Creatine Loading Does Not Preserve Muscle Mass or Strength During Leg Immobilization in Healthy, Young Males: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: A short period of leg immobilization leads to rapid loss of muscle mass and strength. Creatine supplementation has been shown to increase lean body mass in active individuals and can be used to augment gains in muscle mass and strength during prolonged resistance-type exercise training.

Objective: Our objective was to investigate whether creatine loading can attenuate the loss of muscle mass and strength during short-term leg immobilization.

Short-term muscle disuse atrophy is not associated with increased intramuscular lipid deposition or a decline in the maximal activity of key mitochondrial enzymes in young and older males.

Aging is generally accompanied by a progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and impairments in metabolic function. Even a few days of muscle disuse (such as that occurring during injury or illness) leads to considerable loss of muscle mass and strength. It has been speculated that short, successive periods of muscle disuse throughout the lifespan may be largely responsible for the age-related loss of muscle mass.