levo

Diet and Nutrition

Creatine, sodium bicarbonate, caffeine and glycogen loading

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 2

Overview

Creatine, sodium bicarbonate and caffeine with their benefits and side effects, traditional and modern glycogen loading, and the pre-competition meal.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Explain how creatine supplementation improves performance.

Key term

Which performers are most likely to benefit from creatine, and why?

Key term

What are the possible negative effects of creatine?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Explain how creatine supplementation improves performance.

    Model answer

    Creatine increases the store of phosphocreatine in the muscles. The ATP-PC system can then resynthesise ATP for longer, supporting repeated high-intensity efforts.

  2. 2

    Which performers are most likely to benefit from creatine, and why?

    Model answer

    Sprinters, jumpers and weightlifters benefit most, because their events rely on the ATP-PC system. Faster recovery between efforts also allows higher-quality training.

  3. 3

    What are the possible negative effects of creatine?

    Model answer

    Creatine can cause water retention and weight gain. Muscle cramps and stomach upsets are also reported.

  4. 4

    Why could the weight gain from creatine be a disadvantage for a high jumper?

    Model answer

    The extra body mass must be lifted against gravity at take-off. A heavier jumper needs more force to clear the same height.

  5. 5

    Explain how sodium bicarbonate delays fatigue.

    Model answer

    Sodium bicarbonate is an alkali that increases the buffering capacity of the blood. More hydrogen ions from lactic acid can be neutralised, delaying fatigue.

  6. 6

    Which events are most likely to benefit from sodium bicarbonate?

    Model answer

    Events lasting roughly one to seven minutes that rely heavily on anaerobic glycolysis benefit most. Examples include the 800 m, the 1,500 m and 2,000 m rowing.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

The Cardiovascular System
The Respiratory System
The Neuromuscular System
The Musculo-Skeletal System and Movement Analysis

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

The democratic leader is .
person-orientedtask-orientedautocratic

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

ADrug testing protects athletes' health.
BDrug testing keeps competition fair.
CDrug testing deters cheating.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Scalar means a quantity described by size alone.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Diet and Nutrition, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.