Effect of Oral Creatine Monohydrate Supplementation on Body Mass and Composition

Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation has been suggested to be an effective nutritional supplement to increase body mass. Sixteen male college baseball players, participating in an off-season, high-intensity strength training program, underwent body composition tests via hydrostatic weighing, skinfolds, and bioelectrical impedance analysis once-a-week for a total of 5 weeks (Trials). After a baseline trial (Trial 1), in a double-blind, placebo, between-subjects design, 8 subjects orally ingested 30 grams (a loading dose) of creatine monohydrate daily for 7 days (Trial 2) and 10 grams (a maintenance dose) of creatine monohydrate daily for 21 days (Trials 2, 3, 4, and 5). Body mass, percent body fat, and lean body mass (LBM) were analyzed using a 2 (Groups) X 5 (Trials) factorial repeated measures ANOVA. A follow-up test for simple main effects was performed when applicable to identify specific differences. For the creatine group, results revealed significant (p < 0.05) increases in body mass in Trials 2, 3, 4, and 5 as compared to Trial 1. Using hydrostatic weighing and bioelectrical impedance analysis, creatine monohydrate supplementation did not significantly (p > 0.05) affect percent body fat or LBM. However, by means of skinfolds, LBM did significantly {p < 0.05) increase in Trials 2, 3, 4, and 5 as compared to Trial l. Therefore, results indicate that oral creatine monohydrate supplementation does increase body mass, but as evaluated by three different body composition measurement techniques does not consistently affect percent body fat or LBM.