Creatine supplementation is often associated with strength and increasing muscle mass. However, its potential benefits for endurance athletes, particularly runners, have sparked interest and debate.
While traditionally viewed as more beneficial for explosive activities like weightlifting, recent research suggests that endurance athletes may also benefit from creatine supplementation.
This article explores the science behind creatine supplements and its potential effects on running performance.
What Does Creatine Do in the Body?
Creatine is a naturally occurring compound that is produced in the body and is also found in certain foods like meat and fish. It is made of amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. The three amino acids that it's made from include arginine, glycine, and methionine.
Most of the body's creatine is stored in skeletal muscle tissue.
Creatine plays a crucial role in energy production, particularly during high-intensity, short-duration activities like weightlifting or sprinting.
When you consume creatine, from food or from creatine supplements, it gets stored in your muscles as phosphocreatine, or creatine phosphate.
During intense exercise, phosphocreatine helps regenerate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the primary energy carrier in cells. This regeneration of ATP allows for quick bursts of energy, which can improve performance in activities that require short, intense efforts.
Although the body naturally produces creatine, creatine supplements have been shown to be helpful. They can increase the creatine stored in your muscles, which can lead to improved strength and power output, as well as increased muscle mass, especially during repeated bouts of high-intensity exercise.
When taken in supplement form, the most effective form of creatine is creatine monohydrate.
Creatine may also aid in muscle recovery and growth, making it a popular supplement among athletes and bodybuilders.
Does Creatine Increase Running Stamina?
Typically when supplementing with creatine running isn't what people think of.
While creatine supplementation is more commonly associated with improving strength and power in high intensity exercise, some studies suggest that it might also have exercise performance benefits for endurance athletes as well.
One of the benefits of creatine supplements, in the form of creatine monohydrate for runners is that it may improve running stamina is through the regeneration of ATP. This can help maintain energy levels during longer runs and reduce fatigue.
Additionally, creatine supplementation has been shown to increase glycogen storage in muscles.
Glycogen is a form of stored carbohydrate that serves as a fuel source during endurance exercise. By increasing glycogen stores, creatine may help delay the onset of fatigue during prolonged running.
Is Creatine Good for Cardio?
Because creatine supplementation has been shown to increase muscle glycogen stores, it can potentially benefit endurance activities by providing a readily available energy source.
Additionally, creatine monohydrate may help improve recovery between high-intensity intervals during cardio workouts, allowing you to maintain a higher intensity for longer periods.
Benefits of Creatine for Runners
There are several benefits of creatine supplementation for runners including enhancing endurance performance, increasing muscle mass, and increasing muscle glycogen stores to improve endurance.
Improved Sprint Performance
One of the key benefits of creatine supplements for runners is its ability to enhance sprint performance. During sprint intervals or finishing sprints in races, the body relies heavily on the phosphagen system, which uses stored ATP for quick energy.
Because creatine monohydrate plays a crucial role in this system by regenerating ATP, creatine supplementation can help maintain high-intensity sprint performance.
Increased Muscle Glycogen Stores
One way creatine may increase muscle glycogen content is by enhancing the uptake of glucose into muscles. Creatine supplementation has been shown to increase the expression of glucose transporters in muscle cells, which can improve the uptake of glucose from the bloodstream into muscles.
This increased uptake of glucose can lead to higher levels of glycogen storage in muscles, providing a readily available source of energy during exercise.
Additionally, creatine supplementation may also have an indirect effect on glycogen storage by increasing the water content of muscles. Creatine supplementation is known to cause muscle cells to retain more water, which can increase muscle volume.
This increased muscle volume may create a greater storage space for glycogen, allowing for higher levels of glycogen storage, and ultimately improved exercise performance.
Muscle Endurance and Running
Muscle endurance is crucial for running, particularly in activities like long-distance running or endurance races. Endurance relies on the ability of muscles to sustain repeated muscle contractions over an extended period without fatigue.
In running, muscles such as the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and glutes are continuously engaged to propel the body forward and maintain pace. Training for muscle endurance involves activities that gradually increase the duration and intensity of exercise, such as long runs, tempo runs, and interval training.
Increasing muscle strength and enhancing endurance performance can allow runners to maintain pace over long distances.
Does Creatine Help With Recovery After Running?
Creatine supplementation may aid in recovery after running, for both sprinters and long distance runners.
After a run, creatine monohydrate can help promote muscle protein synthesis along with glycogen replenishment.
Creatine monohydrate can support muscle repair processes, potentially reducing soreness and expediting recovery from the muscle damage incurred during running.
Creatine's anti-inflammatory properties can also help reduce inflammation post-exercise, further supporting a faster recovery. Moreover, creatine's ability to increase cell hydration may be beneficial, especially after dehydration from running.
How Much Creatine Should I Take?
Creatine supplementation is not necessarily a one size fits all. How much creatine you should take depends on your specific needs, goals, and body weight. However, it's recommended that most people take 4-5 grams of creatine daily.
Some athletes choose to engage in creatine loading, which involves taking high doses of creatine monohydrate for several days to quickly maximize the muscle's creatine stores. While creatine loading can be a quick and efficient way to increase muscle creatine levels, it can come about with some side effects such as bloating and stomach discomfort.
Dosing of creatine for runners is not largely different than dosing for other sports. Taking a creatine maintenance dose of 4-5 grams daily can totally saturate your body's creatine stores, although it just might take a few weeks to reach maximum creatine levels.
Whether you choose to do a loading phase or simply start with a maintenance dose, many athletes find that combining creatine intake with protein intake is a good way to maximize the effectiveness of the creatine supplement.
Some athletes engage in creatine cycling, which involves rotating doses of creatine between a loading phase, maintenance dose, and rest period. While creatine usage may vary depending on the person, the benefits of creatine are largely the same regardless of the dosage method.
Are There Side Effects of Creatine For Runners?
Creatine monohydrate is one of the most widely researched and supported supplements on the market. It's considered safe for healthy individuals. However, some people may experience effects of creatine supplementation such as bloating, stomach discomfort, muscle cramps, weight gain, or fluctuations in body weight.
It's important to note that weight gain from creatine supplementation is largely from an increase in water retention, not a reflection of true weight gain.
Plus, side effects like changes in body weight or muscle cramping are more likely to occur if endurance athletes are participating in a creatine loading phase.
To prevent potential muscle cramps, it's recommended to ensure a good hydration status by drinking plenty of water or electrolyte beverages. Without a good hydration status, side effects from creatine are more likely. Although it may sound counterintuitive for people who are struggling with water retention, drinking plenty of water actually helps reduce the likelihood of water retention.
Plus, maintaining good hydration when taking creatine can also help support kidney function as well.
To minimize side effects from creatine usage, it's best to stick to take creatine in the recommended dose and avoid taking too much creatine.
Creatine For Runners: Is It Beneficial?
Whether you should take creatine monohydrate as a runner depends on several factors. If your goal is to improve physical performance or increase lean body mass, creatine may be beneficial.
If you're looking for a faster recovery while also working to improve sports performance, creatine supplementation appears to be beneficial.
However, if your focus is solely on endurance running, the benefits may be less pronounced. However, long distance runners should still be engaging in weight training, in which case creatine may actually be beneficial.
Creatine for runners may be particularly helpful if their athletic training involves high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or other intense running workouts, as it can aid in performance and recovery. Athletes who have a high training intensity or significant weight training can particularly benefit from taking a creatine supplement.
Additionally, if you experience muscle soreness after prolonged recovery times after hard workouts or races, creatine might help with muscle repair and glycogen replenishment, potentially improving recovery.
It's important to consider your overall health and consult with a healthcare provider before you take creatine, especially if you have underlying health conditions or are taking medications that could interact with creatine.
Individual responses to creatine vary, so it may be helpful to experiment cautiously to see how it affects your performance and recovery. Overall, creatine can improve exercise and sports performance for most people by increasing muscle creatine stores, boosting muscle strength, and enhancing energy production during workouts.
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