Creatine is the most popular performance-enhancing supplement that athletes use. Mark McGwire uses it. Michael Johnson uses it. And some Harvard athletes use it, too, despite discouragement from their coaches and trainers.
Creatine monohydrate is an amino acid manufactured in the liver and stored in the muscles. Found in milk, steak and some fish, creatine is a protein supplement that speeds up the energy synthesis process, allowing athletes to recover from workouts faster. This enables them to lift heavier weights more frequently and for longer periods of time.
Harvard athletes who use creatine for sports such as football, wrestling and baseball hope it will make them stronger and more competitive in their respective sports. They also said they could not use the supplement during the season and that it was not the most important element of their preparation for collegiate competition.
As long as the NCAA allows them to use it, however, those who believe that the extra strength creatine provides makes them better athletes will continue to take it.
Creatine, which became popular among professional and Olympic athletes in the early 1990s, is still a new supplement. While it has not shown any short-term side effects other than muscle pulls, there has not been enough time to determine if creatine causes any problems in the long run. Although the NCAA has not put creatine on its list of banned drugs, the Harvard athletic department does not promote the use of creatine or other nutritional ergogenic aids (performance-enhancing substances).
In a May 8 letter to all Harvard coaches, Athletic Director William J. Cleary '56 and the Harvard Sports Medicine Staff stated that "manufacture of these nutritional ergogenic aids are not nationally regulated and in many cases their effects not scientifically established... The Sports Medicine Staff would like to unequivocally state that the use and or distribution of nutritional ergogenic aids is not supported and in fact discouraged...Maximizing performance should be accomplished within the natural limits of the individual."
Harvard Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Dominic Sardo says he is hesitant about athletes' use of creatine.
"The bottom line is that hard work Head Football Coach Tim Murphy says he alsodiscourages his players from usingperformance-enhancing supplements. "Supplements are a big thing in collegeathletics now, but I believe in three and halfsquares a day," Murphy says. "There is not a wholelot of research out there on a lot of theseproducts, and I don't particularly approve ofthem. At the very least, I don't condone usingthem. Although Murphy does not want his playerssupplementing their workouts with creatine, hedoes expect them to follow his rigorous strengthand conditioning program. "Football is such a developmental sport thatconditioning is everything," he says, "Without it,you simply cannot compete. Our conditioningprogram is comprehensive: It tries to improvestrength, speed, agility, power and flexibility.That program may involve gaining or losingweight." Athletes who have used creatine for extendedperiods of time say the supplement helps theirperformance in their strength and conditioningprograms as long as they monitor their use of it.They say it is especially productive in thesummers and offseasons, when their main goal is toget stronger and build up their stamina andendurance. Senior Anthony Ackil, a 6'1", 250-pounddefensive tackle on the football team who doublesas a heavyweight wrestler during the winters, sayshe has used creatine for the past three summersbut that he does not use it during the seasons.Although he acknowledges that his coachdiscourages the use of creatine, he says he gainedabout five pounds using the supplement lastsummer. "Creatine really does help and it is legal, butit also causes some problems, and a lot of guyswere complaining about hamstring pulls at thebeginning of the season." he says, adding that heis not worried about long-term effects. "Strengthand conditioning is a really important part offootball. That was one of the things coach Murphyreally focused on when he got here [in 1994] and Ithink that is a big reason why we have beenwinning so many games the past couple of years." Ari Welkom, a 5'10", 170-pound junior whoplayed wide receiver for the football team for twoyears, says he used creatine for a year and a halfwithout experiencing any side effects. He says hegot 20 percent stronger when he used thesupplement. "I started taking creatine because it was theonly safe thing that really helped a lot andbecause other guys on the team were taking it andit seemed like they were having a log of successin the weight room," Welkom says. "I needed togain weight and strength to get a chance to play,and what I did gain helped my blocking and myspeed. Some of the less flexible players takingcreatine experienced muscle pulls but I don't knowhow much of that was due to creatine. "I did get a lot faster and stronger sincefreshman year, but it's hard to say how much ofthat was due to creatine. But I did notice moregains when I was on creatine than when I was noton it." Welkom adds. Not all athletes who experiment with creatinefine it helpful, however. Senior Jason Keck, a5'11", 185-pound catcher on the baseball team,says he used creatine last spring but stoppedtaking it after one month. "I used creatine and it was not really helpingand it was really uncomfortable so I did not thinkit was worth any risks," Keck says. "There doesnot seem to be a risk but there haven't been anylong-term tests so I am a little nervous aboutusing it." Many athletes who use creatine agree with Ackilthat the best time to take it is in the offseason,which Murphy calls "the big-gaining season" forthe football team. Athletes from the football,basketball, baseball, wrestling and ice hockeyteams say they lift weights and run four to fivetimes a week during the summer to gain strength. During the season, however, they lift two tothree times per week to keep up the strength theybuilt up over the summer and offset the fatiguethey experience in competition. "In the offseason I am trying to build muscle,"Keck says. "But when the season comes along inFebruary I will focus on maintenance and toning mymuscles." Senior Dustin DeNunzio, a tri-captain on thewrestling team and an All-American in the134-pounds weight class, says he used creatinewhen he took off the 1996-97 year and was notworried about injuries or side effects. "Creatine has been found to be pretty safe," hesays. "It is a protein that is already in yourbody, so it just stimulates what your body alreadyhas in it." DeNunzio says he was more concerned that he hadgained six or seven pounds a few weeks after hestarted taking creatine. "Creatine is very popular among wrestlers, butyou can't use it during the season because itgenerally tends to put on weight," he says. "But theoffseason is a great time to use it because youcan get in more, harder workouts. It makes liftingmore efficient and effective." Creatine helps athletes in their strength andconditioning programs, but that is only part ofbeing a successful athlete. As much as theyemphasize strength, athletes rely just as much onskill. "A lineman [in football] who can squat 500pounds will not play if he can't block his way outof a paper bag," Sardo says. "Creatine can help wrestlers with theirstrength and help them get in shape, but it doesnot help with their skill," DeNunzio says. "Youwill get stronger if you use creatine. But you arestill the same wrestler, only now you are in adifferent weight class." DeNunzio says practicing on the wrestling matis a major part of the team's workout program. "A lot of our strength and conditioning comesfrom pure wrestling," he says. "Lifting up otherwrestlers and doing a lot of squats in practicecan be just as, if not more, important thanconventional conditioning techniques like liftingweights." Most athletes who have never used creatinefollow the same offseason strength andconditioning programs as those who use thesupplement, but they also placed a lot ofimportance in playing their respective sportsduring the offseason to improve their level ofcompetition. For example, Keck says he wassatisfied with his offseason workouts after heusing creatine, but he was not happy that he spentmost of the summer in the dugout behind anall-star catcher in the Cape Cod summer league. Keck also says practicing is a major part ofhis strength and conditioning program. "As a catcher, I work on squatting,long-distance running and lifting weights toimprove my foot-speed and quickness for lateralmovement to block balls in the dirt," he says."But the best way to get better at throwing outbaserunners is to just practice long tosses towork on arm strength." Sophomore Chris Lewis, a 6'7", 215-poundforward on he basketball team who has never usedcreatine, says he played in the Washington, D.C.,college league over the summer in addition togaining 15 to 20 pounds by lifting weights. "I think strength and conditioning is veryimportant for college basketball," Lewis says. "Iknow a lot of guys come in as freshman not fullydeveloped physically and they are playing againstguys that can be four or five years older thanthem, so they need a good strength andconditioning program to help them adjust to thecollege level." Senior Tim Hill, a 5'11", 160-pound guard onthe basketball team, agrees that strength andconditioning is important for basketball playersbecause of the duration of the season, but hasnever used creatine. "It is more important to just stay consistentwith a regimented program," he says. "As abasketball player, and especially as a pointguard, I am not trying to really build up mymuscle mass or get bulkier, I just want to improvemy overall strength and get my muscles moredefined." Sophomore Steve Moore, a 6'2", 190-poundforward on the hockey team, says he has never usedcreatine but he improved his maximum bench pressfrom 205 pounds last year to 255 pounds this yearby following the team's offseason workout program.He also said it was very important that he took100 shots on goal every day during the summer toimprove his accuracy and become a better scorer. "On the ice everything comes down to splitseconds and inches, so every little bit ofstrength helps because that may be the differencebetween getting to the puck and making a pass orshot and not getting there in time," Moore says."I have never used any supplements because I don'tthink I need them if I eat the right amount ofproteins and carbohydrates. But I can't argue withpeople who want to use creatine--I just choose notto." "I have always relied on regular lifting andrunning," Lewis says. "Everybody's goal is to bephysically stronger than their opponent, and someguys feel that, by taking performance enhancers,they can have an edge. I can see the reasoningbehind using them."
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