THE EFFECT OF COMBINED CARBOHYDRATE AND CREATINE INGESTION ON ANAEROBIC PERFORMANCE

Abstract

1543 The purpose of the present study was to assess the effect of creatine supplementation on athletic performance when creatine is administered along with carbohydrates. Twenty male PE students comprised the two experimental (A and B) and one control (C) groups of the study. All the groups performed three 30 s Anaerobic Wingate tests (AWTs) interspersed with 6 minutes recovery. Following this test subjects in groups A and B performed an acute creatine loading. Group A (n = 7) ingested 5x5g of Cr per day for 4 days. Subjects in group B (n = 6) ingested the same quantity but additionally consumed 500 ml of Lucozade energy drink (≅100gr of simple sugars) after each 5g dose of Cr(2.5 liters per day). Following the supplementation period all subjects performed the same exercise test. Body mass increased significantly only in group B following the supplementation (P < 0.05). Over all three AWTs average mean power improved significantly with supplementation for group A only (P < 0.05). The percentage improvement for average mean power compared to baseline was 5.5% and 2.7% for groups A and B respectively. Mean power for the second AWT improved with loading for group A (5.1%) and for the third AWT for both groups (P < 0.05; 8.53% and 6.74% for A and B respectively). No changes in AWT performance were recorded for the control group post-supplementation. The findings of the present study suggest that the performance of an acute creatine loading together with consumption of carbohydrates does not improve AWT performance beyond that associated with just the acute creatine loading.