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Eur J Appl Physiol (2008) 102:223231 DOI 10.1007/s00421-007-0580-y
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Creatine supplementation improves muscular performance in older women
Lincoln A. Gotshalk William J. Kraemer Mario A. G. Mendonca Jakob L. Vingren Anne M. Kenny Barry A. Spiering Disa L. HatWeld Maren S. Fragala JeV S. Volek
Accepted: 20 September 2007 / Published online: 18 October 2007 Springer-Verlag 2007
Abstract Muscle power and strength decrease with age leading to reduced independence and increased health risk from falls. Creatine supplementation can increase muscle power and strength. The purpose of this study was to examine the eVects of 7 days of creatine supplementation on body composition, muscular strength, and lower-body motor functional performance in older women. Thirty 58 71 year old women performed three test sessions (T1T3) each separated by one week. Each session consisted of one repetition maximum tests for bench press and leg press, and isometric hand-grip, tandem gait, upper-body ergometer, and lower-body ergometer tests. Following T2, subjects were assigned to a creatine monohydrate (0.3 g kg body mass1
for 7 days) (CR: 63.31 1.22 year, 160.00 1.58 cm,
67.11 4.38 kg) or a placebo (PL: 62.98 1.11 year,
162.25 2.09 cm, 67.84 3.90 kg) supplementation group.
CR signiWcantly (P < 0.05) increased bench press (1.7
0.4 kg), leg press (5.2 1.8 kg), body mass (0.49 0.04 kg)
and fat free mass (0.52 0.05) and decreased completion
time on the functional tandem gait tests from T2T3. No signiWcant changes were found for PL on any of the measured variables. No adverse side-eVects were reported by
either group. Short-term creatine supplementation resulted in an increase in strength, power, and lower-body motor functional performance in older women without any adverse side eVects
Keywords Aging Strength Power Creatine monohydrate Ergogenics
Introduction
Muscular power and strength in both men and women reaches its peak between the ages of 20 and 35 and remains relatively stable with slight decreases for 2030 years, before decreasing substantially after the onset of the sixth decade (Aoyagi and Shepard 1992), which can adversely aVect activities of daily living. Decreased muscle mass, or sarcopenia, has been suggested as the primary reason for reduction of force and power capabilities with the onset of old age (Evans and Campbell 1993). Reduction in muscle mass owing to motor unit...