Creatine monohydrate (fitness supplement)

[narayanan]

Can shooters use creatine powder ? I know bodybuilders use it. Will shooters fail dope test if they take creatine ? Has the ISSF banned this substance ? Wouldn't shooters be able to hold the weapon for long periods without muscle fatigue ?

[David Levene]

Before taking any drugs or supplements check them YOURSELF against the prohibited list on the World Anti-Doping Agency web site.

Don't take anyone else's word for it; it is your responsibility to make sure that you are clean.

[RandomShotz]

never mind

[EJ]

Yes, you can take creatine and no, it won't do you any good in shooting.

The problem is production and to be sure it's safe for use. That problem exists for dietary supplements, herbal remedies and energy drinks as well (and to a lesser degree for medical substances) so it's not specific for this supplement category.

By the way it's not just bodybuilders, most explosive athletes (100 m sprint) have a use for it.

[jabberwo]

I've used it often in the past when I go through a heavy weight lifting phase. I really don't see how it would help in shooting. Its theoretical use, and how it works for me, is helping muscles recover following a hard workout. I can work out hard again the next day. Lifting my arm with a pistol in my hand 60-70 times in a match is NOT hard lifting. And you would never want to lift that hard soon before a match.

cheers,
Jab

[EJ]

Its theoretical use, and how it works for me, is helping muscles recover following a hard workout.

Actually its theoretical use is somewhat different than this. Phosphocreatine resynthesize ATP faster than glucose and thus extending the maximal muscle contraction phase (normally stored ATP/ADP in the muscle cell only counts for a couple of seconds and then it needs to replenished from glycogen/glucose, either aerobic or anaerobic, with PCr we have a faster system for replenishing and adding on a five seconds or so of max muscle contraction). What it ultimately means is to give the body an extra repetition or two when lifting heavy or giving fast energy in a 100m race without building up too much lactate acid. So in the end you have worked a little bit harder than you could without it (for those people with less of a storage normally) and recovery should therefore be slightly longer.

But all this is only interesting when performing explosive movements which shooting isn't part of.
Read more on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine_phosphate

[David Levene]

You might find the advice on supplements from the UK Anti-Doping web site interesting.