Creatine In Baseball

Creatine in Baseball

Mark McGwire uses it. Sammy Sosa uses it. The Atlanta Braves have tubs of it in their locker room. Then why does Scott Carnahan, Linfield College's varsity baseball coach and coach of the 1994 U.S.A. Olympic baseball team emphasize, "I will not participate in distributing it to any of my players"? It is Creatine and it has become a health concern among most NCAA baseball coaches in Oregon. Creatine is a substance that is naturally produced in every human being. Every adult has around 130 grams of Creatine in their body. It allows us to run fast, lift hard, and react quickly. These are all the essentials of NCAA baseball. In recent years, Creatine had been developed as a food supplement to enhance muscle performance. So why wouldn't NCAA baseball coaches in Oregon distribute the food supplement known as Creatine to their athletes? Yes, it is expensive at $49.99 for 100 grams of powder. But, many coaches in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (an association that regulates many intercollegiate sports) are more concerned about the safety of the player. There are six NCAA baseball teams in Oregon. These teams work hard every year to accomplish a winning season, a conference title, or a national championship. Players at Linfield, George Fox, Willamette, Oregon State, Pacific, and University of Portland face the pressure to win every season. Linfield College pitcher, Geoff Phillips describes the pressure as, relentless. "There is always pressure to work hard in the weight room and train at 100%. Most of the pressure comes from the competition we face and our personal desire to win," said Phillips. 1 To compete at their highest level, ball players have to find time to bulk up. Weight lifting has always been a part of college baseball. After all, modern athletes develop their strength and endurance in the weight room. But, where once players spent 3-5 hours a week in the weight room, most players now lift 8-10 hours a week. Oregon State's head baseball coach, Pat Casey reached his 100th victory last year, the first OSU coach to do so in fewer than 5 years. "Winning isn't something that comes natural. It takes a lot of hard work outside of practice," Casey stated in an OSU publication. Linfield head baseball coach, Carnahan, agrees. He assigns a workout schedule that works all major muscle groups and many minor muscle groups. It's a similar story in the Willamette weight room where players work each body part twice a week. "This could take up to 6 days a week depending on how many body parts they work on a day," said Coach Wong. The fact is everybody wants to win. Tough competition and personal desire to win causes a lot of college players in Oregon to take Creatine as a means of boosting their athletic performance. It became a part of NCAA baseball in the middle 1990's when studies showed that Creatine might enhance player capabilities. According to the NCAA Guide Line, Creatine has been found in some laboratory studies to enhance short term, high-intensity exercise capability, delay fatigue and increase strength. Creatine can also increase muscle strength as much as one and one half times quicker than non-users, according to the Natural Medicines comprehensive database. Although several studies have contradicted the efficiency of Creatine, it has been 2 very popular among ball players. One survey conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine indicated that 30% of all male collegiate athletes had used Creatine at one time. On average, there are 45 players that compete on NCAA baseball teams in Oregon. Of the six NCAA programs in Oregon, four teams reported that nearly half of their players had used Creatine during the season. Creatine has produced the kind of results that some players are looking for. A Linfield pitcher states that many players on his team are experiencing positive results. "Probably about half of our team had taken Creatine. It has allowed our players to workout harder and longer," said Phillips. Second baseman, Kevin Hill, has also had good results using Creatine. "For the past month and a half Creatine has helped me to gain weight and lift at the level I want to," said Hill. Doctor Kerry Kuehl, Director of Human Performance Lab for OHSU, hosted a seminar at Mcminnville high school called, "Creatine Talk." He explained that many athletes experience fewer problems with Creatine when it is taken in moderation. "Many athletes feel that since Creatine is meant for short-term, high-intensity workouts that it is okay to take more than the recommended two to five grams a day. That is not the case," he said. Doctor Kuehl added that sometimes athletes take two, three or sometimes four times the recommended dose even though it doesn't pay to do so. Pitcher Damon Lorenz from George Fox had been using Creatine during the 98' season. "For the one month I was using Creatine, it worked well. There has been a lot of controversy about it, but as long as I have a lot of success in the weight room, I will continue to use it," he said. Some baseball players have not been as fortunate using. In 1998, one 3 OSU player using Creatine had experienced severe stomach problems. Oregon State trainers learned that Creatine was eating at the players' stomach creating an ulcer. An article in the Stateman Journal stated that an athlete from Beaverton played in his last athletic event last month when he dropped dead during one college game. The reason is unknown, but officials do know that the athlete was taking Creatine at the time of his death. Rite Aid pharmacy manager, Sheri Siddal, says that even though there have not been any long-term effects linked to Creatine, it could disrupt certain conditions. A study conducted by Natural Medicines stated that Creatine could exacerbate kidney and liver disfunctions. "Many athletes aren't aware that they have a kidney or liver problem and that it (Creatine) could exacerbate their condition without them knowing about it," said Siddal. Some researcher's fear that, with the amount of extra Creatine contrived through the diet, the body might stop producing it all together. Because there has not been any long term studies, nobody knows for sure. The only way we will find out the negative effects of long term use is time. However, the short-term effects have been determined. Studies show that Creatine has been known to cause weight gain. There had also been a number of anecdotal reports claiming that Creatine supplementation may cause an upset stomach, diarrhea, promote muscle strains/pulls, or contribute to muscle cramps. Lorenz, from George Fox, battled some effects daily. Although Lorenz did claim that Creatine helped enhance his workout, he also claims that he experienced weight gain and dehydration. "Sometimes when