Scheduled for Exercise Physiology and Fitness Posters, Thursday, April 11, 2002, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM, San Diego Convention Center: Exhibit Hall


Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Body Composition, Muscular Strength and Power in Female Collegiate Volleyball Players

Jon Lim, Northern State University, Aberdeen, SD, Marco Cardinale, University of Roma, Tor Vergata, Scienze Motorie, Italy and Yeong-Ung Choi, Samchok National University, Samchok, South Korea

The use of oral creatine supplementation to enhance athletic performance by athletes has significantly increased in popularity over recent years. The growing numbers of studies indicate creatine monohydrate (Cr) supplementation has been found to enhance performance during high-intensity, intermittent exercise, however, there have been few studies conducted with female collegiate volleyball players. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Cr supplementation on body composition, muscular strength, and power during 10 weeks of training in female collegiate volleyball players. Thirty-six athletes (19 - 26 years old) were randomly assigned in a double-blind fashion to either a creatine treatment (CT, n=18) group or a placebo control (PC, n=18) group. The CT group ingested 5 g of Cr four times a day for five days for the initial loading phase and consumed 5 g of Cr once a day for the maintenance phase. The PC group followed the same supplementation schedule but was given a glucose placebo. All 36 subjects participated in a conditioning program focusing on weight training and plyometric training regardless of their assigned experimental group. Pre- and post-testing was conducted on body weight, lean body mass, percent body fat, hematocrit, 1 repetition maximum (1RM) bench press and vertical jump (VJ) test. Testing revealed that 1RM bench press and VJ had significant improvement in both groups; the CT group increased significantly more than the PC group (p<0.05). Further, the CT group had significantly greater gains in body weight and lean body mass with no change in percent body fat. However, there were no significant changes observed in hematocrit value. These findings suggests that creatine supplementation in conjunction with a good conditioning program can be effective in improving the athletic performance in female collegiate volleyball players.
Keyword(s): athletics/sports, exercise/fitness, research

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