Caffeine and Creatine both occur in the normal diet yet are ingested as supplements by athletes in order to enhance exercise performance. Both substances are very popular as ergogenic aids among athletic population.
Caffeine has been shown to enhance endurance exercise performance even at doses well below the reference limit.[1] Although some researchers claim that caffeine has no effect on short and intense exercise [2], a large number of studies have shown significant improvements in power output and anaerobic performance [3,4,5].
Ok, so it has been shown that caffeine probably benefits in exercise but what about when you combine it with creatine, which is often the case? Caffeine consumption has been reported to adversely affect the efficacy of creatine supplementation [6]. Vandenberghe et al. [7] concluded that the ergogenic effect of creatine is completely eliminated by caffeine consumption. Torque was increased by up to 23% in creatine group while it was unchanged in the creatine + caffeine group. In a follow-up study, same researchers reported that caffeine consumption inhibits phosphocreatine resynthesis during recovery [6].
One of the more recent studies indicated that a single dose of caffeine following short-term creatine supplementation did not hinder the creatine–caffeine interaction. It actually lengthened time to exhaustion. [8]
It appears that caffeine at least partially negates the effect of creatine. However, caffeine does not negate the benefits of creatine loading when not coingested. It may be a good strategy to load creatine without caffeine and save caffeine for selected workouts as it enhances creatine’s effectiveness in anaerobic exertion if the two compounds are alternated. [9]
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References
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Spriet, Lawrence L. “Caffeine and performance.” International journal of sport nutrition 5 (1995): S84.
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Vandenberghe, K., et al. “Caffeine counteracts the ergogenic action of muscle creatine loading.” Journal of Applied Physiology 80.2 (1996): 452-457.
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Anselme, F., et al. “Caffeine increases maximal anaerobic power and blood lactate concentration.” European journal of applied physiology and occupational physiology 65.2 (1992): 188-191.
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Bell, Douglas G., I. R. A. Jacobs, and K. R. I. S. T. I. N. A. Ellerington. “Effect of caffeine and ephedrine ingestion on anaerobic exercise performance.” Medicine and science in sports and exercise 33.8 (2001): 1399.
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Bruce, Clinton R., et al. “Enhancement of 2000-m rowing performance after caffeine ingestion.” Medicine and science in sports and exercise 32.11 (2000): 1958.
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Williams, Melvin H., and J. David Branch. “Creatine supplementation and exercise performance: an update.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition 17.3 (1998): 216-234.
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Vandenberghe, K., et al. “Caffeine counteracts the ergogenic action of muscle creatine loading.” Journal of Applied Physiology 80.2 (1996): 452-457.
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Lee, Chia Lun, Jung Charng Lin, and Ching Feng Cheng. “Effect of creatine plus caffeine supplements on time to exhaustion during an incremental maximum exercise.” European Journal of Sport Science 12.4 (2012): 338-346.
- Creatine – http://examine.com/supplements/Creatine/ Retrieved 15 March 2013
