Do you drink coffee? If so, you might lose the benefits of creatine loading. A recent double-blind study confirms creatine’s
efficacy as a bodybuilding supplement, but gives a strong caveat
to coffee drinkers.
Nine active men (ages 20-23) took eight doses of 5 grams of
glucose placebo, creatine monohydrate or creatine plus caffeine
in successive six-day treatments. Caffeine was given after breakfast
as a 400-mg capsule. The three treatments were presented in
random order separated by three-week washout periods. Subjects
were fed standardized diets during the study and the four days
before it. After the test subjects had loaded up on creatine
for six days, their muscles became enriched with extra phosphocreatine,
an effect that wasn’t diminished by co-administration
of caffeine. Predictably, the glucose placebo didn’t increase
muscle phosphocreatine levels.
At the beginning and end of each six-day
treatment, knee extensor strength was tested using a dynamometer.
Maximal isometric strength wasn’t significantly
improved by creatine, supporting some previous studies
that suggest no benefit of creatine for brief, maximal
exertions but contradicting other studies that suggest
just such a benefit. When test subjects performed intermittent
sets of 10, 20 or 30 leg extensions, creatine loading
increased performance (dynamic torque) 10%-23%, while
the placebo had no effect. This confirms previous research
showing performance-enhancing effects of creatine loading
on intermittent, bodybuilding-type exercise.
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Creatine’s ergogenic benefit was increasingly blunted
from set to set when subjects took too little rest (20-60 seconds)
between sets. The ergogenic effect returned when a longer rest
interval (two minutes) was allowed; it takes time for creatine
to he recharged with phosphate (creatine is only half recharged
after one minute).
Although creatine alone clearly improved quadriceps performance,
the combination of creatine plus caffeine wasn’t significantly
better than a placebo. Apparently, caffeine neutralized the
ergogenic benefits of creatine without blocking the rise in
muscle phosphocreatine levels. The effect wasn’t due to
any performance-lowering effect of caffeine; the last caffeine
dose was given 20 hours before the dynamometer testing and caffeine
isn’t believed to reduce performance.
These study results suggest that anyone wanting the full benefit
of a creatine-loading regimen is wise to avoid coffee and other
concentrated sources of caffeine. The dose of caffeine used
in the study, 400 mg, is about the amount contained in 32 cups
of drip or brewed coffee or six cups of instant coffee. Drinking
more than two cups of brewed coffee a day is likely to reduce
the benefits of creatine loading. More moderate consumption
of low-caffeine beverages such as tea or cola is apparently
permissible; a tea solution (about 30 mg of caffeine) used in
early creatine studies showed good results.
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