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Creatine Benefits
I'm going to try to make this information about creatine benefits as hype-free as possible. None of us have anything to gain from acting on false or incomplete research. You'll have to do your part as well. When you are armed with this information talk to people in your running community. There's no substitute for face to face communication! Talk to your doctor as well. Your doctor will be able to give you some tips and advise in terms of creatine usage. What is Creatine? French scientist Michel Eugene Chevreul discovered creatine in 1835. Chevreul isolated a component of skeletal muscle - the voluntary muscle we use in exercise - and named it after the Greek work for flesh -Kreas. He found the presence of muscular creatine was ten times more concentrated in in wild animal muscle than in zoo animal muscles. This observation linked creatine with effective muscular activity - the thought being that a wild tiger, for instance, could be expected to run and jump better than a captive tiger. History Creatine benefits have been recognized for a long time. Wrestler Milo of Croton is one of the first historical and documented "strong men". He lived in the late 6th century B.C. and was five time wrestling champion at the 62nd through 66th Olympiads. 
Milo's daily diet - are you ready for this - included 20 pounds of meat (yes, each day)! The man was clearly a steak house restaurant owner's dream! By the way, Milo incongruously died while attempting to split a a tree trunk by hand without using wedges. Milo became stuck in the tree and was subsequently eaten by wolves (or a lion, depending on the historian). We could stop right here (but we won't!) because this clearly proves animals recognize good creatine sources and the benefits of creatine!A 1928 study showed that creatine increased muscular body mass and weight and opened the door to creatine as a possible source of athletic performance improvement. Eastern Bloc countries in fact have used creatine benefits as athletic performance enhancer since the 1922 Olympics. Some sports historians feel that it was creatine that gave cold war era athletes their Olympic edge over other competitors. The 1990's saw creatine marketed to the public as an "ergogenic aid", or muscular strength enhancer. As the news of creatine benefits entered the sports performance markets as a dietary supplement sales soared. 1997 sales of of creatine in the USA alone topped $100 millionUSD and have continued to grow. How does it work? 95% of our body's creatine is stored in skeletal muscle. About 50% of our creatine is obtained from our diet (meats) and the balance is created by our own liver, pancreas and kidneys through endogenous synthesis. This is why vegetarians have creatine in their muscles, although at a lower level than meat eaters. The recognized average external daily dietary requirement is about 2 grams obtained from meat and meat products. To understand the role of creatine in muscular activity we need a little background in muscular physiology 101. On-demand muscle energy comes from the ATP-PC (adenosine triphosphate-phosphacreatine) system. Think of ATP as a readily available muscular energy source. ATP is the compound muscles use to do work. It's the "PC" part of the the ATP-PC system that refreshes ATP levels. There's a couple of ways this works. One way is through "anaerobic glycolysis" - anaerobic exercise. When we're exercising hard this is the muscular system that is giving us continuing muscular energy. And, of course, we know what happens. Waste products like lactic acid build up in the muscles as a result of anaerobic activity and we get tired! This is where creatine steps in. While no one fully understands the way creatine supplements work, a 1994 study demonstrated that creatine phosphate stored in muscles lead to a lesser dependence on the anaerobic process for the replenishing of muscular ATP! This means less muscular waste products like lactic acid and enables a longer cycle of muscular activity before fatigue and muscular exhaustion. How likely is creatine to benefit me? Consider the early research showing wild animals had 10 times more creatine than zoo animals. Simply giving more creatine to the zoo animals wouldn't have much of an effect on their untrained muscles. An athlete in disciplined training and in already good condition is the ideal "poster person" for creatine benefits. Other factors influence the effectiveness of creatine. Since creatine can enhance muscular strength researches working with ALS patients have investigated potential benefits of creatine with ALS victims (Lou Gehrig's Disease). There was no improvement - perhaps due to the disease itself, or perhaps due to the inability of untrained skeletal muscle to store significant amounts of creatine. Creatine and Master's Athletes A 1999 study conducted on active individuals 60 to 82 years old showed creatine had no effect on improving muscular strength. However, and this is quite significant for older athletes, creatine supplements delayed the onset of exercise fatigue. There were also indications that creatine decreases recovery time between workouts in masters athletes. Most creatine studies have been done on younger athletes. The perceived benefit to athletes in their 20's and 30's is twofold: An increase in muscular efficiency and strength and an increase in the ability of the muscles to work longer. For older athletes, the single potential benefit is the delay in muscular fatigue. Strength does not increase. 
Creatine and runners Creatine enhances the anaerobic muscular cycle. If we're interested in long distance and masters running how does that help us? Think about running as a muscular activity. As we run we're usually in "aerobic" mode - our bodies aresupplying energy to our muscles through an aerobic cycle, not the anaerobic cycle. Clearly, however, the 1998 British study conducted by The Independent showed that creatine use was very popular among rugby players. Rugby is similar to ice hockey (that's just hockey to Canadians!) in that short explosive spurts of energy are required. Distance running may not be that much different. Hills, sprints, and "kicks" all demand more energy than our aerobic system can supply. The effect is more subtle in that running a hill at tempo is often easier than maintaining pace afterwards. Understanding the ATP-PC cycle helps us see that the actual hill running was preformed anaerobically - and this creates waste products which then affect our subsequent running. Could creatine supplementation help in this regard? Creatine Supplements Cycles: Loading and Maintenance Creatine is typically consumed during an initial "loading" period of five to six days, usually in the range of 20 to 30g/day. The maintenance phase follows at a dosage of 2 to 5g/day. Dosage varies by body size and activity level. Interestingly, some scientific studies have indicated that creatine benefits can be obtained with a dosage as low as one tenth of the above rates: 2 to 3 g/day during loading, and .3 g/day maintenance.
Negative effects reported include:
Creatine Economics If after consultation with your doctor you decide to purchase creatine be aware that creatine is an expensive and in demand commodity. Three countries manufacture creatine:
Germany and the US have relatively mature manufacturing standards. US and German creatine products should be traceable back to point of manufacture. This is in marked contrast to the Chinese system where there are no effective manufacturing standards and where creatine from many poorly regulated sources is pooled for export - making it impossible to identify the origin of possible product contamination. Creatine is expensive, but buy the best from reputable suppliers. Otherwise you may be buying product diluted with bone meal, baking soda or worse. Creatine is a hot spot in "fitness fraud" products, so be aware. You must actually be taking creatine to enjoy creatine benefits! Conclusion - Creatine Benefits Multiple studies show that creatine has a positive influence on athletic performance. You must answer the question as to whether creatine use is for you. Talk to your physician, your exercise community, and do your own research! Further Resources:
Here's a little off-the-wall information about how creatine might help you boost your brain power! Have fun! That's your summary of creatine benefits! And don't forget...
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