FLYCARB Research Summary

The Turquoise Paper: Creatine for strength and endurance athletes

Cutting to the chase: creatine helps your body rapidly replenish energy during short, high-intensity efforts, produce power when fatigued, and accelerate recovery.

What the Research Shows

+8–9%
Peak & Mean Sprint Power When Fatigued (After 2.5h Cycling)
-19%
Post-30km Run Rise in Creatine Kinase (Muscle Damage Marker)
+82%
Greater Muscle Glycogen Restored During First 24h of Recovery
1 of 5
IOC Consensus Statement Highlighted Performance Supplements

What is creatine and how does it work

Creatine is a compound our bodies make naturally. Most is stored in skeletal muscle, including phosphocreatine. Phosphocreatine helps regenerate ATP, the immediate energy source we use for muscle contraction.

Supplementation increases the muscle’s creatine stores, supporting rapid energy supply during demanding efforts. This helps explain the well-established benefits for repeated high-intensity exercise and strength training.

Why creatine matters for endurance athletes

Endurance training and racing still includes the need to produce high power e.g. accelerating up a short hill, responding to a move or sprinting towards the finish.

For endurance athletes, this makes creatine particularly relevant to the faster parts of training and racing. The clearest endurance-specific evidence concerns repeated sprint performance after prolonged exercise.

The evidence: producing power when fatigued

Vandebuerie et al. (1998) studied 12 elite cyclists who completed 2.5 hours of cycling, followed by an effort to exhaustion and five 10-second sprints. After five days of creatine, peak and mean power during the sprints were approximately 8-9% higher than with placebo. The kind of power that might be the difference at the end of a cycling stage.

Key Study Vandebuerie et al. (1998) • 12 Elite Cyclists
+8–9%
Peak & Mean Power Output in 10-Second Sprints
2.5 Hours
Exhaustive Cycling Prior to Sprints

The evidence for recovery after hard running

Santos et al. (2004) studied experienced marathon runners completing a 30 km run. Taking creatine daily for five days beforehand reduced the post-run rise in creatine kinase, a blood marker associated with muscle damage, by 19% compared with the control condition. The inflammatory responses of those who used creatine also reduced.

Key Study Santos et al. (2004) • Experienced Marathon Runners (30 km Run)
-19%
Reduction in Post-Run Creatine Kinase (Muscle Damage)
Reduced
Systemic Inflammatory Response Post-Run

The evidence: strength development

Creatine can also help athletes get more from their strength training. Volek et al. (1999) found that, over 12 weeks of heavy resistance training, squat strength increased by 32% with creatine, compared with 24% with placebo. Bench press strength increased by 24% versus 16%.

Key Study Volek et al. (1999) • 12 Weeks Heavy Resistance Training
+32% vs 24%
Squat Strength Gain (Creatine vs Placebo)
+24% vs 16%
Bench Press Strength Gain (Creatine vs Placebo)

The evidence: replenishing muscle fuel

Glycogen is the carbohydrate stored in muscle and an important fuel for endurance exercise. Creatine supports its replenishment when combined with sufficient carbohydrate.

Roberts et al. (2016) studied 14 healthy men after cycling to exhaustion. Participants followed a high-carbohydrate diet and received a creatine supplement or placebo. The amount of muscle glycogen restored during the first 24 hours was approximately 82% greater in the creatine group.

Key Study Roberts et al. (2016) • Exhaustive Cycling & Recovery
+82%
Greater Muscle Glycogen Restored in First 24 Hours
Enhanced
Carbohydrate-Mediated Glycogen Resynthesis

How we have applied the science

We see FLYCARB Creatine as a supplement to build into a consistent training routine. For creatine monohydrate, a practical research-based approach is 3-5g daily, including rest days.

Taking it consistently for around four weeks allows stores to build gradually.

For you endurance athletes, the opportunity is to support the strength and high-intensity work that sits alongside aerobic training, with promising additional evidence for recovery and muscle fuel storage.

Daily Ergogenic Protocol

FLYCARB Creatine (250g)

100% pure micronised creatine monohydrate. Single-ingredient, unflavoured, instant-dissolving, and providing 50 standard 5g servings to support repeated surges, power when fatigued, and accelerated glycogen recovery.

100% Pure Creatine Monohydrate 3–5g Daily Protocol 250g Resealable Pouch (50 Servings) 1 of 5 IOC Recognized Supplements
Shop FLYCARB Creatine →

Interesting research

  1. Kreider RB et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14, 18. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z →
  2. Vandebuerie F et al. (1998). Effect of creatine loading on endurance capacity and sprint power in cyclists. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 19(7), 490–495. PubMed: 9839847 →
  3. Volek JS et al. (1999). Performance and muscle fiber adaptations to creatine supplementation and heavy resistance training. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 31(8), 1147–1156. PubMed: 10449017 →
  4. Roberts PA et al. (2016). Creatine ingestion augments dietary carbohydrate mediated muscle glycogen supercompensation during the initial 24 h of recovery following prolonged exhaustive exercise in humans. Amino Acids, 48, 1831–1842. doi:10.1007/s00726-016-2252-x →
  5. Santos RVT et al. (2004). The effect of creatine supplementation upon inflammatory and muscle soreness markers after a 30km race. Life Sciences, 75(16), 1917–1924. PubMed: 15306159 →
  6. Rae C et al. (2003). Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 270, 2147–2150. PubMed: 14561278 →
  7. Hultman E et al. (1996). Muscle creatine loading in men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 81(1), 232–237. PubMed: 8828669 →