Abstract
BackgroundCreatine supplementation is recommended as an ergogenic aid to improve repeated sprint cycling performance. Furthermore, creatine uptake is increased in the presence of electrolytes. Prior research examining the effect of a creatine-electrolyte (CE) supplement on repeated sprint cycling performance, however, did not show post-supplementation improvement. The purpose of this double blind randomized control study was to investigate the effect of a six-week CE supplementation intervention on overall and repeated peak and mean power output during repeated cycling sprints with recovery periods of 2 min between sprints.MethodsPeak and mean power generated by 23 male recreational cyclists (CE group: n = 12; 24.0 ± 4.2 years; placebo (P) group: n = 11; 23.3 ± 3.1 years) were measured on a Velotron ergometer as they completed five 15-s cycling sprints, with 2 min of recovery between sprints, pre- and post-supplementation. Mixed-model ANOVAs were used for statistical analyses.ResultsA supplement-time interaction showed a 4% increase in overall peak power (pre: 734 ± 75 W; post: 765 ± 71 W; p = 0.040; ηp2 = 0.187) and a 5% increase in overall mean power (pre: 586 ± 72 W; post: 615 ± 74 W; p = 0.019; ηp2 = 0.234) from pre- to post-supplementation for the CE group. For the P group, no differences were observed in overall peak (pre: 768 ± 95 W; post: 772 ± 108 W; p = 0.735) and overall mean power (pre: 638 ± 77 W; post: 643 ± 92 W; p = 0.435) from pre- to post-testing. For repeated sprint analysis, peak (pre: 737 ± 88 W; post: 767 ± 92 W; p = 0.002; ηp2 = 0.380) and mean (pre: 650 ± 92 W; post: 694 ± 87 W; p < 0.001; ηp2 = 0.578) power output were significantly increased only in the first sprint effort in CE group from pre- to post-supplementation testing. For the P group, no differences were observed for repeated sprint performance.ConclusionA CE supplement improves overall and repeated short duration sprint cycling performance when sprints are interspersed with adequate recovery periods.
Highlights
Creatine supplementation is recommended as an ergogenic aid to improve repeated sprint cycling performance
Overall mean power output across the five 15-s sprints increased by 4.82% (28.29 ± 16.73 W; p < 0.001) for the CE group compared to 0.82% (5.22 ± 26.25 W; p = 0.435) for the P group
For the CE group, peak power output was 3–4% greater from pre- to post-supplementation for the first three sprints (p < 0.05; ηp2 > 0.208); whereas, for the P group, no changes were observed in peak power output over any sprint (p > 0.05; ηp2 < 0.048)
Summary
Creatine supplementation is recommended as an ergogenic aid to improve repeated sprint cycling performance. Prior research examining the effect of a creatine-electrolyte (CE) supplement on repeated sprint cycling performance, did not show post-supplementation improvement. The purpose of this double blind randomized control study was to investigate the effect of a six-week CE supplementation intervention on overall and repeated peak and mean power output during repeated cycling sprints with recovery periods of 2 min between sprints. The post-supplementation increase in intramuscular creatine availability increases the rate that phosphocreatine is resynthesized following the cessation of exercise [7, 9, 10], potentially leading to improved performance during subsequent sprints. The creatine-electrolyte supplement used in the present study contains these electrolytes (i.e. sodium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium)
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