Effect of pre-exercise and post-exercise creatine supplementation on bone mineral content and density in healthy...

Creatine supplementation, immediately before and immediately following resistance training, has been shown to increase muscle mass and strength. However, the effects of pre- exercise and post-exercise creatine supplementation on aging bone mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD) is unknown. Using a double-blind, repeated measures design, aging adults were randomized to one of three groups: creatine before (CR-B: n = 15; 53 ± 3 years, 170.1 ± 9.9 77.1 ± 15.6 kg; 0.1 g·kg^-1 creatine immediately before resistance training and 0.1 g·kg^-1 cornstarch maltodextrin immediately after resistance training), creatine after (CR-A: n = 12; 55 ± 4 years, 173.4 ± 8.3 cm, 87.9 ± 20.1 kg; 0.1 g·kg^-1 cornstarch maltodextrin immediately before resistance training and 0.1 g·kg^-1 of creatine immediately after resistance training), or placebo (PLA: n = 12; 57 ± 7 years, 170.5 ± 10.8 cm, 77.9 ± 11.8 kg; 0.1 g·kg^-1 cornstarch maltodextrin before and after resistance training). Whole-body resistance training was performed 3 days/week for 8 months. Prior to and following training and supplementation, BMC and BMD of the whole-body, limbs, femoral neck, lumbar spine, and total hip were determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. There was a time main effect (p = 0.037) for femoral neck BMD (CR-B; absolute change: -0.011 g/cm², 95% CI [-0.028, 0.006], CR-A: absolute change: -0.014 g/cm², 95% CI [-0.031, 0.003], PLA: absolute change: -0.006 g/cm², 95% CI [-0.002, 0.010]), with no other differences. Creatine supplementation, independent of the timing of ingestion, has no effect on aging bone mineral content or density.