TITLE:
Creatine HCl and Creatine Monohydrate Improve Strength but Only Creatine HCl Induced Changes on Body Composition in Recreational Weightlifters
AUTHORS:
Elias de França, Bruno Avelar, Caroline Yoshioka, Jeferson Oliveira Santana, Diana Madureira, Leandro Yanase Rocha, Cesar Augustus Zocoler, Fabrício Eduardo Rossi, Fabio Santos Lira, Bruno Rodrigues, Érico Chagas Caperuto
KEYWORDS:
Creatine Hidrochloride, Creatine, Resistance Training, Fat Free Mass, Fat Mass
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.6 No.17,
December
28,
2015
ABSTRACT: Background: Creatine supplementation is a subject that is very well studied. New forms of creatine are suggesting improvements in this supplement performance. Creatine HCl is supposed to have better solubility and absorption than creatine. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different doses of creatine HCl with creatine monohydrate on the strength and body composition in recreational weightlifters and to verify the relationship between strength and body composition. Methods: 40 subjects were divided in four groups: Creatine Monohydrate (CMG) 5 g/daily; Creatine HCl-1 (HCl-1) 5 g/daily, Creatine HCl-2 (HCl-2) 1.5 g/daily and Control group (CG) = 5 g of resistant starch/daily. All groups performed a resistance training program during 4 weeks. Body composition and strength were evaluated pre and post intervention. Results: The 1 RM at the Leg press was increased significantly in all groups (CMG: pre = 264.4 ± 83.8 × post = 298.1 ± 90.9; HCl-1: pre = 295.0 ± 88.3 × post = 338.3 ± 86.8 and HCl-2: pre = 274.3 ± 57.1 × post = 305.7 ± 59.4; p p = 0.003), however, there was no statistically significant difference between groups. Fatmass was significantly decreased in HCl-1 (pre = 14.5 ± 8.0 × post = 13.3 ± 8.3; p = 0.034) and HCl-2 (pre = 13.8 ± 5.8 × post = 12.7 ± 5.6; p = 0.005) but fat-free mass was increased only in HCl-1 (pre = 52.2 ± 8.9 × post = 53.8 ± 8.9; p = 0.031), with no differences between groups again. We observed strong correlations between upper limb strength and fat mass (r = 0.93, p p