Creatine HCl and Creatine Monohydrate Improve Strength but Only Creatine HCl Induced Changes on Body Composition in Recreational Weightlifters

Abstract

Background: Creatine supplementation is a subject that is very well studied. New forms of creatine are suggesting improvements in this supplement performance. Creatine HCl is supposed to have better solubility and absorption than creatine. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different doses of creatine HCl with creatine monohydrate on the strength and body composition in recreational weightlifters and to verify the relationship between strength and body composition. Methods: 40 subjects were divided in four groups: Creatine Monohydrate (CMG) 5 g/daily; Creatine HCl-1 (HCl-1) 5 g/daily, Creatine HCl-2 (HCl-2) 1.5 g/daily and Control group (CG) = 5 g of resistant starch/daily. All groups performed a resistance training program during 4 weeks. Body composition and strength were evaluated pre and post intervention. Results: The 1 RM at the Leg press was increased significantly in all groups (CMG: pre = 264.4 ± 83.8 × post = 298.1 ± 90.9; HCl-1: pre = 295.0 ± 88.3 × post = 338.3 ± 86.8 and HCl-2: pre = 274.3 ± 57.1 × post = 305.7 ± 59.4; p < 0.05), Bench press 1 RM was increased significantly only in HCl-2 (pre = 72.4 ± 25.7 × post = 76.0 ± 25.0; p = 0.003), however, there was no statistically significant difference between groups. Fatmass was significantly decreased in HCl-1 (pre = 14.5 ± 8.0 × post = 13.3 ± 8.3; p = 0.034) and HCl-2 (pre = 13.8 ± 5.8 × post = 12.7 ± 5.6; p = 0.005) but fat-free mass was increased only in HCl-1 (pre = 52.2 ± 8.9 × post = 53.8 ± 8.9; p = 0.031), with no differences between groups again. We observed strong correlations between upper limb strength and fat mass (r = −0.93, p < 0.05), and between lower limb strength and FFM (r = 0.93, p < 0.05) only in HCl-1 group. Conclusions: We concluded that creatine HCl and creatine Monohydrate improve performance but only creatine HCl induces changes on body composition in recreational weightlifters with differences between creatine HCl doses.