Effects of Creatine Monohydrate Ingestion on Intermediate Duration Anaerobic Treadmill Running to Exhaustion

Abstract

To determine whether creatine monohydrate (CR) supplementation would improve intermediate duration anaerobic treadmill running to exhaustion (≈90 s), 11 men received a CR or glucose placebo at 20 g · d⁻¹ × 4 days and 10 g · d⁻¹ × 6 days. After 2 weeks of rehearsal they performed 2 exhaustive runs, separated by 8 min of recovery, at individually prescribed grades. Time to exhaustion for independent runs (TTE), total time to exhaustion for both runs combined (TTE_Total), and blood lactate concentration ([BLa]) were examined for each run. Significant treatment effects for group estimates of TTE_Total were noted. Overall, CR group running times improved more during the second run than the first and were significantly greater for TTE_Total. CR [BLa] during each posttest trial was also greater. These results suggest that CR supplementation may improve longer anaerobic work tasks, especially during repeated work bouts, by facilitating recovery and promoting a greater bioenergetic base from which to perform subsequent work tasks.