Abstract

The
purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of creatine
supplementation on body composition, muscular strength, and
power during 10 weeks of training in female collegiate volleyball
players. Thirty-six athletes (19 – 26 years old) were randomly
assigned in a double-blind fashion to either a creatine treatment
(CT, n=18) group or a placebo control (PC, n=18) group. The
CT group ingested 5 g of Cr four times a day for five days
for the initial loading phase and consumed 5 g of Cr once
a day for the maintenance phase. The PC group followed the
same supplementation schedule but was given a glucose placebo.
All 36 subjects participated in a conditioning program focusing
on weight training and plyometric training regardless of their
assigned experimental group. Pre- and post-testing was conducted
on body weight, lean body mass, percent body fat, 1 repetition
maximum (1RM) bench press, and vertical jump (VJ) test.
Testing revealed that 1RM bench press and VJ had significant
improvement in both groups; the CT group increased significantly
more than the PC group (p<0.05). Further, the CT group
had significantly greater gains in body weight and lean body
mass with no change in percent body fat. These findings suggests
that creatine supplementation in conjunction with a good conditioning
program can be effective in improving the athletic performance
in female collegiate volleyball players.