Some body parts grow faster after creatine!

We have always considered muscle-building supplements to be democratic in their effects. You take them, and if you train and eat right, your body should grow steadily. Muscles grow all the same. A little Hulk makes a bigger Hulk.

Creatinebut it may be out of step with other supplements. Not only have previous studies shown that it increases upper-body strength more than lower-body strength, but now, according to a study by T Nation contributor Brad Schoenfeld, it looks like creatine also causes more volume gains in the upper body.

What they did

Schoenfeld's team used 43 training twentysomethings and divided them into two groups. The groups were given either creatine or a placebo for 8 weeks. First they saturated (7 days of 4 doses of 0.03 grams of creatine per kilo of body weight), then they were on a maintenance dose (7 days of 1 dose of 0.03 grams of creatine per kilo of body weight).

When supplementing with creatine or placebo, these men exercised 4 times per week and used the following split:

Monday and Thursday: Chest, shoulders, triceps, abdominals
Tuesday and Friday: Back, biceps, thighs and calves

Their muscle mass (lean and soft tissue) was measured before and after the 8-week training session using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA).

What they found

Both groups had significant increases in muscle volume in the upper and lower limbs and trunk, but the creatine group had better results as expected.

What did not match expectations, however, was the fact that the upper limbs in the creatine group grew 7.1 lbs = +2.9%, twice as much net mass as the lower limbs (3.2 lbs = +2.1%), and more than three times as much as the trunk (2.1 lbs = +2.2%).

Although the increase in net mass in the placebo group was noticeably less than in the creatine group, all muscle groups grew about the same.

The research team noted that creatine is better absorbed by fast-twitch muscle fibers. For this reason, it makes sense that the upper body muscles grew more because they contain more fast-twitch muscle fibers.

What this means for you

Schoenfeld and the other researchers were quick to add that their training program put more strain on the upper body. This wasn't a mistake. It just seemed to them that this is what a normal bodybuilding program most often looks like.

So it's possible that with enough work, the lower half of the body would grow more. But it's hard to ignore the fact that the lower half of the body contains fewer fast-twitch muscle fibers that absorb creatine better. This alone is sufficient to explain the fact that the upper half of the body grows better after creatine.

So the lesson of this article should probably be that exercisers should indulge their legs with larger training doses. Then the growth of both halves of the body would be equal, regardless of whether they take creatine or not.

Source: www.t-nation.com - Joao Pedro Nunes, Alex S. Ribeiro, Brad J. Schoenfeld, et al. "Creatine supplementation elicits greater muscle hypertrophy in upper than lower limbs and trunk in resistance-trained men." Nutrition and Health, October 2017.
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