Table 1.
Efficacy of creatine use in adolescents on exercise performance.
| Author Year (Country) | Subjects | Design | Duration | Dosing Protocol | Primary Variables | Results | Adverse Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swimming | |||||||
| Dawson et al. 2002 (Australia) [36] | 10 male, 10 female (16.4 ± 1.8 years) swimmers | Matched, placebo-controlled | 4 weeks | 20 g/day (5 days) 5 g/day (22 days) | Sprint swim performance and swim bench test | ↑ swim bench test performance | None reported |
| Grindstaff et al. 1997 (USA) [33] | 18 (11 female, 7 male) adolescent swimmers (15.3 ± 0.6 years) | Randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled | 9 days | 21 g/day | Sprint swim performance; arm ergometer performance | ↑ sprint swimming performance | None reported |
| Juhasz et al. 2009 (Hungary) [34] | 16 male fin swimmers (15.9 ± 1.6 years) | Randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blind trail | 5 days | 20 g/day | Average power, dynamic strength (swim based tests) | ↑ anaerobic performance; ↑ dynamic strength |
None reported |
| Theodorou et al. 1999 (UK) [37] | 10 elite female (17.7 ± 2.0 years) and 12 elite male (17.7 ± 2.3 years) swimmers | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 11 weeks | 25 g/day (4 days) 5 g/day (2 months) | Swimming interval performance | ↑ interval performance following loading phase;  long-term improvements after maintenance dose |
None reported |
| Theodorou et al. 2005 (United Kingtom) [35] | 10 high performance swimmers (males: n = 6; females: n = 4) (17.8 ± 1.8 years | Randomized, double-blind trial | 4 days | 20 g/day of CrM or 20 g/day of CrM + 100 g of carbohydrates per serving | High-intensity swim performance during repeated intervals | ↑ mean swim velocity for all swimmers; swim velocity in Cr + Carbohydrate condition |
Gastrointestinal discomfort in CrM + Carbohydrate group only |
| Soccer | |||||||
| Claudino et al. 2014 (Brazil) [42] | 14 male Brazilian elite soccer players (18.3 ± 0.9 years) | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 7 weeks | 20 g/day (1 week) 5 g/day (6 weeks) | Lower limb muscle power via countermovement vertical jump |
lower body power |
None reported |
| Mohebbi et al. 2012 (Iran) [39] | 17 adolescent soccer players (17.2 ± 1.4 years) | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 7 days | 20 g/day | Repeated sprint test, soccer dribbling performance and shooting accuracy | ↑ repeat sprint performance; ↑ dribbling performance |
None reported |
| Ostojic et al. 2004 (Yugoslavia) [40] | 20 adolescent male soccer players (16.6 ± 1.9 years) | Matched, placebo-controlled | 7 days | 30 g/day | Soccer specific skills tests | ↑ dribble test and endurance times; ↑ sprint power test and countermovement jump | None reported |
| Yanez-Silva et al. 2017 (Brazil) [41] | Elite youth soccer players (17.0 ± 0.5 years) | Matched, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 7 days | 0.03 g/kg/day | Muscle power output (Wingate anaerobic power test) | ↑ peak and mean power output; ↑ total work |
None reported |
= Creatine supplementation resulted in no significant (p > 0.05) change; ↑ = Creatine supplementation resulted in a significant increase (p < 0.05) over control. CrM = creatine monohydrate; g/day = grams per day. Adapted from Jagim et al. 2018 [43].