Effect of 12 months of creatine supplementation and whole-body resistance training on measures of bone, muscle and strength in older males

Abstract

Background: The combination of creatine supplementation and resistance training (10–12 weeks) has been shown to increase bone mineral content and reduce a urinary indicator of bone resorption in older males compared with placebo. However, the longer-term effects (12 months) of creatine and resistance training on bone mineral density and bone geometric properties in older males is unknown. Aim: To assess the effects of 12 months of creatine supplementation and supervised, whole-body resistance training on bone mineral density, bone geometric properties, muscle accretion, and strength in older males. Methods: Participants were randomized to supplement with creatine ( n = 18, 49–69 years, 0.1 g·kg-1·d-1) or placebo ( n = 20, 49–67 years, 0.1 g·kg-1·d-1) during 12 months of supervised, whole-body resistance training. Results: After 12 months of training, both groups experienced similar changes in bone mineral density and geometry, bone speed of sound, lean tissue and fat mass, muscle thickness, and muscle strength. There was a trend ( p = 0.061) for creatine to increase the section modulus of the narrow part of the femoral neck, an indicator of bone bending strength, compared with placebo. Adverse events did not differ between creatine and placebo. Conclusions: Twelve months of creatine supplementation and supervised, whole-body resistance training had no greater effect on measures of bone, muscle, or strength in older males compared with placebo.

Meta-Analysis Examining the Importance of Creatine Ingestion Strategies on Lean Tissue Mass and Strength in Older Adults

“…When all studies were included in the analysis, higher-dose creatine supplementation daily, with and without a creatine-loading phase, had no greater effect on upper-body strength compared to the placebo. However, sensitivity analysis showed that when the Candow et al [27] study was removed, results became significant in favor of creatine. In this study, older males supplemented with higher-dose creatine daily during supervised, whole-body resistance training for 52 weeks.…”

“…Previous meta-analyses have shown greater gains in measures of lean tissue mass (~1.2-1.3 kg) and strength from creatine supplementation and resistance training in older adults compared to the placebo [9,32,33]. Since the date of these publications, two additional studies [24,27] have been performed. When these studies were included in the current meta-analyses, creatine supplementation and resistance training still increased measures of lean tissue mass (~1.32 kg) and strength compared to the placebo.…”

“…Subanalyses showed that studies using higher-dose creatine, with and without a creatineloading phase, found similar effects compared to the placebo (Figure 2 and Figure S3; p > 0.05). However, sensitivity analysis indicated that omitting the Candow et al [27] study changed the overall effect to significantly favor creatine (Figures S4 and S5; p = 0.008).…”

“…In the higher-dose studies (>5 g/day), five studies reported no adverse events. Two studies similarly reported five incidences of gastrointestinal distress from creatine and two incidences from placebo and two incidences of muscle cramps from both the creatine and placebo group [27,28]. One of the two studies utilizing a loading phase reported an increase in GI distress during the loading phase [29].…”

Creatine for Exercise and Sports Performance, with Recovery Considerations for Healthy Populations

“…Similarly, excellent potential exists for creatine to support the health and function of older populations. Although nearly all of the original research on creatine used young, athletic populations, research in the past 10-15 years has highlighted creatine's ability to increase the ability to perform daily living activities, to delay fatigue, and to improve muscle mass in older populations [150][151][152][153][154][155][156][157][158].…”