Thursday, July 23, 1998
The Halifax Herald Limited
The Canadian Press Canadian sprinter Donovan Baile relaxes after the Canadian teamwon the men's
4 X 100-metre relay in the 16th annual Harry Jerome International Track & Field Classic at
Swanguard Stadium in Burnaby, B.C. in May. Bailey is an acknowledged user of creatine to enhance
his sprint performance. St. F. X. assistant professor Darren Burke scoops some creatine powder
during a conditioning session for AUFC football players at Huskies Stadium in Halifax on Tuesday.
CREATINE RESEARCH
Subjects: 40 male varsity athletes, 20 hockey and 20 football Testing: Half of each team group got
creatine others didn't. Amounts were lower than that suggested by suppliers and based on each
subjects lean body mass. Subjects and testers didn't know who got creatine until after test.
Strength: Subjects tested on bench press, then followed set program of exercises and tested at end of
study period.
Duration: 21 days.
Results: Burke reported four main findings:
1. Increases in body composition.
2. Increases in strength/power.
3. Creatine retention: people urinate most of it out. Levels of Creatine passed in urination suggest the
body can't use higher amounts - such as during loading phases - at any given time.
4. Side effects: A. 75% reported increases in delayed muscle soreness.
B. Sleep irregularities.
Creatine: from the X-Men's files Professor's research shows power, pain and sleep irregularities
If a St. Francis Xavier X-Men lineman crushes an opponent into the ground in a university football
game this fall, it could be due to a scientific quest that started in Darren Burke's lab. Burke, 30, an
assistant professor of kinesiology at the Antigonish school, studied the effects of the dietary supplement
creatine on half of 40 male athletes last year.
Creatine, used by athletes of all types to boost energy during workouts, showed significant results on
the football and hockey players taking part.
One offensive lineman improved his bench press by 78 pounds (35 kilograms) after 21 days of creatine
intake and exercise. "This is a hot topic with all therapists and athletic trainers and sporting teams all
across North America," Burke said. Burke, who also does conditioning work with the X-Menteams,
wanted to understand more about the effects of creatine, of which little is know. "This is probably the
largest study that's been done on creatine." The supplement has jumped in popularity in recent years. It
is widely used in Nova Scotia and many big-time athletes, including Donovan Bailey, Mark McGwire
and John Elway, acknowledge using it. Burke says a creatine supplier, Nu-Life Nutrition Ltd. of
Markham, Ont., approached him to do the study. "They are very open to more studies," he said, noting
he'll do another next year. After hearing from the company, Burke had to get St F.X.'s ethics
committee to approve the study. His next task was easy - getting willing subjects. He found 40 varsity
athletes - 20 football players and 20 hockey players. "They were all wanting to take it, because for
them it was a free supply, potentially." A month's supply of creatine normally costs about $50. Testing
was done in the off-season. Burke arranged a workout regimen for the 40 athletes and told them to
keep their normal diet and water intake and not to work out elsewhere. Then they began three weeks
of workouts. "They all had to do the exact same exercise, the same number of sets, the same number
of repetitions so we would have consistency," Burke said. Half of the group got creatine, the others
grape juice. Neither the players nor the study assistants knew who got which.
The players getting creatine were given quantities based on their lean body weight but smaller than the
manufacturer's recommended levels, and there was no "loading" phase. During loading, users ingest
larger amounts for a week every month in a process called cycling. Burke tested strength gain on the
bench press. "It's kind of like the gold standard of strength," he said. He had the athletes push a type of
bench press wired to a computer, "called a double-acting concentric dynamometer." "When they
pushed as hard as they could, we'd get a force output. We compared the initial output at the beginning
of the study to themselves at the end of the study."
Creatine users got stronger.
"We found the creatine subjects increased their strength by 258 newtons. That's 58 pounds (26
kilograms)." Those without creatine pushed an average of 36 pounds (16 kilograms) more. Creatine
helps the energy cells in muscles regenerate faster, improving workouts, Burke said. "They were able
to maintain peak force output for longer periods of time. With the creatine subjects, we found that their
duration was, on average, 25 seconds, whereas to placebo subjects, their duration of maintenance of
peak force was only 18.4 seconds. "If you output your maximum efforts for a longer period of time,
you're going to be a better athlete." Despite seeing first-hand the strength-building aspects of creatine,
Burke is concerned. "I'm not a proponent of athletes supplementing with anything. I think there's still
not enough known about it." The test also showed sleep irregularities and muscle soreness but Burke
said the insomnia could be from muscle pain. He also said the test showed consistently high levels of
creatine are excreted through urination. This led him to believe cycling with varying amounts of
creatine is bunk. "My personal feeling is that manufacturers are recommending it simply to sell more
product. There was no difference in the amounts of retention, which tells you that the muscle was not
changing in the amount that it wants to bring in." Burke says there's much more to know about
creatine. He plans tests this fall at St. F.X. to determine the best time to work out after ingesting it.
"The volume of the muscle cells themselves are getting increased." This raises pressure on muscle
cells, and "that, potentially could be the reason there's delayed muscle soreness. "There's potential for
kidney and maybe even liver damage down the road." He also worries about the central nervous
system, especially considering sleep irregularities.