Supplement Update: Creatine Shows Amazing New Powers

Let’s suppose you had to take a layoff from training, maybe because of an injury, accident, an illness, or some other reason. Muscle and strength loss will occur during periods of physical inactivity and immobilization. Is there any way you can prevent this?

Yes –  by continuing to supplement with creatine monohydrate. Research is now showing that this supplement may have a favorable effect on muscle mass and strength independently of exercise.

In a recent study, investigators looked into the effects of creatine supplementation on upper limb muscle mass and muscle performance after immobilization. The study involved seven men, ages 18 to 25, who had never supplemented with creatine. They were assessed for lean tissue mass, strength, and muscle endurance prior to beginning the study. After these measures were taken, the men had their dominant or nondominant (random assignment) upper limb immobilized in a plaster cast. They received a placebo during days 1-7 and creatine during days 15-21. The cast was removed during days 8-14 and 22-29, so that the researchers could reassess lean tissue mass, strength, and endurance. During immobilization, compared with the placebo, creatine supplementation better maintained muscle mass, strength, and endurance. The results indicate that creatine supplementation helped preserve muscle mass, strength, and endurance during immobilization.

Another study yielded similar results in leg muscle size. European researchers charted the progress of 20 male and female students whose right legs were immobilized in casts for a period of two weeks. Findings showed that subjects who received daily creatine dosages during and after leg immobilization displayed more muscle power and greater muscle size after three to 10 weeks of physical rehabilitation than did subjects who took a placebo. Basically, the findings suggest that creatine supplements taken before immobilization and then throughout the rehabilitation process quickens the body’s return to normal appearance and function.

Creatine has been the subject of more than 400 research studies in the past 10 years, focusing primarily on muscle performance and size both in athletes and in individuals with neuromuscular diseases. Creatine is a key nutrient in muscle energy production, and it also appears to increase muscle size.

The way to use creatine is to start with a loading phase, which usually is 20 grams a day for five to seven days. To do this, take five grams (one teaspoon) four times a day, for five to seven days. This is followed by the maintenance phase, which is five to ten grams a day. After only one month, you should see a noticeable increase in size and strength. I feel that Parrillo Creatine Monohydrate^™ is the highest purity creatine supplement available. And a word of caution: don’t be fooled into buying creatine phosphate supplements; this form of creatine phosphate is not absorbed from the intestines.

References

Hespel, P., Op’t Eijnde, B., Van Leemputte, M., Ursø, B., et al. 2001. Oral creatine supplementation facilitates the rehabilitation of disuse atrophy and alters the expression of muscle myogenic factors in humans. Journal of Physiology 536:625-633.

Johnston, A.P., Burke, D.G., MacNeil, L.G., and Candow, DG. 2009. Effect of creatine supplementation during cast-induced immobilization on the preservation of muscle mass, strength, and endurance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 23: 116-120.