Short-term creatine supplementation does not alter the hormonal response to resistance training

Purpose: In this study, the effect of short-term creatine supplementation o n the growth hormone, testosterone, and cortisol response to heavy resistan ce training was investigated. Methods: According to a double-blind crossove r study design, 11 healthy young male volunteers underwent a 1-h standardiz ed heavy resistance training session (3 series of 10RM: 12 exercises), both before (pretest) and after (posttest) 5 d of either placebo (P. maltodextr ine) or creatine (CR: 20 g.d(-1), 5d) supplementation. A 5-wk washout perio d separated the treatments. Thirty minutes before each training session. CR subjects ingested 10 g of creatine monohydrate (CR) while P subjects recei ved placebo. Venous blood was sampled before, immediately after, and 30 and 60 min after the training session. Results: The exercise-induced increase (P < 0.05) of serum growth hormone was not altered by acute creatine intake , did not significantly impact on serum testosterone. However, serum cortis ol during recovery tended to be higher in CR than in P. Conclusion: It is c oncluded that short-term creatine supplementation does not alter the respon se of growth hormone, testosterone, and cortisol to a single bout of heavy resistance training.