קריאטין ופעילות גופנית

הקריאטין היחידי הנמצא כמשפר ביצועים אנאיירובים הוא קריאטין מונהיידרייט.
יש פרוטוקולים שונים לצריכה. כאלו המצדדים בסייקלים וכאלו שלא.
מתוך:
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2007, 4:6
Supplementation Protocols and Effects on Muscle Creatine Stores

Various supplementation protocols have been suggested to be efficacious inincreasing muscle stores of creatine. The amount of increase in muscle storage
depends on the levels of creatine in the muscle prior to supplementation. Those
who have lower muscle creatine stores, such as those who eat little meat or fish,
are more likely to experience muscle storage increases of 20-40%, whereas
those with relatively high muscle stores may only increase stores by 10 20% [19].
The magnitude of the increase in skeletal muscle creatine content is important
because studies have reported performance changes to be correlated to this increase


The supplementation protocol most often described in the literature is referred to
as the “loading” protocol. This protocol is characterized by ingesting
approximately 0.3 grams/kg/day of CM for 5 - 7 days (e.g., ~ 5 grams taken four
times per day) and 3-5 grams/day thereafter [18,22]. Research has shown a 10-
40% increase in muscle creatine and PCr stores using this protocol [10,22].
Additional research has reported that the loading protocol may only need to be 2-
3 days in length to be beneficial, particularly if the ingestion coincides with protein
and/or carbohydrate [23-24]. Furthermore, supplementing with 0.25 grams/ kg-fat
free mass/day of CM may be an alternative dosage sufficient to increase muscle
creatine stores [25].
Other suggested supplementation protocols utilized include those with no loading
phase as well as “cycling” strategies. A few studies have reported protocols with
no loading period to be sufficient for increasing muscle creatine (3 g/d for 28
days) [15] as well as muscle size and strength (6 g/d for 12 weeks) [26-27].
These protocols seems to be equally effective in increasing muscular stores of
creatine, but the increase is more gradual and thus the ergogenic effect does not
occur as quickly. Cycling protocols involve the consumption of “loading” doses for
3-5 days every 3 to 4 weeks [18,22]. These cycling protocols appear to be
effective in increasing and maintaining muscle creatine content before a drop to
baseline values, which occurs at abo