INDIANAPOLIS—Creatine/carbohydrate, whey protein and creatine/whey combinations resulted in significantly greater strength improvements and muscle hypertrophy compared with carbohydrate only on resistance trained men, but hypertrophy responses varied. In the double blind, randomized trial, resistance-trained males were matched for strength and placed into one of four groups taking 1.5 g/kg body weight per day of either: creatine/carbohydrate (CrCHO), creatine/whey protein (CrWP), whey protein (WP) only, or carbohydrate only (CHO). Several assessments were completed the week before and after an 11-week structured, supervised resistance exercise (RE) program and included strength (1RM; three exercises), body composition (DEXA), and vastus lateralis muscle biopsies for determination of muscle fiber type (I, IIa or IIx), cross-sectional area (CSA), contractile protein and creatine content. Researchers found up to 76 percent of the strength improvements in the squat could be attributed to hypertrophy of muscle involved in this exercise. They concluded that although WP and/or CrM seem to promote greater strength gains and muscle morphology during RE training, the hypertrophy responses within the groups varied. These differences in skeletal muscle morphology may have important implications for various populations, noted researchers, and warrants further investigation. The study was published in the journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (39, 2:298-307, 2007).
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