Does the prevailing opinion that creatine supplementation is solely beneficial for anaerobic, high-intensity efforts hold up to scrutiny, or are there tangible performance gains to be had for endurance cyclists who incorporate this ergogenic aid into their regimen.
The conventional wisdom suggests that creatines primary mechanism of action - increasing muscle phosphocreatine stores - is of limited utility for cyclists who operate within the aerobic or lactate threshold domains. However, recent research has hinted at the possibility of creatine supplementation exerting a positive influence on high-intensity, sustained efforts - precisely the type of efforts that comprise a significant proportion of an endurance cyclists workload.
Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that creatine supplementation may also have a neuroprotective effect, potentially mitigating the deleterious effects of prolonged, intense exercise on the central nervous system.
Given the paucity of research directly investigating the effects of creatine supplementation on endurance cycling performance, can we truly say with certainty that this ergogenic aid has no utility for cyclists competing in events that last several hours.
Is it not possible that the putative benefits of creatine supplementation - enhanced muscle buffering capacity, improved high-intensity endurance, and bolstered CNS function - might, in fact, confer a tangible performance advantage upon the endurance cyclist, particularly when competing in events that feature a high proportion of high-intensity, anaerobic efforts.