Clinical Research Directory

Creatine and Muscle Health in Madrid's Walking Footballers.

Healthy aging requires effective, accessible, and sustainable interventions capable of preserving functional capacity and preventing age-related decline. In this context, walking football has emerged as a safe, inclusive physical exercise modality with high adherence among older adults, demonstrating benefits for muscle health, metabolic profile, and psychosocial well-being. On the other hand, creatine monohydrate supplementation is backed by robust scientific evidence as a strategy to enhance exercise adaptations, promote muscle mass maintenance, and improve factors related to metabolic syndrome. The objective of this project is to evaluate the effects of creatine supplementation combined with regular walking football practice on muscle quality and metabolic profile in older adults, as well as to explore the underlying biological mechanisms using a cell culture-based experimental model. The ultimate goal is to determine the potential of this intervention to promote healthy longevity through functional, muscular, and metabolic indicators associated with healthspan. Specifically, the study will analyze the intervention's effects on body composition, physical fitness, and metabolic syndrome markers; evaluate its impact on psychosocial well-being, quality of life, and cognitive function; and investigate the molecular mechanisms related to muscle health, protection against oxidative stress, and the modulation of senescence using an ex vivo/in vitro model. The project will be carried out in two complementary phases. First, a longitudinal experimental study will be conducted in older adults participating in walking football programs and supplemented with creatine. Subsequently, skeletal muscle cultures will be exposed to conditioned sera obtained before and after the intervention to investigate its biological effects. This approach will integrate the evaluation of clinical efficacy with the study of the underlying mechanisms, generating applicable knowledge for designing personalized, sustainable, and cost-effective strategies to prevent sarcopenia and metabolic syndrome.

Impact of Training Load on the Gut miCrobiome And Its Relation to exeRcise Performance, mUscle Phenotype, and markerS of Overreaching in Healthy Men

The goal of this study is to learn how different amounts of supervised indoor cycling training change gut health (gut bacteria, the substances gut bacteria make, and the gut barrier integrity), and how these changes relate to changes in fitness, muscle health, and signs of doing too much training (a state called 'overreaching'). The study includes healthy, recreationally active men aged 18 to 45 years. The primary questions, for which the study is powered (sufficient participants included), are: 1. Does moderate load training change blood and faecal levels of butyrate (a short-chain fatty acid made by gut bacteria) after eight weeks compared with a control group? 2. Compared to moderate load training, do higher training loads lead to different responses in blood and faecal levels of butyrate? Researchers will compare: * A control group that does not complete structured training; * A moderate-load training group that completes eight weeks of supervised cycling (4x/week); * A high-load training group that completes four weeks of moderate-load training followed by four weeks of higher training load (twice the number of training sessions). Participants will: * Be randomly assigned to one of the three groups; * Complete 8 weeks of supervised indoor cycling sessions if assigned to a training group; * Complete four study assessment periods (baseline, after week four, after week eight, and after a short taper (rest period); * Provide blood, stool, skeletal muscle, urine, saliva, and breath samples during the assessment periods; * Complete fitness and performance tests and questionnaires during the assessment periods.