Effect of Taurine Combined With Creatine on Repeated Sprinting Ability After Exhaustive Exercise Under Hot and Humid Conditions.

Background: Taurine (TAU) and creatine (Cr) are common ergogenic aids used by athletes to enhance performance; however, the effect of their combined supplementation, and on recovery in high temperature and humidity environments, has not been studied.

Hypothesis: Combined TUA and Cr will have greater effect on physiological indicators and repetitive sprint performance recovery after exhaustive exercise under hot and humid conditions than single supplementation or placebo.

Study design: Single-blind crossover randomized controlled study.

Level of evidence: Level 2.

Methods: Participants (12 sports students) were assigned randomly to 1 of 4 supplementation intervention groups: placebo (P), taurine (T), creatine (C), or taurine + creatine (T+C). Exercise protocol included exhaustion tests and repeated sprinting exercises were conducted in a laboratory environment at 35 °C/65% relative humidity. Heartrate, blood lactate (BLa), tympanic temperature, thermal sensation, and rating of perceived exertion were monitored throughout. Heartrate variability, time to exhaustion (TTE), reaction time, and countermovement jump (CMJ) height were tracked before and after exhaustion exercise and before sprint exercise.

Results: TTE was significantly higher in the T+C group than in the P group (P = 0.04). BLa and tympanic temperature increased rapidly in all 4 conditions, then decreased gradually, and T group peak values were higher than those of P group (P = 0.04; P < 0.01). CMJ decreased in the C and T+C groups (P = 0.04; P = 0.04) after exhaustive exercise, unlike other groups (P > 0.05). Indicators of repeated sprint exercise, peak power, mean power, and power decrement showed a decreasing trend within groups but no difference between groups (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: In this small student group, under hot and humid conditions, T+C supplementation significantly enhanced TTE.

Clinical relevance: TAU, Cr, and their combined supplementation do not significantly improve repeated sprint performance after exhaustive exercise under hot and humid conditions.