How Creatine Helps Footballers

Taking creatine influences the production of ATP , the main source of energy in our body, so it has a great benefit in terms of strength and power .

Soccer is a sport that demands a variety of athletic skills such as repeatedly sprinting , jumping, and kicking the ball. Each of them involves the use of our power, which can be benefited by the use of creatine.

We are going to analyze a study carried out where the relationship between creatine intake and performance in some athletic skills related to soccer was analyzed and that, unlike the majority carried out so far, lasted more than a week (Claudino et al., 2014 ).

Study design

  • The study was carried out during the 7 weeks of preseason of a professional team.
  • 14 footballers participated: half of them took creatine during that time while the other half did not.
  • The preseason design was the same as the previous ones, gradually increasing in intensity as the start of the season approached.
  • Two weekly work sessions with loads were included where hypertrophy and plyometric work routines were implemented, important to gain power in the legs.

How was creatine administered:

  • A week -long loading phase , where 20 gr . newspapers.
  • The following 6 weeks they ingested the recommended amount of 5 gr.
  • The control group took a similar dose of dextrose (sugar) as a placebo.

How were the effects of creatine evaluated?

A test was carried out on the 14 participating soccer players where they measured their jumping ability and power before and after the study.

futbolista saltando

What results were obtained?

The intake of creatine led the footballers who took it to mitigate the decrease in jumping power that usually occurs in the preseason due to the high workload of these.

On the other hand, the footballers who did not take it did suffer a decrease in their performance in said ability.

The differences between the group that took creatine and the group that did not were not very significant, but considering that the preseason is a time when athletic skills can be diminished due to the high workload that it entails, it was revealing that creatine was helpful in mitigating this effect.

Is it useful for a footballer to take creatine?

In this research, no results were observed that showed that creatine significantly improves the performance of soccer players. However, it was seen how its intake can prevent the loss of muscle power in periods of high workload, such as a preseason.

In order to draw more useful conclusions, it would be necessary to carry out more studies where the efficacy of creatine is investigated in longer periods of time or during the season itself, since it could be that creatine helps to maintain the muscular power of a player during several weeks.

References

  • Claudino, JG, Mezêncio, B., Amaral, S., Zanetti, V., Benatti, F., Roschel, H.,… Serrão, JC (2014). Creatine monohydrate supplementation on lower-limb muscle power in Brazilian elite soccer players. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 11 (32) . doi: 10.1186 / 1550-2783-11-32.
  • Dupont, D. Creatine Works for Soccer Players, Too. For Breakingmuscle.com [Reviewed September 2015].