But when its effects were tested on series of performance events, and element of fatigue was present, the creatine appeared to improve strength, (Balsom et al., 1995). So when there is an element of fatigue, creatine can be used with good results. Hence the supplements works effectively when there are repeated bouts of activity involving possible fatigue. Without creatine, the athlete is likely to feel fatigued and his performance may deteriorate. So when creatine is used, this deterioration can be stalled. Thus positive ergogenic effects of creatine have been displayed in repeated bouts of high-intensity cycling (Greenhaff et al., 1994), running (Aaserud et al., 1998), swimming (Peyrebrune et al., 1998) and vertical jumping (Bosco et al., 1997).

In most cases, the effects were found more prominently in later stages of exercise and not in the first. Hence we can safely say that creatine works in improvement endurance that helps an athlete perform better for longer duration. But while we report this, we cannot ignore the fact that there are still some studies that have failed to find this kind of improvement in repeated sprint cycling (Barnett et al., 1996). This is an strange fact but a fact nonetheless.

It is not known exactly while when most studies report positive effects, there are still some that fail to find any such improvement. But certain factors can be at play namely the size of the dose of creatine taken, the presence...

And Jensen, J. (1998) Creatine supplementation delays onset of fatigue during repeated bouts of sprint running. Scand.J. Med. Sci. Sports,8, 247-251.
Balsom, P.D., Soderlund, K., Sjodin, B. And Ekblom, B. (1995) Skeletal muscle metabolism during short duration high-intensity exercise. Acta Physiol. Scand.,154, 303-310.

Bosco, C., Tihanyi, J., Pucspk, J. et al. (1997) Effect of oral creatine supplementation on jumping and running performance. Int. J. Sports Med.,18, 369-372.

Greenhaff, P.L., Constantin-Teodosiu, D., Casey, a. And Hultman, E. (1994) the effect of oral creatine supplementation on skeletal muscle ATP degradation during repeated bouts of maximal voluntary exercise in man. J. Physiol,476, 84P.

Peyrebrune, M.C., Nevill, M.E., Donaldson, F.J. And Cosford, D.J. (1998) the effects of oral creatine supplementation in single and repeated swimming. J. Sports Sci.,16, 271-279

Stout, J.R., Echerson, J., Noonan, D., Moore, G. And Cullen, D. (1999) Effects of creatine supplementation on exercise performance and fat-free weight in football players during training. Nutr. Res.,19, 217-225

Stephen Silverman, "What Are the Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Performance?," JOPERD -- the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 68.3 (1997):