Steroids aren't the only way to pump it up.
Gov. Bill Richardson, perhaps inspired by the recent dramatic revelations of steroid use by big league sluggers, recently pledged to budget $330,000 in next year's legislative session to pay for steroid testing of high school athletes. He then kicked off a steroid summit attended by hundreds of high school coaches, athletic directors and trainers.
But as the State focuses on steroids, another performance-enhancing
substance remains under the radar: creatine.
Unlike steroids, creatine does not build muscles per se but, rather, supplies an extra boost of energy to the muscles to allow athletes to train longer and harder. Sold in capsule,
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powder and liquid form, creatine does not produce dramatic side effects such as body acne, withered testicles or 'roid rage.
Little else, however, is known about the long-term effects of creatine on the human body, and that's the problem. Few studies have been conducted to determine the effects of sustained use, and so far it has not been banned by any major professional sports organizations. That, plus the fact that creatine's immediate side effects-including nausea, severe diarrhea, delayed healing of muscle strains and dehydration-are relatively minor and less dramatic than those of steroids, many people have drawn the conclusion that use of the supplement is safe for teenagers.
"Creatine is widely used," Santa Fe High Athletic Director Don Owen says. "But how can you declare something safe if there's no research? I mean, when I was younger, I remember we thought cigarettes were safe."
Tony Williams, a personal trainer and fitness tech at the Genoveva Chavez Center, knows all about supplements. He's is a competitive weightlifter, a five-time world champion and a 12-time New Mexico champion. He also served on the National Governing Board of the American Drug Free Powerlifting Association.
"It's the darling of the supplement industry right now. Five years ago it was anything that had ephedrine, and then they paid out the nose for it later," Williams says.
"I've had a lot of kids ask me about it," Matt Vasquez, Santa Fe High School's athletic trainer, notes. "Unless they're extremely deficient in nutrition, I don't see any reason for them to take it."
While Owen and Vasquez discourage creatine, in some areas of New Mexico, coaches and parents heavily support its use. "There seems to be a general acceptance of creatine," Owen says, citing a football coach in another part of the state [Owen declined to say where] he knew who distributed the substance to his players after having their parents sign a permission form.
Owen himself admits he encouraged his own son to utilize the supplement when he was a high school wrestler in 1998. "It was right there in the kitchen-his mother would mix it right up for before he went to bed." Since then, the few studies that have been conducted-solely investigating adult use-indicate possible kidney and liver damage after high-dosage use. "If I had to do it over again, knowing what I know now," Owen says, "I wouldn't have him do it."
