Creatine in HS athletes?

I hear there is fairly wide useage of ceatine going on this off-season during winter weight training and workouts. You can get it easily in any mall, even in shakes at smoothie king!

When you google the word "creatine" all you get back are suppliers of the stuff and their testimonials and "research". We know the Panthers use it - but that it is done in a structured envirnment of 6 nutritionally balanced meals a day plus regular weight training. I don't believe most HS kids are eating 6 meals a day and my guess is few if any of them are regularly nutritionally balanced.

Coaches seem to know it is being taken but there doesn't seem to be a lot data or long term studies of the side effects to construct logical arguments against its use or the parameters for its use.

So my question is directed to medical types or nutritionists or phamacists: what is the real deal with creatine?

 

Great question ... it's potentially nasty stuff. Before we get tied up into a creatine argument, here is a little side road for you to travel ....

Side road #1 ....
...most energy drinks that are on shelves, (example: Red Bull, Rush) are banned due to substances not allowed by the NCAA.

Now I should have your attention.... Back to our main topic .... We were getting ready to talk about creatine, it's sites of manufacture, what's in it and how it really works. What were some of the dangers involved, etc etc etc....but I see a turn in the road ahead.....

Sideroad #2 ....What is a Filler

I just can't stay on task in this thread. It must have been the banned caffiene in the Red Bull energy drink that I had early this AM. Fillers are the supposedly "inert" portions of a drink, additive and/or drug that is used to bulk up the amount in order to make it either A) easier to measure or B) Mask a terrible taste or C) Make it look like your getting more for your money. Most drugs/drinks and other items that are on the market contain a large percentage of "filler".

I'll attempt to force myself back on topic ... I took a banned sedative in order to counteract the banned caffiene .... Creatine is a banned substance in France (not that anyone really cares what France thinks about anything) and there ARE known problems. The decision to use creatine is a personal one.

No more side roads.... There are risks and there are advocates. The conservative individual magnifies the risks, while the advocates swear there are no risks. The real problem: All research done on creatine use has been for a short duration. No long-term studies have been done to determine if there are long-term consequences on the kidneys, liver or other organs of the body. For the short duration, the side effects are manageable (and some people consider them minor) PROVIDED you are aware of the risks. Creatine is known to cause dehydration in the body. Investigations have been performed in the deaths of 3 wrestlers in Ohio of dehydration who were users of creatine. No proven link has been found. There is no evidence to suggest that strength gains through the use of creatine could not have been obtained with a well-designed work-out program. There is also a question on whether a percentage of the muscle-mass obtained through the use of creatine is simply water-mass, thus limiting flexibility.

Creatine

Benefits: Strength-based athletic performance (weight-lifting, wrestling).
No real Benefits: Endurance-based athletic performance (swimming, cross-country)

Potential Medical Complications (relatively rare)
Around each muscle, there is a transparent balloon called a fascia. When the muscles are being exercised, it fills with blood to provide oxygen. Physicians have been reporting on cases of “exertional compartment syndrome”. These are suspected to be a result of creatine's muscle-bulking effect. Exertional compartment syndrome: with exercise and increased blood flow, the muscle becomes too bulked and the fascia, which encloses the muscle, becomes too tight. This raises pressure in the muscle and can impinge blood flow and nerve function. Without proper treatment it can eventually damage the muscle. The treatment is to cut open the fascia, allowing the impinged muscle to expand (but this can limit blood supply to surround the muscle during exertion). Clinical Briefs in Sports Medicine, Volume 4, updated for 2003 “Creatine Use May Lead to Exertional Compartment Syndrome”

Cramping (duh!) is a known problem with creatine. Muscle cramping is normally associated with a chemical imbalance in the muscle or poor oxygenation. When you use creatine, the muscle fills with water as a by-product of taking it. That is why the risk of de-hydration is so great leading to a risk of heat-related injuries. Greater muscle size, gained abnormally quickly (?better baseball through chemistry?) expands against the facsia, not allowing them to fill with blood and provide oxygen to the muscle. It appears that prolonged higher doses may have an effect on thickening the fascia. Thus, the better shape you are in, the more danger you are in. Most serious researchers report the greatest gains in creatine use in poor to moderately trained athletes. The better condition you are in, the more microscopic the benefits (and greater the short and long term risks).

Potential complications with the NCAA
Regardless of where you buy your supplements (all supplements, including protein drinks and powders), they have a varying degree of filler in them. (you are beginning to see the purpose of a couple of my little side roads now) Some of the filler is a by-product of manufacturing and some of it is because they don't have good quality control.

Particularly in college, these supplements are not being supplied (for medico-legal reasons) at many schools, and athletes are "encouraged" to buy your own. It can get expensive, so you reach for a cheaper brand and find out that one of the "fillers" is on the NCAA banned substances list only after you fail a drug test and loose your scholarship....all through no fault of your own (you believe!).

The largest "filler" in creatine is creatinine. Creatinine is a by-product of your body. It is, essentially uric acid. When you take loading doses, you are forcing your body to deal with more and more creatinine and thus more and more uric acid. Guess what gout is.... uric acid that has crystallized in a joint. Guess how much you can move that joint! This excess creatinine has to be excreted from the body also. This places a burden on the kidneys.

The Position of the Medical and Legal Experts
The medico-legal community (commonly known as the physicians malpractice insurance company) has taken the position that physicians should never recommend an athlete take creatine. They are only to advise them on the pros and cons and let the athlete make their own decision. It's obviously becoming a high-risk situation.

Summoning the outside expert
The following quote is from Kerry Rosenboom. Kerry has his own web site, "Weight Training for Baseball". He runs the strength training program for the baseball team at Witchita State University. He was asked last year about this same topic and responded in the following fashion, which I found informative.

Summary
Remember guys: Regardless of intent, you are responsible for your own decisions, no one else is. You have to live with the consequences. If that includes a lost scholarship or a torn muscle, so be it. You can't blame the world, the drug manufacturer, the NCAA or anyone else. That's part of becoming an adult. The negatives don’t happen to the majority of people taking creatine. It’s your decision.

 

I've been taking it for years and I'm fine. you do go through a shitload of water while working out though. I usually take one of those 1 liter bottle of water in with me and its common that I'll have to refill it twice.

 

I guess it would be helpful to also state how creatine actually works.

Creatine triphoshate

Biological Function: It acts like an energy storage station (or weapons depot) for muscle contraction and other activities. It is not a steroid and does not by itself create muscle mass.

Reasoning: When a muscle contracts it uses energy from ATP. During sustained activity that occurs without the benefit of aerobic regeneration of ATP. Repeated contracts depletes the supply of ATP, which shows itself by the normal symptoms of fatigue and muscle tiredness.

How does Creatine help this situation: Creatine can surrender one of it's phosphates to ADP to regenerate the ATP. This reaction requires water. The cramping that occurs with creatine use might be related to this use of water. The Creatine continues to surrender the necessary phosphates to the ADP for the continued chemical reaction to ATP. You don't seem to get tired as quickly since the continued energy is chemically induced.

Net Result: The presence of creatine then, would increase the sustainable energy output of muscle cells during activities like weight lifting, sprints, and other activities that envolves fast twitch muscle contractions.

Real Result: This increase of energy may be mistaken for increase in strength. In fact the use of creatine may actually diminsh the effects of a strength development program by fooling the body into not accomodating the increase in workout load by increased muscle size and function. You bulk up some because of the retained water. If you come off of the creatine, you find you have no additional benefit since the muscles didn't actually get stronger. They muscles were being chemically aided.

If you were in terrible shape and started a weight lifting/creatine routine, it might really help you. If you are in good condition, lift regularly and exercise, it may/may not help you much at all.

As people can tell, I'm not a proponent of "Better Baseball thru Chemistry".

 

I started out on "Fillers" and "Supplements" so I figured I better continue on with it a bit....

There are two types of supplements, dietary supplements and performance enhancing supplements.

Dietary supplements are designed to supplement your diet for the purpose of filling in any gaps that may exist from a less than perfect nutrition plan....you should always try and get all your vitamins and minerals from the foods you eat. However, it is a good idea to supplement with a multi-vitamin supplement to ensure you are getting all your required vitamins and minerals.

Performance enhancing supplements are designed by definition to enhance your athletic performance. Supplements are not regulated by the federal government.

If you are considering taking any form of dietary or performance enhancing supplement, please consult your physician about the supplements you are thinking of taking.

Since somewhere around 1 in every 5 supplements that you may take contain a banned substance, you may want to read up on: NCAA Drug Testing Basics

To have an idea of what is banned, check here:
NCAA Banned Drug Classes

 

Dang NC....is there anything you don't know

 

a pretty high profile player up this way had to sit a good part of last season due to complications from that crap.

You could just look at him and tell something was up.

 

Yep...I remember

 

Great thread. Any of you young men out there will do just fine by following the 3 Basic essentials behind ANY workout regimen.
Proper Form
Eating Smart (Including suppliment choice)
REST

The latter probably being the most important and the least attended to. Results may not be as fast as some of the guys that are taking the "quick fix" suppliments. But they will be with for you for the long run and you will have the satisfaction (and clear conscience) of knowing that you are clean. I've been lifting and working out for many years now and have seen the "new kid on the block" types come and go. The ones who last are always the ones who are truly dedicated and natural. Be patient. Be commited to physical fitness for life. Be real. Like the guy said earlier, a good whey protein shake and daily multiple vitamin are your best bets when added to the above basics.

 

Toney Baker is arguably one of the strongest and fastest high school athletes you'll find anywhere.

He doesn't drink protein shakes or take supplements.

He eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches everyday.

Ya gotta love that :xyzthumbs