schedule five days a week. They also all followed the same sort of diet – in which about a quarter of the energy was derived from protein.
Half of the bodybuilders took 5 g creatine just before working out [Pre-Supp] on their training days, and the other half took the same amount of creatine just after the workout [Post-Supp].
On the days that the men didn’t train they took the dose whenever they wanted.
At the end of the four weeks, the men in the Post-Supp group had made more progress than the Pre-Supp group.
The Post-Supp group gained twice as much lean body mass as the Pre-Supp group; the weight with which the men in the Post-Supp group could just manage one bench press increased by over one kg more than it did in the Pre-Supp group, and on top of that the Post-Supp group lost a kilogram more body fat than the Pre-Supp group did.
“Post workout supplementation with creatine for a period of 4 weeks in recreational bodybuilders may produce superior gains in fat free mass and strength in comparison to pre workout supplementation”, the researchers conclude.
“The major limitations of this study include the small sample size as well as the brief treatment duration”, the researchers continue. “Future studies should investigate creatine supplementation using resistance trained individuals for a longer duration.”
The effects of pre versus post workout supplementation of creatine monohydrate on body composition and strength.
Antonio J, Ciccone V.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Chronic supplementation with creatine monohydrate has been shown to promote increases in total intramuscular creatine, phosphocreatine, skeletal muscle mass, lean body mass and muscle fiber size. Furthermore, there is robust evidence that muscular strength and power will also increase after supplementing with creatine. However, it is not known if the timing of creatine supplementation will affect the adaptive response to exercise. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to determine the difference between pre versus post exercise supplementation of creatine on measures of body composition and strength.
METHODS:
Nineteen healthy recreational male bodybuilders (mean +/- SD; age: 23.1 +/- 2.9; height: 166.0 +/- 23.2 cm; weight: 80.18 +/- 10.43 kg) participated in this study. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: PRE-SUPP or POST-SUPP workout supplementation of creatine (5 grams). The PRE-SUPP group consumed 5 grams of creatine immediately before exercise. On the other hand, the POST-SUPP group consumed 5 grams immediately after exercise. Subjects trained on average five days per week for four weeks. Subjects consumed the supplement on the two non-training days at their convenience. Subjects performed a periodized, split-routine, bodybuilding workout five days per week (Chest-shoulders-triceps; Back-biceps, Legs, etc.). Body composition (Bod Pod(R)) and 1-RM bench press (BP) were determined. Diet logs were collected and analyzed (one random day per week; four total days analyzed).
RESULTS:
2×2 ANOVA results – There was a significant time effect for fat-free mass (FFM) (F = 19.9; p = 0.001) and BP (F = 18.9; p < 0.001), however, fat mass (FM) and body weight did not reach significance. While there were trends, no significant interactions were found. However, using magnitude-based inference, supplementation with creatine post workout is possibly more beneficial in comparison to pre workout supplementation with regards to FFM, FM and 1-RM BP. The mean change in the PRE-SUPP and POST-SUPP groups for body weight (BW kg), FFM (kg), FM (kg) and 1-RM bench press (kg) were as follows, respectively: Mean +/- SD; BW: 0.4 +/- 2.2 vs 0.8 +/- 0.9; FFM: 0.9 +/- 1.8 vs 2.0 +/- 1.2; FM: -0.1 +/- 2.0 vs -1.2 +/- 1.6; Bench Press 1-RM: 6.6 +/- 8.2 vs 7.6 +/- 6.1.Qualitative inference represents the likelihood that the true value will have the observed magnitude. Furthermore, there were no differences in caloric or macronutrient intake between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Creatine supplementation plus resistance exercise increases fat-free mass and strength. Based on the magnitude inferences it appears that consuming creatine immediately post-workout is superior to pre-workout vis a vis body composition and strength. PMID: 23919405 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] PMCID: PMC3750511 Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23919405
