CREATINE SUPPLEMENTATION AND EXERCISE PERFORMANCE

Creatine phosphate allows high rates of adenosine triphosphate resynth esis to occur in muscle and therefore plays a vital role in the perfor mance of high-intensity exercise. Recent studies have shown that feedi ng large amounts of creatine (typically 20g per day for 5 days) increa ses muscles total creatine (and phosphocreatine) content. The extent o f the increase that is normally observed is inversely related to the p resupplementation level. Vegetarians, who have a very low dietary crea tine intake, generally show the largest increases. Creatine supplement ation has been shown to increase performance in situations where the a vailability of creatine phosphate is important; thus, performance is i mproved in very high-intensity exercise and especially where repeated sprints are performed with short recovery periods. Creatine supplement ation is widely practiced by athletes in many sports and does not cont ravene current doping regulations. There are no reports of harmful sid e effects at the recommended dosage.