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Heavy strength training places great demands on the
short-term energy systems found within our body.
To maximize performance, athletes need to make
dietary choices that maximize the levels of both phosphocreatine and glycogen
within their muscles.
Supplementation
with
creatine monohydrate is extremely popular and has been supported by
hundreds of published studies to increase maximal strength and anaerobic
power.
Maximizing muscle glycogen is
equally important as it provides fuel for many different types of intense,
short-term bouts of exercise.
A classic
study performed by European researchers highlighted that taking creatine with carbohydrate
may increase the amount of creatine stored inside our muscles
(
Green, Hultman et al. 1996
).
Over a one-week loading period, one study
ingested 20 grams of creatine per day while another group ingested the same
amount of creatine but combined it with a large dose of carbohydrates.
Blood, urine and muscle samples were
collected and significantly greater amounts of total creatine was found in the
muscle when creatine ingestion was conbined with carbohydrate.
In addition, blood levels of insulin, a key
hormone that helps to rebuild muscle glycogen, was significantly greater when
carbohydrate was provided.
In
conclusion, combining creatine with carbohydrate is an effective way to
increase muscle creatine levels and support recovery of muscle glycogen.
Reference:
Green, A. L., E.
Hultman, et al. (1996). "Carbohydrate ingestion augments skeletal muscle
creatine accumulation during creatine supplementation in humans."
Am J
Physiol
271(5 Pt 1): E821-826.
