This study aimed to determine the effects of different acute creatine loadings (ACRL) on repeated cycle sprints. Twenty-eight active subjects divided into the control (n=7) and the experimental (n=21) group. The exercise protocol comprised three 30s Anaerobic Wingate Tests (AWT) interspersed with six minutes recovery, without any supplements ingested and following placebo and creatine ingestion, according to each ACRL (40g, 100g and 135g throughout a four-day period). Blood and urinary creatine levels were also determined from the experimental group for each ACRL. Protein intake (across all groups) was held constant during the study. There were no changes in protein intake or performance of the control group. For the experimental group creatine supplementation produced significant (p<0.01) increases in body mass (82.5 ± 1.4kg pre vs 82.9 ± 1.2kg post), blood (0.21 ± 0.04mmol·l(-1) pre vs 2.24 ± 0.98mmol·l(-1) post), and urinary creatine (0.23 ± 0.09mmol·l(-1) pre vs 4.29 ± 1.98mmol·l(-1) post). No significant differences were found between the non-supplement and placebo condition. Creatine supplementation produced an average improvement of 0.7%, 11.8% and 11.1% for the 40g, 100g and 135g ACRL respectively. However, statistics revealed significant (p<0.01) differences only for the 100g and 135g ACRL. Mean ± SD values for the 100g ACRL for mean and minimum power were 612 ± 180W placebo vs 693 ± 221W creatine and 381 ± 35W placebo vs 415 ± 11W creatine accordingly. For the 135g ACRL the respective performance values were 722 ± 215W placebo vs 810 ± 240W creatine and 405 ± 59W placebo vs 436 ± 30W creatine. These data indicate that a 100g compared to 40g ACRL produces a greater potentiation of performance whilst, greater quantities of creatine ingestion (135g ACRL) can not provide a greater benefit.
Keywords: Acute create loading; dosage; performance enhancement.