{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T06:03:03Z","timestamp":1791266583423,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780272000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Although creatine (Cr) supplementation is well established for enhancing strength exercise adaptations, limited evidence exists regarding whether the timing of a single Cr dose relative to exercise acutely influences performance and related physiological and perceptual responses. This study examined whether the timing of a single dose of Cr ingestion relative to a strength exercise session influences acute strength and power performance, cognitive function, perceptual responses, and selected blood biomarkers in physically active men. Methods: In a randomized, placebo-controlled crossover design, 11 physically active men (26.09 \u00b1 4.39 years) completed five experimental conditions: Cr ingested before exercise (CrB), during exercise (CrD), and after exercise (CrF), placebo (PL), and a no-supplement control. Participants ingested 0.1 g\u00b7kg\u22121 body mass of monohydrate Cr or placebo. Each condition included a standardized strength training session, where bench press (BP) and back squat (BSQ) performance was assessed as the total external load lifted (kg) across six sets performed at 80% of 1-RM for each exercise. Countermovement jump (CMJ) performance, Profile of Mood States (POMS), cognitive performance (digit cancelation test), perceived exertion (RPE), perceived recovery scale (PRS), Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), and blood markers of muscle damage and renal function were assessed after the resistance training session. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA or non-parametric equivalents, with post hoc comparisons adjusted for multiple testing. Results: There was a significant main effect of condition for both BP (F = 4.91, \u03b7p2 = 0.33, p = 0.035) and BSQ performance (F = 33.22, \u03b7p2 = 0.77, p &lt; 0.001), with greater performance under the CrB condition compared with PL and control (p &lt; 0.05). A significant effect of condition was also observed for creatine kinase (\u03c72 (4) = 12.22, p = 0.016) and creatinine concentrations (\u03c72 (4) = 17.75, p = 0.001). Blood creatine kinase concentrations were greater under CrF conditions than control (p = 0.013) and PL (p = 0.041). Moreover, creatinine concentration was lower under the CrB condition compared to CrD (p = 0.033), CrF (p = 0.003), and the control (p = 0.021). No differences were observed for CMJ performance, cognitive performance, POMS, RPE, PRS, DOMS, or the remaining biochemical markers across treatments. Conclusions: Pre-exercise creatine ingestion (without loading phase) was associated with greater acute strength performance compared with other timing conditions. However, the findings are exploratory and have to be confirmed with a higher sample size and robust placebo\/control structures.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18111789","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T15:07:52Z","timestamp":1780326472000},"page":"1789","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Acute Creatine Ingestion Before Resistance Training Enhances Strength Performance More than Ingestion During or After Training: A Randomized Crossover Pilot Trial"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-6449-3659","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Khouloud","family":"Ben Maaoui","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia"},{"name":"Research Laboratory: Education, Motricity, Sport and Health, EM2S, LR19JS01, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0013-8774","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Slaheddine","family":"Delleli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia"},{"name":"Physical Activity, Sport and Health Research Unit, UR18JS01, National Sport Observatory, Tunis 1003, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-8458-9643","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arwa","family":"Jebabli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia"},{"name":"Research Laboratory: Education, Motricity, Sport and Health, EM2S, LR19JS01, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1054-3511","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nourh\u00e8ne","family":"Mahdi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia"},{"name":"Research Laboratory: Education, Motricity, Sport and Health, EM2S, LR19JS01, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5785-984X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan","family":"Del Coso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sport Sciences Research Centre, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28943 Fuenlabrada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5482-9151","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hamdi","family":"Chtourou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia"},{"name":"Physical Activity, Sport and Health Research Unit, UR18JS01, National Sport Observatory, Tunis 1003, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7677-5070","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca Paolo","family":"Ardig\u00f2","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Teacher Education, NLA University College, 0166 Oslo, Norway"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0131-1594","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ibrahim","family":"Ouergui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Kef, University of Jendouba, Kef 7100, Tunisia"},{"name":"Research Unit: Sport Sciences, Health and Movement, UR22JS01, University of Jendouba, Kef 7100, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1093\/advances\/nmab111","article-title":"Perspective: Creatine, a Conditionally Essential Nutrient: Building the Case","volume":"13","author":"Ostojic","year":"2022","journal-title":"Adv. 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