Creatine and CLA improve strength and body composition

The fitness world is full of supplements, but which ones really make a difference? A new study finds that combining creatine monohydrate and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) after resistance training could improve strength and body composition in older adults. Many people already know that creatine is considered an effective supplement, but they may not know much about CLA. CLA stands for conjugated linoleic acid and is a variant of the fatty acid linoleic acid. The main sources of CLA are dairy products and beef. Humans consume an average of 15 to 147 mg of CLA per day.

The study

The study involved 19 men and 20 women who completed a resistance training program of two training sessions per week for six months. The subjects were older adults between the ages of 65 and 85. The subjects were randomly assigned to a creatine monohydrate + CLA group or a placebo group. The creatine dosage was 5 grams per day (in combination with 2 grams of dextrose) and CLA was dosed at 6 grams per day.

The training consisted of 12 repetitions per exercise and the exercises included leg presses, chest presses, leg extensions, leg curls, shoulder presses, lat pulldowns, seated rowing, calf raises, crunches and back extensions. Arm flexion exercises and arm extension exercises were trained with 10 repetitions. The resistance was increased each week and the maximum weight for a repetition was tested every four weeks so that adjustments could be made if necessary.

The results

The results of the study showed improvements in functional capacity and strength in all subjects. However, the group that supplemented with creatine and CLA showed greater improvements in most measures of muscle endurance, isokinetic strength during knee extensions, lean body mass and body fat reduction. Most strength parameters improved similarly in men and women. The only strength measurement that showed a difference between the sexes was knee extension strength, which increased the most in women who supplemented with creatine and CLA.

The results of this study show that resistance training is already beneficial on its own, but its benefits can be enhanced by combining it with supplementation with creatine monohydrate and CLA. Although this study was conducted with older subjects, there is no reason to believe that younger individuals would not reap similar benefits.

References:

Study: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0000991

By Joshua Wortman

Source: https://breakingmuscle.com/fuel/science-says-creatine-and-cla-improve-strength-and-body-comp