Creatine co-ingestion with carbohydrate or cinnamon extract provides no added benefit to anaerobic performance

Abstract

The insulin response following carbohydrate ingestion enhances creatine transport into muscle. Cinnamon extract is promoted to have insulin-like effects, therefore this study examined if creatine co-ingestion with carbohydrates or cinnamon extract improved anaerobic capacity, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. Active young males (n = 25; 23.7 ± 2.5 y) were stratified into 3 groups: (1) creatine only (CRE); (2) creatine+ 70 g carbohydrate (CHO); or (3) creatine+ 500 mg cinnamon extract (CIN), based on anaerobic capacity (peak power·kg−1) and muscular strength at baseline. Three weeks of supplementation consisted of a 5 d loading phase (20 g/d) and a 16 d maintenance phase (5 g/d). Pre- and post-supplementation measures included a 30-s Wingate and a 30-s maximal running test (on a self-propelled treadmill) for anaerobic capacity. Muscular strength was measured as the one-repetition maximum 1-RM for chest, back, quadriceps, hamstrings, and leg press. Additional sets of the number of repetitions performed at 60% 1-RM until fatigue measured muscular endurance. All three groups significantly improved Wingate relative peak power (CRE: 15.4% P = .004; CHO: 14.6% P = .004; CIN: 15.7%, P = .003), and muscular strength for chest (CRE: 6.6% P < .001; CHO: 6.7% P < .001; CIN: 6.4% P < .001), back (CRE: 5.8% P < .001; CHO: 6.4% P < .001; CIN: 8.1% P < .001), and leg press (CRE: 11.7% P = .013; CHO: 10.0% P = .007; CIN: 17.3% P < .001). Only the CRE (10.4%, P = .021) and CIN (15.5%, P < .001) group improved total muscular endurance. No differences existed between groups post-supplementation. These findings demonstrate that three different methods of creatine ingestion lead to similar changes in anaerobic power, strength, and endurance.