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Related Experiment Video

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Caffeine and creatine use in sport.

Mark A Tarnopolsky¹

¹Department of Pediatrics and Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont., Canada. tarnopol@mcmaster.ca

Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism

|February 25, 2011

Summary

Caffeine and creatine (a performance-enhancing supplement) can improve athletic performance in specific sports. However, they should not be used together, and excessive doses can be harmful.

Area of Science:

Sports Science
Exercise Physiology
Nutritional Biochemistry

Background:

Caffeine and creatine are widely used sports compounds with demonstrated ergogenic potential.
Their use is not considered doping, but their mechanisms and sport-specific applications warrant review.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the pharmacology and mechanisms of action of caffeine and creatine.
To evaluate their potential as ergogenic aids in sports.

Main Methods:

Screening of previous review articles and recent studies (2007 onwards).
Literature search using PubMed with terms like 'caffeine AND exercise' and 'creatine AND exercise'.

Main Results:

Caffeine (3-6 mg/kg pre-exercise or 1-2 mg/kg during) enhances endurance performance via CNS and muscle effects.

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Creatine monohydrate (20 g/day for 3-5 days or 5 g/day for 30 days) increases muscle phosphocreatine by 10-20%.

Creatine minimally enhances high-intensity exercise and may improve strength/mass gains during resistance training.

Conclusions:

Caffeine and creatine are ergogenic aids but are sport-specific.
Simultaneous use lacks rationale; high caffeine doses can be toxic and ergolytic.
Excessive creatine doses offer no benefit and may cause gastrointestinal upset.