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Effect of chronic carbohydrate, protein & creatine supplementation on fat‐free mass, muscle function & VO2max in highly trained endurance athletes
Author(s) -
McGregor Robin A,
Sewell Dean A
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.6.lb104
Subject(s) - creatine , isometric exercise , medicine , repeated measures design , carbohydrate , endocrinology , ingestion , athletes , leg press , analysis of variance , physical therapy , chemistry , muscle strength , statistics , mathematics
There have been few chronic nutritional intervention studies evaluating the physiological effects of supplements on athletes in training. We hypothesised that ingestion of carbohydrate (CHO), protein and creatine over 5–10 weeks would increase the rate of adaptation to training compared to carbohydrate alone. The study involved 12 swimmers and tri‐athletes in a double blind repeated measures design, with two groups matched on VO 2 max. The CHO‐PRO‐Cr group consumed a CHO, protein and creatine supplement while the CHO group consumed a CHO supplement following normal training sessions for 10 weeks. Fat‐free mass (FFM), muscle function and VO 2 max were assessed at baseline, 5 and 10 weeks. Data is presented for 5 weeks supplementation based on repeated measures ANOVA at p<0.05. There were no significant differences between the CHO‐PRO‐Cr or CHO group at baseline for FFM (59.9±4.4 and 62±4.4kg), isokinetic (233±30 and 257±30 Nm) or isometric knee extension torque or VO 2 max (3.97±0.5 and 4.55±0.6 L.min −1 ). There was a significant main effect of time on isokinetic knee torque between baseline and 5 weeks (p<0.01), but not for FFM or VO2max (p=0.07). There was no main effect of supplement on fat‐free mass, knee torque or VO 2 max and no interaction effect present. We conclude that CHO‐PRO‐Cr supplementation during training does not increase the rate of adaptation compared to CHO supplementation.