Creatine supplement and endurance training

--amadeus--

Hi,

Looking for some nutritional advice (cross posted in Marathon) please

I am a vegetarian marathon runner doing ~50 miles a week plus 1 martial arts session as cross training. I eat pretty well, lots of carbs and fruit, keep well hydrated, etc. I also take a multi-vit but when I was last in the health food shop the guy there advised creatine for me.

I know creatine can be useful for power sports (sprinting, lifting) and has proven muscle gain benefits. However the advise I had was that it is - in effect - a pre cursor of ATP and as such taking a supplement will allow me to train harder for longer with less fatigue, leading to performance gains in the marathon. Now the bulk of my work would be below the lactate threshold (my max HR is roughly 200, on an average run I'll be in the 160 - 170 range).

I'm a sucker for a good pitch so I bought it anyway (it can't hurt, right?) but is there any truth or benefit for endurance work?

Thanks!

BossArky

I found creatine caused me to carry an extra couple of kg water weight which wasn't ideal when triathloning, especially on the bike hills.

On the treadmill it helped me to a ~21 minute 5km run. No way I'd come close to that outdoors.. probably more like 23 or 24 mins. I guess the water weight has less effect when you are on a treadmill vs the road as you aren't actually moving your bodyweight as much as you would be on the road.

In summary, if you are a long distance road runner I wouldn't bother with creatine.

My 2c from experiences between April - August 08.

Definetly great for weight training though.

--amadeus--

Thanks for that.

My theory (which is probably wrong :P) is that I am 11 weeks away from my next marathon. If I take it for the next 6 - 8 weeks I get teh muscle mass gains in my legs. I can then stop taking it a few weeks before teh race and I'll lose any water weight gains and hit the start line trim but with extra leg muscle.

Am I away with the fairies with that idea?

WHIP IT!

You mentioned waterweight there regarding creatine - does this kind of automatically come off once you stop using it? What's the best way to cycle creatine - 6wks on, 6off maybe? Or only use it in weeks coming up to comps/big games/marathon etc??

BossArky

Protein build muscle, not creatine. Creatine just allows you to apply more power in short bursts i.e. sprints, as it increases the amount of ATP available.

If you were in the gym using creatine to help you lift heavier weights due to increased ATP, the muscles are torn up more. Protein is then required to build them up during recovery time.

Creatine allows you to apply more power. Protein fills in the tears in your muscle caused by the application of this power.

If you are burning loads of cals through your running and not eating enough protein & cals generally then you will end up skinny... but with a couple extra kgs of water weight through the creatine. This extra weight could cause an injury with all that pounding the roads.

You won't be sprinting much in your race... so I don't think creatine is going to be much use.

--amadeus--

Thanks for that. I'm a veggie so need to keep an eye on protein intake anyway. I suppose my question should have been prefaced with "assuming you are doing everything else right..."

But since we are now talking more generally about diet & nutrition... I eat a lot of rice / pasta / potatoes for my carbs, fresh fruit and veg for vits along with a generic multi vit supplement (with all the B vits and iron). Soya / quorn / pulses / nuts for protein. I am ramping up mileage now so I am also topping off with occasional protein shakes and post long run (anything over 15 miles really) I take a carb drink.

If creatine won't be of benefit are there any supplements that may help?

BossArky

Glutamine will help your recovery and aid your immune system. This could save you getting run down (ba doom tish) and picking up a cold.

Glucsomine (sp?) is supposed to help keep joints supple & used a bit by runners. No experience with it myself.