Effect of low dose,short-term creatine supplementation on muscle power output in elite youth soccer players

Background: to determine the effects of a low dose,short-term creatine monohydrate (cr) supplementation (0.03 g.kg.d-1 during 14 d) on muscle power output in elite youth soccer players. methods: using a two-group matched,double blind,placebo-controlled design,nineteen male soccer players (mean age = 17.0 ± 0.5 years) were randomly assigned to either cr (n = 9) or placebo (n = 10) group. before and after supplementation,participants performed a 30s wingate anaerobic test (want) to assess peak power output (ppo),mean power output (mpo),fatigue index (fi),and total work. results: there were significant increases in both ppo and mpo after the cr supplementation period (p ≤ 0.05) but not the placebo period. there were also significant increases in total work,but not fi,after the cr supplementation and placebo periods (p ≤ 0.05). notably,there were differences in total work between the cr and placebo groups after (p ≤ 0.05) but not before the 14 d supplementation period. conclusion: there is substantial evidence to indicate that a low-dose,short-term oral cr supplementation beneficially affected muscle power output in elite youth soccer players. © 2017 the author(s).