Table 3.

Summary of selected studies examining the acute effects of creatine monohydrate on strength performance.

Author and Year	Subjects	Duration	Dosing Protocol	Primary Variables	Results	Adverse Events
Peak Torque/Force Production
Greenhaff et al. 1993	12 healthy males	5 days	20/d for 5 days	isokinetic performance during repeated intervals	↑ muscle torque ↓ plasma ammonia ↔ BLa	None reported
Casey et al. 1996	9 active males	5 days	20 g/day for 5 days	cycling sprint performance	↑ total work	None reported
Gilliam et al. 2000	23 healthy males	5 days	20 g/day for 5 days	isokinetic performance of quadriceps	↔ muscle torque	None reported
Rossouw et al. 2000	13 trained powerlifters	5 days	9 g/day for 5 days	isokinetic knee extension	↑ peak torque ↑ average power, ↑ total work ↑ work output ↑ deadlift volume	None reported
Kilduff et al. 2002	32 trained males	5 days	20 g/day for 5 days	isometric bench press	↑ peak force ↑ total force	None reported
Strength Performance
Birch et al. 1994	14 healthy males	5 days	20 g/day for 5 days	isokinetic cycling performance during repeated intervals	↑ mean power output ↑ peak power output ↑ total power output ↓ plasma ammonia ↔ BLa	None reported
Barnett et al.1996	17 active males	4 days	280 mg/kg for 4 days	10 s sprints on a cycle ergometer	↔ mean power output ↔ peak power output ↔ blood pH ↔ BLa	None reported
Strength and Performance Outcomes
Edwards et al. 2000	21 active males	6 days	20 g/d for 6 days	anaerobic intervals on a treadmill	↔ speed test performance ↔ BLa ↓ plasma ammonia	None reported
Rockwell et al. 2001	16 trained males	4 days	20 g/day for 4 days	repeated cycling sprints	↔ total work ↔ maximal power ↔ work capacity	None reported
Volek et al. 2001	10 healthy males	7 days	0.3 g/kg for 7 days	repeated cycling sprints cardiovascular and thermoregulatory responses	↔ cardiovascular or thermoregulatory responses ↑ peak power ↑ mean power	None reported
Finn et al. 2001	16 male triathletes	5 days	20 g/day for 5 days	repeated cycling sprints	↔ peak power ↔ fatigue index ↔ mean power	None reported
Ziegenfuss et al. 2002	20 (10 male, 10 female) power athletes	3 days	0.35 g/kg of fat-free mass for 3 days	repeated cycling sprints	↑ peak power ↑ total work	None reported
Yquel et al. 2002	9 healthy males	6 days	20 g/day for 6 days	repeated dynamic plantar flexion muscle pH	↑ mean power ↔ muscle pH	None reported
Delecluse et al. 2003	12 (7 male, 5 female) competitive sprinters	7 days	0.35 g/day for 7 days	single 40-m sprint repeated 40-m sprints	↔ single 40-m sprint ↔ repeated 40-m sprints	None reported
Kocak et al. 2003	20 elite male wrestlers	5 days	20 g/day for 5 days	average and peak power during wingate anaerobic power test	↑ average power ↑ peak power	None reported
Selsby et al. 2004	31 trained males	10 days	2.5 g/day for 10 days	bench press strength bench press endurance	↔ bench press strength ↔ bench press endurance	None reported
Zuniga et al. 2012	22 active males	7 days	20 g/day for 7 days	wingate cycling test lower body strength upper body strength	↑ mean power output ↔ leg extension ↔ bench press	None reported
del Favero et al. 2012	34 untrained males	10 days	20 g/day for 10 days	lower body strength upper body strength	↑ bench press ↑ squat	None reported
Wang et al. 2017	17 high school canoeists	6 days	20 g/day for 6 days	upper body strength overhead medicine ball throw Post-activation potentiation	↑ upper body strength ↔ overhead medicine ball throw ↔ post-activation potentiation	None reported

BLa = blood lactate; CR or no identifier = creatine monohydrate; ↓ indicates decrease; ↑ indicates increase; ↔ indicates no difference.