Effects of creatine supplementation on muscle strength gains-a meta-analysis and systematic review.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention trials
PubMed 41328071 · doi:10.7717/peerj.20380
What was done
The authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis using conventional and Robust Variance Estimation (RVE) models (PROSPERO CRD42024547697). They evaluated the effects of creatine supplementation on muscle strength gains across populations (trained vs. untrained, young vs. middle-aged/elderly), dosage regimens (low-to-moderate vs. high dose), and concomitant exercise intensities (high vs. low intensity).
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical effect sizes, sample sizes, or p-values. Baseline muscle strength did not differ significantly between creatine and control groups. Post-intervention, creatine produced significant strength improvements. Subgroup analyses found that untrained individuals achieved greater improvements than trained individuals, low-to-moderate doses yielded better effects than high doses, and high-intensity training resulted in larger effect sizes than low-intensity training. Results comparing young versus middle-aged/elderly populations were inconclusive.
Why it matters
It synthesizes evidence across dosing, training status, and exercise intensity, suggesting that low-to-moderate creatine doses paired with high-intensity training optimize strength gains.
Limits
The abstract omits the number of included studies, total participant count, effect sizes, variance estimates, and specific definitions of dose or exercise intensity. Comparisons across age demographics remained inconclusive.
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