Creatine as a supplement for my endurance performance?

Every form of movement in our body requires energy. This energy must be produced and provided. The production of energy takes place in and through our muscles. The energy produced is stored in the muscle, among other places, to achieve the shortest possible transport route. Body movements always occur when one of our muscles shortens (contracts). To accomplish this (shortening) work, the muscle draws on various energy sources available, which are stored in varying quantities and metabolized either directly or in a roundabout way to provide energy.

To illustrate this more simply, we will now use an everyday situation in which some muscles have to shorten to move our body weight from A to B: the ever-popular stair climbing.

Climbing stairs on the ground floor is not usually a major challenge. To reach the 10th floor, however, we would like to have an elevator, especially if we have to carry heavy shopping into the apartment.

If we look at the range of different speeds at which our feet can climb one (or more) step(s) on the way up, we gain an insight into the need to provide energy. Everyone should know the feeling of exertion on the 3rd floor, your legs burn and your movement is no longer as agile as it was at the start of the climb. But why is this the case?

From zero to one hundred with creatine

As mentioned at the beginning, our muscles are capable of performing movements at different speeds. We can climb a step slowly one after the other or complete a record-breaking sprint through the stairwell *all as quietly as possible, of course* …

Now we have to understand that to do the former (slow running), our body uses a completely different type of energy source stored in the muscle than is the case with the latter (sprinting). The energy store used enables us to maintain the corresponding speed of movement over a certain period of time. In most cases, a stair sprint ends after a few seconds when we reach the first floor.

Compared to other energy sources (e.g. fat), creatine (phosphate) can be used most quickly for muscle contraction and thus ensures that movement is carried out quickly. Unfortunately, the creatine store is not very large, which is why a movement can only be maintained for a few seconds by using creatine alone. But don’t worry, because our body automatically switches to one of the other energy sources when needed and tries to replenish the creatine energy stores at the next opportunity. After the rewarding break on the 3rd floor, nothing stands in the way of our next sprint to the 4th floor, at least from the point of view of the creatine store.

If only I had a larger supply of creatine energy …

More Creatine = Higher Endurance Performance?

Now that we understand how our muscles can move our body weight quickly from A to B (using creatine), we can move on to the real question: Is (dietary) supplementation with creatine beneficial for my endurance performance? In other words, does a larger amount of creatine in our body (and therefore in our muscles as a storage location) make us more enduring?

In sports, the influence of creatine supplementation has been well-researched for over 25 years. For all age groups and genders, a positive benefit has been shown, with no to minimal side effects, when it comes to physical performance to the work performed (including more strength, higher performance threshold, and faster recovery). However, there are also signs of a positive direct influence on mental performance and aging processes. There is now even evidence that creatine can also support and promote brain health.

Concerning endurance performance (in our example, climbing stairs), the additional intake of creatine results in the following:

• faster movement is possible more often (climbing more stairs with greater agility)
• a reduced recovery phase (climbing stairs again more quickly)
• increased strength performance (can climb more stairs at the same time)
• increased fat-free body mass (less body weight to carry)
• balanced storage reserves (especially with a vegan diet)
• no influence on dehydration or cramping of the muscles
• improved injury prevention