Essay: How Creatine can enhance natural performance

Creatine is a natural substance that occurs in the body but it is also a supplement that has been tested by numerus athletes over the years to see whether it has a positive effect on performance. However, there is anecdotal evidence that suggests creatine supplementation may be the cause of negative side effects such as dehydration, increase muscle cramping and an increase in blood pressure. One way the supplementation of creatine can be used is to help resynthesise ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) stores within the body in order to produce energy therefore the most common athletes to take creatine are high intensity power athletes. Such as those doing long distance events such as cycling, swimming and running, it may also be used as a way of recovery for sprinters. A study carried out by Kreider R.B et al 1998 concluded that there were increases in the performance of isotonic lifting and sprinting during agility after taking creatine supplements. Although creatine has been believed to help recovery, however research undertaken by Stroud, et al,1994, would suggest that there was no difference in the recovery periods. This review of literature will examine as to whether Creatine should be recommended to athletes based on current research.
Creatine is classifies as a nutritional supplement this is because it is a naturally occurring substance that occurs within the body and is produced by amino acids in the liver and kidneys, creatine is also used in order to aid the resynthasis of ATP. Creatine is also natural because and occurs in some foods, research carried out by Balsom et al. (1994) found that the food with the highest content was herring. Creatine can be brought in a variety of forms such as; gels, liquids, tablets and powders. It ca also be admitted intravenously for medical purposes.
As well as being used to improve performance there have been studies that suggest that creatine is also used for other things within the body such as, aiding full brain function as creatine can be found within the central and peripheral nervous system. This has been found when looking at an infant who had a movement disorder and when tested it was found the creatine metabolism error was the reason for this and when the infant had a course of oral creatine supplementation it was corrected (Stöckler, S et al 1997). The movement disorder connects to the brain because it is believed it is linked with the basal ganglia. Another way creatine is used within the body is to keep a healthy heart as reduced Creatine is associated with heart failure (Conway et al 1996b).
There are three main ways creatine can enhance physical performance these are one; to increasing the levels of PCr (phosphocreatine) levels when resting so that they are there immediately during exercise in order to restore ATP store. Secondly, to increase the levels of creatine for after exercise to increase the rate of PCr resynthasise after exercise, and finally to reduce the excess acid after exercise. All of these way enhance physical performance because they help prevent fatigue.
There is still limited research as to how effective creatine actually is, there have been numerous studies investigating whether creatine is more effective on anaerobic power and endurance events as well as aerobic endurance events. Within the anaerobic power events a piece of research undertaken by Maganaris and Maughan (1998) on how creatine supplementation for 5 days compared to a placebo group would change how they performed in an isometric knee extensor strength test. The results showed that those taken the supplements had a 10% increase in their strength across both legs. The author concluded it may have been due to muscle hypertrophy due to the creatine which would support the use if creatine. On the other hand a study by Stevenson and Dudley (1998) on creatine and isometric strength in knee flexion, concluded that there was no significant increase in the knee flexion of the 19 subjects, therefore this study would not support the use of creatine. When looking at the effects of creatine supplementation on anaerobic endurance events