Influence of creatine supplementation on 800 m wheelchair performance: a pilot study

STUDY DESIGN: Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomly assigned, crossover. OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of a short-term oral creatine supplementation on 800 m wheelchair performance. SETTING: Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland. SUBJECTS: In total, six (four male, two female subjects) competitive wheelchair athletes participated in the study. Their age was 33.0+/-9.1 years, height 171.5+/-7.7 cm and weight 63.1+/-6.2 kg. Average weekly training volume was 10.0+/-3.7 h. All of them have been engaged in regular training for over 10.5+/-7.2 years. METHODS: During the two treatment periods, subjects ingested 4 x 5 g of creatine monohydrate or placebo (maltodextrin) daily during 6 days in a randomised order. A washout period of 4 weeks lay in-between the two supplementation periods. Before and after each treatment period athletes performed an all-out 800 m wheelchair test on a training roller. Time to complete 800 m, rate of perceived exertion (RPE), lactate concentrations and heart rate were measured. Before each test, body weight was determined. RESULTS: Times to complete 800 m before and after creatine supplementation (102.8+/-13.9 versus 100.5+/-11.3 s) compared to before and after placebo supplementation (101.6+/-15.6 versus 99.5+/-13.8 s) were not significantly different. Moreover, for all other parameters measured, no significant differences between creatine and placebo supplementation were found. CONCLUSION: A short-term oral creatine supplementation compared to placebo seems not to enhance performance over 800 m in trained, spinal cord-injured, wheelchair athletes.