Creatine as an exercise-enhancing supplement
Study shows creatine improves maximal muscle strength and reduces the influence of fatigue
Complex training is a system of exercises that is designed to increase strength and power. It involves pairing exercises back-to-back, starting with a heavy resistance exercise (squats, for instance) followed after a brief pause by a light, explosive exercise using the same muscles (like squat jumps, in this example).
The theory is that the heavy exercise primes the muscles and enhances their performance. This phenomenon is known as post-activation potentiation (PAP).
The exact effects of PAP vary by person and are influenced by muscle fatigue. In addition, the optimal time between the heavy exercise and the explosive exercise vary by person.
To better understand how to maximise the potential of PAP, research has looked at the two main ways fatigue develops during intense muscle contraction. One is the rephosphorylation of adenosine diphosphate (ADP). The other is an increase in the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) that results from the dissociation of lactic acid.
This, in turn, leads to a decrease in phosphocreatine. Creatine supplementation may support rephosphorylation of ADP to ATP and improve cellular homeostasis during bouts of intense activity by utilising excess hydrogen. Thus, creatine could mitigate muscle fatigue and improve performance.
Creatine is a natural substance that plays an important role in muscle energy metabolism. In a 2016 study published in the journal Nutrients, researchers looked at the effects of creatine supplements on strength and power, as well as PAP time during complex training bouts.
The study included 30 athletes doing explosive exercise in an attempt to determine the whether supplementing with creatine would change the optimal PAP timing or peak power. Subjects took either a placebo or 20g of creatine per day for 6 days. Those who supplemented with creatine experienced a significant improvement in strength during the heavy exercise, and optimal individual PAP time was significantly shorter, signifying a shorter recovery time. There was, however, no significant difference in the overall performance of the explosive exercise.
Although creatine did not affect explosive performance in this study, it did improve maximal muscle strength and reduced the influence of fatigue on PAP time. These effects might be reason enough to add it to strength training regimens.