“Short-term creatine monohydrate supplementation has been widely used to improve performance in high-intensity and short-term efforts in cycling ”
Muscle creatine or phosphocreatine is the critical power/energy source in activities that involve repeated mini-bouts or maximum all-out-bursts, lasting up to about 15 seconds.
Increasing your creatine reserves is very beneficial for mountain biking, especially during steep climbs or quick accelerations as you attack sections or spin the pedals relentlessly coming out of corners and technical features.
Are there benefits to supplementing with creatine for mountain biking?
Cross-country, trail riders, and endurance-based forms of mountain bikers
- Can benefit from low-dosing or 4 g/daily of creatine-electrolyte without a loading phase for increased power and resistance against fatigue
Downhill Mountain bikers or gravity-assisted riders
- Numerous benefits from the standard recommended dosage of creatine and a loading phase
- Increased power and slower to fatigue, especially while descending long and technical sections
mountain biking: Increased power & creatine
Supplementing with a creatine and electrolyte combination mixture will improve your power output by 3 - 7%
For the average recreational rider, this will mean an increase of ~25 to 50 watts of extra pedal power, meaning sprinting up hills or climbing over roots, just got significantly easier.
Creatine & water weight
“Although body mass increased by 2 kg, the relative volume of body-water compartments was not affected, suggesting that the increase in body mass after creatine supplementation cannot be attributed to water retention ”
What about the extra water weight from the creatine?
Ingesting a creatine-electrolyte supplement will cause you to gain weight because you are increasing your muscle creatine content, body mass, and total body water.
Weight gains of 2 - 5 pounds (.8 to 2.2 kg)
Average weight gain is around 3 pounds (1.4kg)
The majority of weight gain after 4 weeks of creatine-electrolyte supplementation is in the form of muscle mass with minimal water weight.
However, it should be noted that during the “loading phase” of creatine supplementation, it’s common for people to experience weight gain primarily from water weight.
“Loading Phase” & Weight Gain
Creatine has been called a hyper-hydrating agent because, during the loading phase when 20 grams of creatine is ingested per day, initial fluid retention of 14 - 28 oz (400 to 800 mL) is common.
Loading phase = water retention and weight gain in form of “water weight” = 1 - 3 lbs (around 1kg)
Maintenance phase after 3 weeks = increase in protein synthesis and an increase in lean muscle with a reduction in water weight
It’s also important to note that taking creatine with carbohydrates, especially during the loading phase will cause you to gain even more water weight. One-gram of carbohydrate is partnered with 2 to 3 grams of water.
The creatine studies that show the highest rates of water retention involve weight lifters. This makes sense because lifters pick heavy things up and set them down to get bigger & stronger, while simultaneously modifying their diet………like eating more carbs, which leads to a bigger ‘pump’ and larger muscles, partially from more water being in the cells.
(Image Source: Clarke et al.)
Creatine, Weight Gain & Uphill Climbing
Your power-to-weight ratio is hugely important when climbing hills. A couple of days of intense riding per week while supplementing with a creatine-electrolyte mixture will lead to slight increases in muscle gain and subsequent weight gain. Water retention weight is generally negligible after the loading phase.
Gaining 3 pounds of body weight will require an extra ~5 watts of power to pedal up a 15% gradient incline. The creatine-electrolyte supplementation provides you with an additional 25-50 watts of power so even gaining a little bit of water weight, you will be able to climb hills better.
Why take creatine with electrolytes?
You NEED electrolytes to get creatine into your muscle cells.
Creatine is shuttled by specialized electrogenic transporter proteins which are dependent on electrolytes, such as sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium.
When you take creatine together with electrolytes, your muscles will absorb more of it. For example, taking creatine in the absence of calcium and magnesium results in a reduction of creatine absorption by 47%.
It should be noted that sodium and chloride are especially important since the cellular uptake of creatine can’t happen without them:
2 sodium ions + 1 chloride ion = transport of 1 creatine molecule
Creatine & mountain biking in the heat
“These findings provide strong evidence that creatine supplementation (with or without glycerol) may serve as an effective nutritional hyper-hydration strategy for athletes engaged in intense exercise in hot and humid environments
”
In 2017, the International Society of Sports Nutrition published a “position stand” on the safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation and concluded that cycling in the heat:
The researchers reported that creatine supplementation increased intracellular water and reduced thermoregulatory and cardiovascular responses to prolonged exercise (e.g., heart rate, rectal temperature, sweat rate) thereby promoting hyper-hydration and a more efficient thermoregulatory response during prolonged exercise in the heat.
While the “loading phase” is responsible for water retention, this increased intracellular water has benefits during mountain biking in hot weather or high humidity.
20 grams of creatine-electrolyte solution per day for 5 days before mountain biking in the heat/humidity will hyper-hydrate your cells and allow you to ride harder with a lower heart rate while staying cooler and sweating less.
If you want even more pedal power, you can supplement with creatine and use Pedaling Science’s specially formulated chain lubricant to give you 10+ more WATTS…. you just got a whole lot faster!
"Fluid Loading" & Astronauts
Astronauts lose over 5 lbs of weight on short-term flights and over 20 lbs (10kg) during longer missions from a multitude of factors, with losses from dehydration being one of them.
Studies have been conducted where astronauts “fluid load” or “pre-hydrate” with creatine before take-off, to minimize dehydration during flight.
I’m not sure if astronauts actually take creatine supplements before space-missions, yet, it's interesting to note that “space scientists” have studied and determined that creatine has hydration and thermoregulatory effects in terrestrial environments.
low dose creatine: Weight & MTB benefits
If you’re looking to avoid ANY weight gain from creatine supplementation, but still want the benefits, you still have one option.
Studies show that low-dose, short-duration creatine supplementation reduces fatigue rates……but doesn’t increase maximum power output. However, it should be noted that these studies didn’t research a creatine-electrolyte mixture, which is about 5 times more absorbent than just ingesting creatine.
The basic premise behind the low dosage short duration phase is to increase or maximize muscle creatine for a single event.
What is the dosage for low-dose, short duration creatine supplementation?
6 g for 5 - 6 days of a creatine-electrolyte mixture (once per day)
Final thought
“Creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes with the intent of increasing high-intensity exercise capacity”
Creatine is the most thoroughly studied legal sports supplement and its effectiveness extends way beyond just pumping iron in the gym. If you ride hard at least a couple of times per week, adding some creatine-electrolyte mixture into your diet can do wonders for your power and recovery.
Jesse is the Director of Pedal Chile and lives in Valdivia, Chile. Jesse has a Master of Science in Health & Human Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. Hobbies: Mountain biking, bicycle commuting, snowboarding, reading, weight-lifting, taster of craft beers, & researching.
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