Incorporating Creatine Supplementation in Weight Training Programs for Collegiate Football Players

Incorporating Creatine Supplementation

In Weight Training Programs

for Collegiate Football Players

PepsiCo & Abbott

15 April 2011

Casey Dragon

16498 W Riverview Dr

Post Falls, ID 83854

Dragg9966@vandals.uidaho.edu

(208) 659-7875

*** Although this is uncommon, two funding agencies were introduced to make for a larger budget***

24 Jan. 2011

16498 W Riverview Dr

Post Falls, ID 83854

PepsiCo Healthy Lifestyles Innovation Research Grant

American Dietetic Association

120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000

Chicago, Illinois 60606-6995

To whom it may concern:

My name is Casey Dragon. I am majoring in Nutrition at the University of Idaho; this semester, I have the opportunity to take part in a term-long research proposal project. Since nutrition is such an important piece of everyday living, and fitness is also found in combination, I have elected to tie the two together. Supplement use has become popularized with the idea that Americans are looking for ways to increase productivity in the gym. Creatine, a main component found in many nutritional supplements, will be the focus of my research. Creatine is said to have important ties to muscle strength and endurance, but there is much controversy involving the accurateness of this accusation and whether or not the benefits overshadow the imperfections. Is creatine, in fact, safe and effective for our youth - our college students, athletes? I have chosen to send this proposal out to the responsible party of PepsiCo - Healthy Lifestyles Innovation Research. This grant is given to recognize and encourage innovative approaches to promote healthy living through nutrition and physical activity.

Sincerely,

Casey J Dragon

Casey J. Dragon

*** Although this is uncommon, two funding agencies were introduced to make for a larger budget***

24 Jan. 2011

16498 W Riverview Dr

Post Falls, ID 83854

Abbott Nutrition Award

American Dietetic Association

120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000

Chicago, Illinois 60606-6995

To whom it may concern:

My name is Casey Dragon. I am majoring in Nutrition at the University of Idaho; this semester, I have the opportunity to take part in a term-long research proposal project. Since nutrition is such an important piece of everyday living, and fitness is also found in combination, I have elected to tie the two together. Supplement use has become popularized with the idea that Americans are looking for ways to increase productivity in the gym. Creatine, a main component found in many nutritional supplements, will be the focus of my research. Creatine is said to have important ties to muscle strength and endurance, but there is much controversy involving the accurateness of this accusation and whether or not the benefits overshadow the imperfections. Is creatine, in fact, safe and effective for our youth - our college students, athletes? I have chosen to send this proposal out to the responsible party of PepsiCo - Healthy Lifestyles Innovation Research. This grant is given to recognize and encourage innovative approaches to promote healthy living through nutrition and physical activity.

Sincerely,

Casey J Dragon

Casey J. Dragon

Abstract & Purpose

The consumption of oral creatine monohydrate has become increasingly common among professional and amateur athletes including college level athletes, specifically, football players (Poortmans, & Francaux, 2000). Since college athletes have been given the opportunity to be a part of an athletic program based upon many responsibilities including work ethic, they have a continuous person contract to the school, the coaches, the team, and the community which involves the component of strength and conditioning. This makes college level football players perfect candidates for such a study. Exogenous creatine is often consumed by athletes in amounts of up to 20 g/day for a few days, followed by 1-10 g/day for weeks, months, or even years (Juhn, 2003). Because this study is strictly muscle size instead of strength, one can not necessarily relate creatine to muscle strength. Unfortunately, there have been many published research studies involving the per say cons of creatine use (Schwenk, & Costley, 2002). However, as seen by the conclusions of these prior studies, these have such slight occurrences. On the contrary, creatine can be proven to allow for significant gains, a p-value of .90, in body mass and possibly a reduction in body fat percentage.

Research question:

Does regular creatine supplementation result in a greater increase in body measurements of collegiate football players demonstrated after following a weight lifting regimen than those not taking a creatine supplement?

Hypothesis:

Regular creatine use, a loading phase of 20 g/day for five days followed by a maintenance phase of 7 g/day for 56 days, results in a greater increase in arm and thigh circumference and a decrease in percent body fat after completion of resistance training in collegiate football players than non-creatine-supplementing football players who have taken part in similar workouts.

Literature Review

Athletes at all levels experiment with performance "aids" for a variety of different reasons; those products that claim to be ergogenic are exceptionally popular amongst both recreational and elite athletes (Juhn, 2003). Some of these aids are classified as drugs, while others are classified