High School Sports Question--creatine/supplements/looking the other way

One of my kids, played soccer and ultimate frisbee, was very skinny in high school and wanted to bulk up. He asked me if he could use creatine. I did some research, nothing deep, and advised him that if he would work out regularly and double his fluid intake I would allow him to take it. He did, gained about 10-12 pounds of muscle (got up early AM's to work out), began to grow into his body and hasn't used any supplement since.

If a coach had advised him to use creatine, I would have had to have a joint meeting for an explanation. As it was, I thought the boy handled it well, and I didn't worry about it once I was sure he was drinking plenty of water. The idea didn't come from a coach.

 

The miserable part is if you don't up your fluid intake while on creatine. The muscle cramps are no fun.

 

That is very true and young athletes need to know these things if they are going use creatine.

 

No idea how this thread resurfaced, but glad it did.

JJBN is a smart and informed dad...most are not. You're putting a loaded weapon into the hands of kids when you just shrug and say it's no big deal.

Instead of teaching them how to take creatine, how about teaching them the basics of sports nutrition, and go from there.

 

I've always thought the waters were murky because certain supplements are sold to the public without restriction. Hell, you can buy them in bulk at Sam's Club. How can schools/coaches tell kids what they can and can't buy from GNC?

To me it's less like the bowl of candy and more like trying to punish the kid who got drunk off NyQuil.

 

My anecdote is from back in the days when Edgar Martinez was a creatine creature, and everybody knew it. I figured if Edgar did it, it was OK for my kid. So I wasn't exactly a genius.

I'd be a LOT more skeptical nowadays, do more research than the cream-skimming I did...but if you say no to a teenager and want it to stick, you'd better have a powerful argument, especially if it involves something easily found outside the home.

 

For those of you who are interested, the American College of Sports Medicine held a roundtable on creatine about 18 months ago. (http://www.acsm.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Research/Roundtables_Specialty_Conf/PastRoundtables/Creatine_Rt.pdf)

It's a long, but relatively easy, read and discusses the effects of creatine on the body and expectations for improving function for athletes and non athletes of various ages. Side effects are also discussed.

 

No new information in that story. Really pretty pedestrian. Are you Finn? If so change your picture. .

 

Um, HGH is found in every single one of our bodies. It's perfectly natural.

But it's a hormone, and ingesting or injecting hormones into a body that is already producing that hormone isn't necessarily safe. It throws the body for a loop, if you will, and affects the natural production of that hormone.

Creatine can be the exact same way. It is not, as you say, 'totally safe.' Just like any other supplement, it can be very bad for the kidneys, liver and heart if taken improperly. And unlike many basic protein supplements, there is no certain proof that creatine is perfectly safe.

If kids are taking supplements, they should be taking whey protein and drinking a ton of water with it. It won't provide the instant boost that creatine provides, but it is also less harmful to the body if taken correctly. Still, it's not perfectly safe. If you don't drink enough water it can harm the kidneys and liver.

 

CJ - with all due respect if anyone reads the paper that Doc put up from the American Collge of Sports Medicine it will make you sound uninformed. You should read it.

I have found creatine to be a very good training suppliment. Only side effect I found was bloating. I was able to solve by switching away from monohydrate creatine.

 

I return to my original point:

After all the congressional and administrative grieving and moaning about 'the children' in the wake of baseball's steroid hoop-de-doo, why aren't high schools simply saying 'The following substances will not be tolerated in our program, and if we catch you taking any of these, you're out, period.'

Otherwise, let's use the 'save the children' defense for a worthier cause.

(And as DocTalk's link points out, there have been very few studies done on the effects of creatine on athletes under the age of 18, and the existing studies show marginal effects.)

 

Probably because teachers are so conditioned not to discuss any type of medication for fear of law suit. The topic is the 3rd rail of academia.