The Study
Creatine ingestion augments dietary carbohydrate mediated muscle glycogen supercompensation during the initial 24 h of recovery following prolonged exhaustive exercise in humans
This study watched what happened in the muscles of 14 men after they exercised and then took either creatine or a fake pill while eating lots of carbs. It shows that the creatine group stored more fuel (glycogen) in their muscles in the first day, but because we don’t know for sure how people were picked for each group, we can’t say creatine definitely caused it.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
After really hard exercise, muscles need to refill their energy stores. This study shows that taking creatine with lots of carbs helps muscles refill faster—but only in the first day.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 537 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1This means creatine helps muscles recover much faster right after exhausting exercise, which could help athletes perform better in events close together.
- 2After one day of recovery, the creatine group had 410 mmol/kg of muscle glycogen vs.
- 3225 in the placebo group.
- 4Creatine also increased muscle creatine by 9% after one day.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Amino Acids
Year
2016
Authors
P. Roberts, John Fox, Nicholas S. Peirce, Simon W. Jones, A. Casey, P. Greenhaff
Related Content
Claims (7)
When your muscles store glycogen, it holds onto water—about 3 to 4 grams of water for every gram of glycogen. If glycogen runs low, cells get less hydrated, and that makes creatine less effective at pulling water into cells.
Taking creatine supplements may help your muscles store more glycogen, which is like a sugar reservoir, and since glycogen holds onto water, your muscles end up holding more water too.
If young, healthy guys take 20 grams of creatine every day while eating a super high-carb diet after intense exercise, they rebuild their muscle fuel 82% faster in the first day compared to just eating high carbs alone.
If young, healthy guys take a lot of creatine with a high-carb diet after a tough workout, their muscles store more creatine within just a few days — and it keeps going up the longer they take it.
In young, healthy guys recovering from intense workouts, taking creatine doesn’t seem to change muscle swelling or stress signals — which means the boost in muscle fuel recovery probably isn’t due to those factors.
In young, healthy guys, creatine helps refill muscle energy after intense exercise, but it doesn’t work by making muscles more sensitive to insulin — that part hasn’t changed, according to tests and gene activity.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.