Runners Rejoice: The Power of Creatine Explained

Can Creatine Help Runners?

Creatine may increase short-burst energy, but its use is unlikely to enhance long-distance running due to aerobic energy sources that don't depend on the phosphocreatine pathway.

Creatine supplements can assist runners' recovery after strenuous training sessions by supporting muscle protein synthesis and replenishing glycogen stores.

Higher doses may cause some runners gastrointestinal discomfort. To minimise this side-effect use lower "maintenance" doses such as 2-5 grams daily as part of your routine regimen.

Creatine Explained

Creatine is an all-natural substance composed of amino acids glycine and arginine that's predominantly found in muscles where it plays a part in producing ATP (adenosine triphosphate), what is known as the energy carrier molecule that fuels your cells.

At moderate-to-high-intensity exercise, creatine helps increase glycogen storage and delay fatigue. Furthermore, its use triggers insulin secretion that assists muscles in absorbing glucose into muscle cells for increased carbohydrate endurance.

The International Society of Sports Nutrition advises consuming 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight daily for seven to ten days to load your muscles with creatine monohydrate supplementation, before continuing supplementation of 3-5 grams each day thereafter to maintain higher stores.

Researchers believe creatine increases skeletal muscle mass, protecting against injury. Furthermore, creatine may reduce inflammation after intense training sessions to facilitate recovery.

Creatine Increases Lower Limb Strength

Running requires special nutritional considerations and many runners look to supplements to boost their performance. And, more runners are turning to the benefits of creatine.

But will taking creatine actually make you run faster?

Creatine enhances muscle power by replenishing cells' energy currency ATP.

ATP fuels high-intensity exercises like bench presses and bicep curls, but also short all-out runs. When levels of this precious resource decline, muscles fatigue quickly; Creatine helps replenish it to sustain exercise intensity for longer.

Studies have demonstrated that creatine can extend your working capacity before fatigue sets in. Reports show that you may improve performance by up to 15% compared to training without it.

This effect is particularly noticeable during anaerobic exercises requiring shorter bursts of energy versus aerobic exercises requiring continuous oxygen consumption.

A comprehensive meta-analysis encompassing 60 studies revealed that the supplementation of creatine enhances lower limb strength during exercises with a duration of less than three minutes.

Incorporating creatine supplements has demonstrated that it can enhance overall body strength and endurance in leg press exercises, particularly when utilised alongside resistance training protocols.

Can Creatine Improve Muscle Recovery?

Creatine supplements not only boost performance in high-intensity exercise but also facilitate muscle recovery by increasing glycogen synthesis and protecting against protein degradation and oxidative stress after intense physical exertion.

Supplementation has consistently been demonstrated to increase the intracellular pool of creatine. This leads to an increased ability of the cell to synthesize adenosine.

This intracellular expansion has been associated with many performance outcomes including an increase in maximal strength, maximal work output (low-speed), power production (high-speed strength), sprint performance and fat-free mass.

In addition, a 2013 study shows that supplementing with creatine can speed up the recovery process between intense workouts by reducing muscle damage and promoting a faster recovery of force production potential.

The study concluded that supplementing with creatine can have a positive effect in reducing the increase of muscle damage markers after repeated bouts of resistance training.

It is not known how creatine enhances recovery, but it is most likely due to its multifaceted functions.

A 2009 study found that there was a significant increase in muscle strength following creatine supplementation after a muscle-damaging workout.

This may be partly due to faster muscle growth in the recovery phase, but a significantly lower plasma creatine-kinase in the days following injury indicates less muscle damage.

Does Creatine Stimulate Muscle Protein Synthesis?

Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS) is a metabolic reaction that helps repair muscle damage and builds muscle. This is important for recovery following exercise. The synthesis of muscle protein increases after a bout of resistance exercise.

Creatine has been shown to stimulate the rate of synthesis for two major contractile proteins, actin, and myosin-heavy chains. Creatine only affects the rate at which it is synthesized, not its rate of degradation.

It has also been identified to prevent muscle atrophy (muscular wastage) through the creatine and the phosphocreatine system (PCr) that is involved in energy metabolism.

Whilst the Journal of Sports Medicine and Therapy cited a study that showed creatine supplementation enhances insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) expression which leads to the promotion of muscle protein synthesis.

IGF-1 stimulates skeletal muscle growth and regulates muscle protein synthesis.

Does Creatine Replenish Glycogen?

Muscle glycogen provides fuel for intense exercise whether it is anaerobic or aerobic in nature.

It is important to replenish muscle glycogen and initiate muscle tissue repair to recover quickly from prolonged exercise.

The availability of muscle glycogen can limit endurance performance. It has been previously shown that 5 days of carbohydrate and creatine increased post-exercise glycogen storage in comparison to carbohydrate alone.

A study published in 2016 found that dietary Cr supplementation markedly augmented post-exercise muscle glycogen storage above placebo during a conventional 'carbohydrate-loading' regime.

This increase of glycogen storage occurred almost exclusively within the first 24 h of supplementation (the magnitude of glycogen re-synthesis during the first 24 h of supplementation was ~82 % greater in the Cr group compared to placebo).

Creatine For Running

Creatine monohydrate has been reported to have ergogenic effects, including increased force output, augmented strength, increased anaerobic tolerance, increased work capacity and enhanced training adaptations.

Furthermore, creatine can aid recovery by replenishing glycogen stores and stimulating protein synthesis for faster training sessions with shorter recovery periods - helping runners meet their running goals more quickly!

Long-distance runners may not see as many benefits from creatine supplementation as sprinters, but any runner engaged in high-intensity training sessions such as tempo runs or interval workouts may still benefit greatly as aerobic energy systems are utilized more than anaerobic energy systems during these activities.

Continuous creatine consumption (3-5g per day) can help increase power output during short sprints such as the end of a race, a particular incline or battling it out at the start of a race where every second counts towards your final push to victory.

Creatine supplements may also be beneficial during peak training periods and for master's athletes looking to maintain strength and muscle mass.

Furthermore, governing bodies like the American College of Sports Medicine have recommended its use for athletic purposes; making it one of the safest and most reliable ergogenic aids available today.

Does Creatine Make You Run Faster?

Creatine has been shown to boost power output and muscle energy storage during high-intensity exercise, making it especially useful for sprinters and other athletes who depend on short bursts of energy, such as those found during football or marathon races.

In one study, creatine significantly reduced the time required to complete a 40-meter sprint. In addition, it has been reported that creatine improved the sprinting speeds of soccer players on the 5-meter and 15-meter distances.

A study looking at power output during treadmill sprints concluded that despite the increased mass, creatine supplementation improved power and speed during the second half of the repeated sprint running protocol.

This improvement was attributed to the higher running speed and power output in the last 5 seconds of each 10-second sprint.

Is Creatine Good For A Marathon?

Endurance training is low-intensity and relies less on rapid ATP production. This reduces the importance of creatine.

Creatine can improve your training sessions and improve endurance.

In one study it increased the number and amount of intervals plus other training which would benefit an endurance athlete.

Furthermore, there is some evidence that creatine supplements can be beneficial for endurance sports.

This was highlighted by the effect creatine had on rowing athletes. The results of a 2003 study showed that creatine supplementation in elite rowers improves anaerobic and endurance performance (as measured by individual lactate threshold), independent of the effects of intense endurance training.

The supplementation of creatine may lead to a change in the substrate usage during aerobic exercise, possibly leading to an increase in endurance performance at a steady state.

Nonetheless, creatine may assist during mid-race surges or finishing kicks common to many races or team sports where rapidly replenishing glycogen reserves is crucial to success.

This was demonstrated in a recent study that showed that athletes taking creatine had significantly better performances during an endurance time trial 4K closing sprint than athletes without supplementation.

Creatine may provide benefits for marathon runners, however, it will only have an effect when taken during peak training periods or workouts focused on sprints to HIIT workouts.

Lower-intensity runners may not see any direct benefits from taking creatine; however, it still could benefit by aiding recovery and increasing glycogen storage.

Does Creatine Help You Run Longer?

A few studies have shown small but significant improvements in other endurance variables such as blood lactate at a certain workload and ventilatory/lactate tolerance following creatine supplementation.

There are other effects of creatine supplementation that may impact performance and endurance training.

Studies have shown that combining creatine with carbohydrates or carbohydrate and protein supplements may promote glycogen storage.

The addition of creatine to carbohydrates and carbohydrate and protein is seen as a key benefit in many endurance sports.

This is because the intensity and duration are training and competing can cause a drastic decrease in the hepatic glycogen and intramuscular levels.

Furthermore, the volume and nature of endurance training can also cause muscle damage.

It has been reported that creatine supplements may help reduce the circulating levels of muscle damage markers and restore muscle force more quickly.

Other studies have also shown a distinct role of creatine as being able to protect muscle tissue from damage. Such as this report concerning a group of 30 km runners supplemented with creatine for 24 hours after the race showed reduced soreness, damage to muscles, and inflammation.

There is limited research that directly examines the impact of creatine supplementation on endurance exercise.

Although some preliminary research suggests that creatine does not directly support endurance performance in athletes, other studies have shown that creatine can support and aid their training and performance, which in turn can help you run for a longer duration.

Conclusion

Creatine is an increasingly popular supplement among athletes looking to increase strength, muscle mass, and performance.

Studies have shown that over short distances, creatine can increase your running speed and power.

Additionally, creatine may aid recovery by encouraging muscle protein synthesis and replenishing glycogen stores; further helping reduce energy depletion during exercise sessions.

Creatine may also assist during mid-race surges or final kicks towards the finish line by providing an extra boost to energy levels.

As such, whilst it directly has more benefits for short-distance runners, its ability to reduce muscle stress, soreness and inflammation can help long-distance runers.