Creatine supplementation during college football training does not increase the incidence of cramping or injury

Athletes who supplement with creatine during training experience fewer musculoskeletal injuries, accelerated recovery time from injury, and less muscle atrophy after immobilization.

“there is evidence that athletes who supplement with creatine during training experience fewer musculoskeletal injuries, accelerated recovery time from injury [78, 128] and less muscle atrophy after immobilization [129, 130].”

Creatine supplementation does not increase the incidence of gastrointestinal upset.

“or gastrointestinal upset [22, 111, 112, 241].”

Creatine supplementation does not increase the incidence of muscle cramping.

“muscle cramping [76, 106, 111, 112, 117]”

Creatine supplementation does not increase the incidence of musculoskeletal injuries.

“showing that creatine supplementation does not increase the incidence of musculoskeletal injuries [22, 111, 112, 241]”

Creatine supplementation does not increase the incidence of dehydration.

“dehydration [111, 112, 117, 122, 127–129, 242]”

Non-contact joint injuries, contact injuries, illnesses, missed practices due to injuries, and players lost for the season were not different between creatine and placebo groups in Greenwood et al.

“Non-contact joint injuries, contact injuries, illnesses, missed practices due to injuries, and players lost for the season were not different between groups.”

Multiple studies report that creatine supplementation has no adverse impact on clinical health markers in competitive athletes, non-athletic populations, and clinical populations.

“Multiple studies have assessed and reported that creatine supplementation has no adverse impact on clinical health markers in competitive athletes (13–17), non-athletic populations (18–25), and in clinical populations (26–29).”

Creatinine levels significantly increased throughout training with MgCr-C compared to placebo, and this increase was higher than reported in long-term CrM studies during training in hot and humid environments.

“creatinine levels were also significantly increased throughout training with MgCr-C (0.83 to 1.87 mmol/L) compared to placebo (0.92 to 0.82 mmol/L), which is higher than reported in other long-term CrM studies during training in hot and humid environments that administered 5–10 g/day of CrM for 21 months in well-trained athletes [144].”

Present findings are similar to results reported in the authors' long-term creatine safety study on American football players, where up to 21 months of creatine supplementation (5-10 g/d) in division I American football players did not significantly affect markers of health or renal function.

“Present findings are similar to results reported in our long-term creatine safety study on American football players [86,87], where we showed that up to 21 months of creatine supplementation (5–10 g/d) in division I American football players did not significantly affect markers of health or renal function [87]”

Other studies found that creatine supplementation did not increase the incidence of musculoskeletal injuries, dehydration, muscle cramping, gastrointestinal issues, renal dysfunction, or long-term detrimental effects.

“Other studies directly assessed the merit of anecdotal reports of side effects and found that creatine supplementation did not increase the incidence of musculoskeletal injuries [84–87], dehydration [85,86,91–96], muscle cramping [80,85,86,92,97], gastrointestinal issues [84–87], promote renal dysfunction [87,89,98–107], or have long-term detrimental effects [50,87,106,108,109].”

Present findings are consistent with other safety studies on creatine supplementation and the long-term study conducted in Parkinson's patients.

“They are also consistent with other safety studies on creatine supplementation [50,80,84–87,89,91–109] and the long-term study conducted in Parkinson’s patients [74].”

Other studies found that creatine supplementation did not increase the incidence of musculoskeletal injuries, dehydration, muscle cramping, gastrointestinal issues, renal dysfunction, or long-term detrimental effects.

“Other studies directly assessed the merit of anecdotal reports of side effects and found that creatine supplementation did not increase the incidence of musculoskeletal injuries [84–87], dehydration [85,86,91–96], muscle cramping [80,85,86,92,97], gastrointestinal issues [84–87], promote renal dysfunction [87,89,98–107], or have long-term detrimental effects [50,87,106,108,109].”

Present findings are consistent with other safety studies on creatine supplementation and the long-term study conducted in Parkinson's patients.

“They are also consistent with other safety studies on creatine supplementation [50,80,84–87,89,91–109] and the long-term study conducted in Parkinson’s patients [74].”