Energy drinks/gels - good ones/bad ones?
Johnny Napalm
Posts: 1,458
Which energy drinks/gels etc. do you find gives you that extra kick that you need?
I've noticed that if I try to use Lucozade, Powerade etc. that I see an obvious drop in performance compared to my usual drink, which is 'High 5 Zero'.
Anyone have similar experiences, or have some good recommendations?
I've noticed that if I try to use Lucozade, Powerade etc. that I see an obvious drop in performance compared to my usual drink, which is 'High 5 Zero'.
Anyone have similar experiences, or have some good recommendations?
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I never touch them since I bought a juicer and a smoothie maker, gives me all the recovery after and energy before I go out.0
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Water0
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I drink a double espresso latte before the ride, turns me into a rocket.0
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There's not much energy in that pal...Briggo wrote:Water0 -
I used to drink only water too, and I thought that all the energy drink blah was just marketing until I experimented with them.
But I'm old, so I need all the help I can get!
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shhhh the waterboy might be listeningbennett_346 wrote:
There's not much energy in that pal...Briggo wrote:Water0 -
Salted peanuts and fresh orange juice are the only supplements I take along with water.0
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I like High 5 to drink and Torq gels personally.0
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Lucozade sport for me in the camelbak when I want an energy drink, because it tastes nicer than most and it's cheap. Usually just water though.
For energy food, HARIBO! Starmix or Supermix, both are equally fab. And SIS gels bought cheap in Tesco.Uncompromising extremist0 -
I can't stomach S.I.S, but I seem ok off Hi 5...but mainly I use water to drink and eat Haribo and nutri grain bars....I'll see how I cope off the Hi 5 tomorrow really though.
Caz xx0 -
TORQ energy gels work for me, taste good and give me a boost. However dont like there drinks but their bars are good.0
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I cant do Sugary energy drinks they make my stomach feel empty and this makes my head think im tired, likewise energy Gel !
Theres no mistaking they prop me up "for a while" then i just wanna get my head down in the undergrowth ! its that serious i start yawning and feeling sh!t almost as if i,ve been tranqualised ! i get massive lows after the spike in blood sugars !
I tried NUUN and some of the other add ins and they make me feel flat, most recently ive been on old fashioned water ! sometimes i put ELETE in it but i keep forgetting :roll:
There might not be much energy in water but ill guarentee you this !
You wont enjoy 30K rides in this heat much without it :idea:
Try some of the other sugestions above !
especially smoothies pre ride, and take some stuff you like eating not just stuff that tastes sh!te thats suposed to make you ride forever !
Good sugestions, HARIBO again above, flapjack, Jelly babies and lob a sugar cube or 2 in yer bladder wi some salt and some juice from a squeezed lemon and a lime !0 -
bennett_346 wrote:
There's not much energy in that pal...Briggo wrote:Water
Well, that all depends on how you look at it, if you dehydrate yourself you aint going to have any energy
I always find when I try "energy drinks" it makes no difference compared to just drinking water and eating the right stuff pre ride.0 -
I've found sis psp22 to be fantastic for shear rocket fuel effects. Don't use it very often, but it works very well if you keep drinking it a little at a time. Nuun I've found quite good for electrolyte stuff in the hot weather lately, and fairly drinkable too.
That said, unless it's a very long or hot ride I tend to stick with water and cake...Rock Lobster 853, Trek 1200 and a very old, tired and loved Apollo Javelin.0 -
I'm not one for energy gels etc but I do carry glucotabs, get them from boots. For when I really can't ride no more I have one of them and 2-3 minutes later I can push on, but only for about 20-30 minutes. Got me out of trouble loads of times.
That said, for the 1st time I used SIS energy drink on a training ride, I was failing fast on the warm up, so made up some drink and almost set record time... I'm impressed but wouldn't rely on gels etc, takes the fun out of working for the fitness.
As for Electrolyte tablets, which I do have to use otherwise I get chronic headaches, I've tried Nuun, drinkable yes... But High 5 ZERO Sport tablets are much nicer, plus you get more in the tube for the same price (I get mine from Discount Supplements). Have tried all flavours... Delicious..0 -
Shotz are up and coming from the endurance running and triathalon market and they do a great vanilla cola flavour gel and electrolyte tablets to add to water http://www.shotzuk.com/0
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Do people really find Lucozade sport gives them energy? I have lused it before many time and now have loads of it (75% off at Lucozade shop last week) and have never once felt it improves performance or re energises any better than water. Yes it has a taste that is acceptable BUT just look at the England team - did they look like they had ANY energy?
I was mighty surprised by the Lucozade glucose tablets that I eat on my last ride - will certainly be using them again and looking for other stuff but not s.i.s because I have made the mistake of drinking that previously! YUK!0 -
There is stickied thread in the Health section on sports drinks.
Water has no carbs whatsoever. Lucozade sport has about 6%.0 -
TowerRider wrote:Do people really find Lucozade sport gives them energy? I have lused it before many time and now have loads of it (75% off at Lucozade shop last week) and have never once felt it improves performance or re energises any better than water. <snip>I was mighty surprised by the Lucozade glucose tablets that I eat on my last ride - will certainly be using them again
What exactly do you think the difference is here? Sugary water or sugary sweeties, they both get fast acting carbs into you which gives you extra energy. You probably absorb it slightly faster in soluble form but that's about all the difference there is.Uncompromising extremist0 -
You want an isotonic drink to replace lost minerals.
Energy drinks like lucozade (normal) and red bull Etc will do nothing for you.
Plus it's a proven fact that the line lucozade say about going 33% longer is only applicable to peak fitness athletes. The likes of you and I are unlikely to see any benifits other than itchy teeth.
Kendal mint cake is good sugar supply for quick energy.
Powerade I find is a good iso drink. I tend to take a 3ltr bladder full of water purly to replace lost fluid and two bottles of powerade for the rest.0 -
Do people really find Lucozade sport gives them energy? I have lused it before many time and now have loads of it (75% off at Lucozade shop last week) and have never once felt it improves performance or re energises any better than water. Yes it has a taste that is acceptable BUT just look at the England team - did they look like they had ANY energy?
Me too! Lucozade Sport seems to have very little effect on me too, as does Powerade. Two that certainly seem to work are the 'High 5 Zero' tablets already mentioned, and also 'SIS', but since using the 'High 5' I've stuck with them because of performance and value.
I also tend to nibble on a few fig rolls before and during too, which is what I'm going to do now before going for a ride.0 -
I use Lucozade Sport powder but diluted three times as much as the instructions as otherwise it's much too sweet.
Don't use it for energy but simply as I prefer drinking that to water alone.
For energy usually carry a couple of Go bars0 -
I'm not convinced that Lucozade Sport is any good as an energy drink, but it does a pretty good job of keeping you hydrated.
Just recently I've been looking at food labels, and found that the Tesco Active isotonic sports drink is almost the exact same as the Lucozade, and the best bit is you can pick up 4 bottles of the Tescos stuff for a quid.
I picked up a couple of the SIS powder sachets too, as they seemed cheap, so i thought I'd give them a go.
PSP22 which tasted... Well powdery really, didn't matter how much you shook it up the grainy texture didn't go away.
I've still got a sachet of the GO Electrolyte powder, but I think that'll probably be the same result.
I gotta say, I think Briggo has a point. A sip of water form your pack every few minutes seems to work just as well. Couple this with some slow release energy foods like oatmeal bars and Muller rice etc and away you go.
I've used Dextrose tablets before while walking, but they only really good for a bit of a sugar rush.0 -
I use 500ml of Tesco isotonic topped up with water to fill my 700ml bike bottle plus a reserve of 500ml of pure water in the back pack. I think that when drinking isotonic I dehydrate slower than with just water and I don't get as thirsty. I recover quicker after the ride, too. I prefer the taste of pure water to sugary drinks, though.
For extra energy I carry Lucozade glucose tablets but only take one if I feel jaded.
My average ride is 20-30km off-road. Oh - and I'm not an athlete :oops:Canyon XC 8.0 '11
Whyte 19 steel '100 -
Mr Wu wrote:Energy drinks like lucozade (normal) and red bull Etc will do nothing for you.
Kendal mint cake is good sugar supply for quick energy.
Another contradiction, lucozade's just as good a sugar supply as kendal mint cake so how does it "do nothing for you?" The regular stuff isn't isotonic so it's not any better than water for hydration but that's not all it can do.Uncompromising extremist0 -
I'm not exactly anal about food and drink i eat when out on the bike. Quick 20 mile blast and i just use a bladder with water. 30 miles plus and i put powerade in my bottle. Like i said, i'm not to fussy but it does help. Also a banana and a bag of sweets in my bag. I tend to be able to keep going all day on that and i'm not exactly a fitness freak lol.0
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I'm not convinced that Lucozade Sport is any good as an energy drink, but it does a pretty good job of keeping you hydrated.
It is an isotonic drink, with a third of the carbs of standard lucozade.0 -
Northwind wrote:TowerRider wrote:Do people really find Lucozade sport gives them energy? I have lused it before many time and now have loads of it (75% off at Lucozade shop last week) and have never once felt it improves performance or re energises any better than water. <snip>I was mighty surprised by the Lucozade glucose tablets that I eat on my last ride - will certainly be using them again
What exactly do you think the difference is here? Sugary water or sugary sweeties, they both get fast acting carbs into you which gives you extra energy. You probably absorb it slightly faster in soluble form but that's about all the difference there is.
First off you answer it yourself so not sure for the reason of your patronising post. Lucozade sport drink does NOTHING for me while the tablets actually did give me energy PLUS the big difference of weight while out on a ride. It is certainly not clear from your post if you are saying a bottle of lucozade is equal to one tablet or two or maybe the whole pack - please enlighten me!
Would a can ok coke be ideal?0
