The Impact of a Short-term Creatine Supplement Consumption on Speed Performance and Muscular Strength of Young Soccer Players

The current study investigates the impact of Creatine monohydrate supplement as an ergogenic aid on speed and strength performances, as well as on the body composition of the soccer club players. 20 soccer club players were selected and then randomly categorized into two homogeneous groups, each consisting of 10 players. One group was considered as the placebo group (control group) and the other one as the consumer of Creatine supplement (empirical group). The performance of the participants was evaluated in a double blind study including sprinting (20-meter and 40-meter running courses, long-term running courses including 60-meter and 100-meter, and 30 frequent 5-second sprints with 10 seconds active rest between each two), and muscular strength in knee extension. The study lasted 7days (a seven-day daily consumption of 0.3 gram of dextrose for every kilogram of body weight in control group and the same amount of monohydrate Creatine by the empirical group.) The natural distribution of the variables was determined by Kolmogorov Smirnov test. Also, Pre-test and post-test results were analyzed using statistical paired T test (in each group) and independent T test (between two groups). In performance variables, as compared to equal basic state, there was a significant change in the Creatine supplement group, while no significant change was observed in the placebo group (P≥ 0.05). The observed changes occurred in the following variables: 20, 60, and 100 meter running courses (seconds) and 1RM knee extension (P≤ 0.001), 40-meter running course (seconds) (P≤ 0.02), and in the course the participants took in frequent speed performances (P≤0.03). However, the results of independent t test showed that there was no significant difference in the average distribution of these variables between Creatine and placebo groups. Discussion and The results revealed that short term Creatine consumption improved the performance of young soccer players in short term sprints (20 and 40 meters), long term sprints (60 and 100), the test evaluating the endurance performance of football players in frequent sprints (30 five-second sprints with a 10-second rest between each two sprints), and muscular strength in knee extension (P≤0.05).