Supplementary Effect of Creatine on Cardiovascular Adaptation and Endurance Performance in Athletes

Abstract

Creatine has beneficial effect on strength training athletes, but it is not clear whether it has any effect on endurance sport. Present study has been designed to investigate the effect of creatine supplementation on cardiovascular adaptation to sub maximal exercise and endurance performance. A total of 60 male athletes (age range 16-19 years) were selected and randomly divided into experimental group (EG, n = 30) and control group (CG, n = 30) and supplemented with 5 g per day of creatine monohydrate (CrM) and moltodextrine, respectively for 4 weeks. A treadmill test was performed to determine the heart rate responses to sub maximal exercise and maximal endurance performance. Blood lactate was measured at the end of exercise. Body mass, body fat and fat free mass were also measured. Repeated measure ANOA followed by t-test was applied to analyze the data. Significant decreases in heart rates were noted in the experimental group during sub maximal exercise when compared to the control group. Moreover, the maximal endurance time was increase in the experimental group after supplementation of CrM when compared to control group. However, no significant change has been observed in resting heart, maximal heart rate, recovery heart rate, body mass, body fat, fat free mass and blood lactate level.