Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan 28;9(2):104561.
doi: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2025.104561. eCollection 2025 Feb.

Supplementation of Creatine Monohydrate Improves Sprint Performance but Has no Effect on Glycolytic Contribution: A Nonrandomized, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial in Trained Cyclists

Benedikt Meixner  1   2   3 , Johanna Stegmaier  2   3 , Peter Renner  3 , Karsten Koehler  4 , Woo-Hwi Yang  5   6 , Billy Sperlich  1
Affiliations

Supplementation of Creatine Monohydrate Improves Sprint Performance but Has no Effect on Glycolytic Contribution: A Nonrandomized, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial in Trained Cyclists

Benedikt Meixner et al. Curr Dev Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: Sprint performance may be crucial for athletes in sprint and endurance sports. In this regard, the maximal glycolytic rate (νLamax) is a variable within Mader's model of metabolism that is commonly tested in a 15-s all-out sprint test. The product of lactate accumulation (ΔLa) and lactate distribution space approximated by fat-free mass (FFM) is strongly linked to sprint performance. Creatine monohydrate is a widely used ergogenic aid known for increasing anaerobic performance and FFM and the phosphagenic system contributes most to a 15-s all-out sprint.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to analyze the influence of creatine supplementation of 15-s work, FFM, and ΔLa.

Methods: Twenty male and 5 female cyclists underwent a placebo-controlled, crossover design with 4 laboratory visits. After a familiarization trial, baseline measurements were performed. Placebo (4 × 5 g/d maltodextrin) and creatine monohydrate (4 × 5 g/d) were administered for 5 d before the respective trials. All participants underwent this order of trials and performed a 15-s all-out sprint test on a Cyclus2-ergometer. Capillary blood was sampled before and every minute (for 8 min) after the sprint to determine ΔLa. Body composition was determined employing bioelectric impedance analysis.

Results: Creatine supplementation significantly increased 15-s work output and FFM compared with baseline and placebo conditions. However, no significant differences were found in capillary blood lactate accumulation (ΔLa) or glycolytic contribution.

Conclusions: The results indicate potential differences in limitations of sprint performance of participants. Responders to creatine supplementation are potentially limited by mechanical or metabolic factors. The findings of this study highlight the importance of considering supplementation of creatine monohydrate when undergoing testing for the maximal glycolytic rate.

Keywords: alactic; anaerobic; body composition; ergogenic aid; fat-free mass; high-intensity cycling; lactate.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Timeline of study design (created with BioRender).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Timeline of experimental procedure during visit to the laboratory (created with BioRender).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Individual and box-and-whisker-plot of baseline, placebo, and creatine conditions for (A) ΔLa, (B) fat-free mass, (C) 15-s work. ES, effect size (Cohen’s d); ΔLa, difference between resting and peak post-exercise capillary blood lactate levels. ∗/∗∗/∗∗∗level of significance at P < 0.05/0.01/0.001; ns, nonsignificant.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Comparison of differences between conditions and 95% CI for (A) ΔLa, (B) WGly, (C) 15-s work, (D) 15-s work/FFM, (E) FFM. ΔLa, difference between resting and peak post-exercise capillary blood lactate levels; FFM, fat-free mass; WGly, glycolytic contribution to 15-s work.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Individual differences between creatine supplementation and (A) baseline and (B) placebo condition. Responders are marked purple when ΔLa decreased more than SWC or orange when 15-s work increased more than SWC. When both conditions were met, responders are marked red. ΔLa, difference between resting and peak post-exercise capillary blood lactate levels; SWC, smallest worthwhile change.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wackerhage H., Gehlert S., Schulz H., Weber S., Ring-Dimitriou S., Heine O. Lactate thresholds and the simulation of human energy metabolism: contributions by the Cologne Sports Medicine Group in the 1970s and 1980s. Front. Physiol. 2022;13 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bundle M.W., Weyand P.G. Sprint exercise performance: does metabolic power matter? Exerc. Sport Sci. Rev. 2012;40(3):174–182. - PubMed
    1. Mader A. Glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation as a function of cytosolic phosphorylation state and power output of the muscle cell. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2003;88(4–5):317–338. - PubMed
    1. Mader A., Heck H. A theory of the metabolic origin of “anaerobic threshold”. Int. J. Sports Med. 1986;7(Suppl 1):45–65. - PubMed
    1. Heck H., Schulz H., Bartmus U. Diagnostics of anaerobic power and capacity. Eur J Sport Sci. 2002;53(7–8):11.

LinkOut - more resources