Sport Energy Bars - are they worth it?!

Mr Plum

I'm always skeptical about specialist energy bars. I've tried a couple and I haven't yet felt or noticed the benefit over, for example, a Snickers bar which I can buy in packs of 4 for £1 - they provide me with lots of energy and keep me going well. I also find them easy on the stomach.

The only problem is that due to their chocolaty nature they're melting with all this lovely weather we've been having, so I'm freezing them which is working out ok - generally defrost 2 or 3 hours after I get in the saddle on a nice day. I may move onto flapjacks over the summer...

Any reason why I should consider spending 5x more on sport specific energy bars that cost up to £1.40 each?

shm_uk

My opinions...

The expensive specialist energy products are a waste of money for the average leisure/hobby rider. Yes, you will probably feel a difference if you use them, but nothing that can't be achieved from the appropriate 'normal' food/snacks & good diet.

If you're an elite athlete at the peak of your physical game then maybe they're beneficial, although part of me still suspects that the pro's only eat these things due to sponsorship contracts... or to give them that vital psychological edge...

I used to buy PowerBar's, SIS powders , Protein Bars, Recovery drinks, Gels etc etc

I now very rarely do, and still ride the same fuelled by a balanced diet & bananas/soreen/tuna sandwiches for mid-ride snacks, home-made energy drink (50/50 water & orange juice + some salt), home-made recovery shake (skimmed milk, banana, whey protein, cocoa powder).

As with most things, the success of Sport energy products in the leisure market is more an indication of successful marketing (and public gullability?) rather than really being 'worth' the price.

nickwill

shm_uk wrote:

My opinions...

The expensive specialist energy products are a waste of money for the average leisure/hobby rider. Yes, you will probably feel a difference if you use them, but nothing that can't be achieved from the appropriate 'normal' food/snacks & good diet.

If you're an elite athlete at the peak of your physical game then maybe they're beneficial, although part of me still suspects that the pro's only eat these things due to sponsorship contracts... or to give them that vital psychological edge...

I used to buy PowerBar's, SIS powders , Protein Bars, Recovery drinks, Gels etc etc

I now very rarely do, and still ride the same fuelled by a balanced diet & bananas/soreen/tuna sandwiches for mid-ride snacks, home-made energy drink (50/50 water & orange juice + some salt), home-made recovery shake (skimmed milk, banana, whey protein, cocoa powder).

As with most things, the success of Sport energy products in the leisure market is more an indication of successful marketing (and public gullability?) rather than really being 'worth' the price.

If you are out for 5-7 hours at a time doing sportives or long hilly rides, how are you supposed to carry all the sandwiches and bananas suggested above. Home made energy drink might work but two large bottles will only hydrate you for 3 hours. A sachet of powder enables you to refill during a ride, whereas I assume you are going to rely on water alone after the three hours have gone. For a steady amble through the countryside I would agree with you, but once you are pushing yourself I would have to disagree.

ded

nickwill wrote:

For a steady amble through the countryside I would agree with you, but once you are pushing yourself I would have to disagree.

+1 He's right you know...

springtide9

I buy them in packs of 24 and they work out not much more than £1 per bar.
Same goes for energy drinks, at around £1 per litre if bought in 2kg packs. I also buy the sachets if I need more fluids than I am carrying.

For bars - I have yet to find an alternative food that can be squashed into the back of your jersey, heated to body temperature for a few hours and covered in rain or sweat - and still be edible!

I am sure you could make home made bars and make up your own drinks etc, but for me - life is too short.

Compared to the price of a pint of beer, and the price of my 'cheap' £1500 far east carbon drop, I'm not going to worry too much about spending at most £5 for a 5hr ride. I pay £5 for a 45min swim.

briantrumpet

springtide9 wrote:

I pay £5 for a 45min swim.

Are you swimming in an energy drink pool? I pay about £4 a week at my local pool for as much swimming as I like!

springtide9

briantrumpet wrote:

springtide9 wrote:

I pay £5 for a 45min swim.

Are you swimming in an energy drink pool? I pay about £4 a week at my local pool for as much swimming as I like!

It's a private gym unfortunately, but it is right next to where I work(Swindon). But even at our local council pool(Bristol), that's still £3-4 a session. And I swim twice a week

Herbsman

Soreen.

Slimbods

shm_uk wrote:

I now very rarely do, and still ride the same fuelled by a balanced diet & bananas/soreen/tuna sandwiches for mid-ride snacks, home-made energy drink (50/50 water & orange juice + some salt), home-made recovery shake (skimmed milk, banana, whey protein, cocoa powder).

Are all those things above free? I generally sit somewhere in the middle. I often take a gel and a power bar out in case I feel I need it but don't eat it, and just scoff a banana or a tesco cerial bar. The sports products definately have a place in your back pocket when you're flogged or racing.

There's mates I ride with who squirt gels into their mouth an hour into a ride no matter how hard we're going, I think that's a bit daft.

My biggest vice is Zero tablets in my bottle. I'm sure they're a con, and they're not cheap, but they taste like they're doing a good job, and if that makes me train harder, 's worth it. Specially compared to the other stuff I waste money on trying to go faster

simon_e

Mr Plum wrote:

Any reason why I should consider spending 5x more on sport specific energy bars that cost up to £1.40 each?

If you want to then feel free. I don't mind what someone else does but I don't want to spend £5 on food while riding when spending a quarter of that does the same job.

Of the products marketed specifically for sport Torq bars and Mulebars would get my vote if I had to choose.

I eat something before going out and maybe take a fruit or cereal bar, e.g. Tropical Wholefoods, Geobar, Eat Natural bar. Alternatives include flapjack, fig rolls or dried fruit. Choccy bars have their downsides, but they are good for that sugar 'hit' when you need it, particularly in winter when you burn more energy keeping warm (and the bar doesn't melt during the ride).

@Nickwill - how did anyone do long rides before the likes of SiS, Powerbar, Zipvit et al create their supposedly high-tech products? :roll:
Like this, perhaps: http://twitter.com/MagnusBackstedt/status/52413947634122753

briantrumpet

springtide9 wrote:

briantrumpet wrote:

springtide9 wrote:

I pay £5 for a 45min swim.

Are you swimming in an energy drink pool? I pay about £4 a week at my local pool for as much swimming as I like!

It's a private gym unfortunately, but it is right next to where I work(Swindon). But even at our local council pool(Bristol), that's still £3-4 a session. And I swim twice a week

Hmm, that is steep. Single swims in Exeter cost about £3, but they do a £55 quarterly swim card ... so I go five times a week normally - works out about 80p per swim.

BTW, I fuelled myself on my ride today on my very first batch of homemade flapjack. It tasted very good (though I say so myself), but my average speed was down a shade. Different recipe next time?

mroli

Is it Jibberjim of this parish who has a link in his sig to home made recipes for drinks/bars etc? Worth a look at if you can be bothered - I'm more of a banana, fruit juice and water, flapjack, anything else I can lay my hands on kind of person....

mr_poll

This is a question that has always perplexed me - for the record I tend to use both non specific and energy bars depending on my bank balance at certain times of the month. I am quite partial to Kelloggs Elevenses bars, a little gooey when riding but taste great.

However look at their nutritional info compared to a Torq bar mentioned above:

ELEVENSES

Energy
- kJ 1568
- kcal 372
Protein (g) 5
Carbohydrates (g) 66
- sugars (g) 34
- starch (g) 32
Fat (g) 9
- saturates (g) 0.9
Fibre (g) 3.5
Sodium (g) 0.2
Vitamins
Vitamin A (µg) -
Vitamin D (µg) -
Vitamin E (mg) -
Vitamin C (mg) -
Thiamin B1 (mg) 0.8
Riboflavin B2 (mg) 0.9
Niacin (mg) 10.1
Vitamin B6 (mg) 1.1
Folic Acid (µg) 112
Vitamin B12 (µg) 0.56
Minerals
Iron (mg) 5.3
Zinc (mg) -
Calcium (mg) -
Magnesium (mg) -


TORQ - Tangy Apricot:
Nutritional Information (Per 100g): Energy 1346KJ / 322Kcal, Protein 3.8g, Carbohydrate 71.7g, (of which sugars) 33.6g, Fat 2.1g, (of which saturates) 0.7g, Fibre 5.9g, Sodium 49mg, Niacin 6.5mg (36%)***, Vitamin E 4.0mg(50%), Pantothenic Acid 2.3mg (38%), Vitamin B6 1.0mg (50%), Riboflavin 0.9mg (56%), Thiamine 0.7mg (50%), Vitamin A 400mg (50%), Folacin 100mg (50%), Biotin 75mg (50%), Vitamin D 1.5mg (30%), Vitamin B12 0.8mg (80%), Zinc 7.5mg (50%), Iron 7mg (50%).


Bar the 7g fat difference IMO there aint much difference - unless of course there are other factors to consider such as how quickly things realise their energy etc.

simon_e

mr_poll wrote:

I am quite partial to Kelloggs Elevenses bars, a little gooey when riding but taste great.

However look at their nutritional info compared to a Torq bar mentioned above:

[snip]

Bar the 7g fat difference IMO there aint much difference - unless of course there are other factors to consider such as how quickly things realise their energy etc.

The fat will slow digestion but that's not really an issue unless you're really hammering it.

However, you might want to consider what kind of ingredients you're consuming as well as the numbers. The more processed food is the less nutrition (and more padding) they will contain but the carb content etc may be the same. Despite that, looking at the product page Elevenses don't seem too awful:

http://www.kelloggs.co.uk/products/elev ... _bake.aspx

mr_poll

Thanks Simon - like i say not sure about adsorption of nutrients but the fat fact I wasnt aware of.

mr_poll

Thanks Simon - like i say not sure about adsorption of nutrients but the fat fact I wasnt aware of.

simon_e

Re. nutrients I was trying to say that the more an edible product gets processed the less there is available for your body to use.

When foods are boiled, pasteurised, cooked, fried or whatever - all these processes destroy enzymes, vitamins etc. Cold-pressed raw fruit bars (e.g. Nak'd) are ideal but are not terribly cheap.

Also stuff is added during processing to make things more attractive e.g. sugar, padding, preservatives, flavourings.... often these things are not beneficial to the body, artificial sweeteners being particularly bad IMO :evil:

bigpikle

what are the key ingredients in these things?

I'm thinking it cant be that hard to make something at home - bit more than a flapjack etc. Challenge for me is making something portable that doesnt turn to dust in your pocket or melt etc....

mr_poll

I make these as an addition to gels etc - I am sure there will be rolling of eyes especially with the beer part , dont melt or turn to dust. Sugar (unrefined re SImons comments) for an energy hit and fruit which is a slower but effective energy source and the wholemeal flour - admittedly its not oats or some sports-sciencey thing but for me they do the trick.

In fact I have one in the oven as we speak.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/alefruitloaf_83744

AlainR

Bigpikle wrote:

what are the key ingredients in these things?

I'm thinking it cant be that hard to make something at home - bit more than a flapjack etc. Challenge for me is making something portable that doesnt turn to dust in your pocket or melt etc....

I make my own flapjacks that I eat when I'm riding and they're as good (to me) as anything... They can get a bit hard in the cold and a little soft in the sun but I've successfully enjoyed them during everything from sub zero winter training rides to l'Etape du Tour in 36 degree heat!

I have to watch my potassium intake (I've only got one kidney) so can't eat so much dried fruit, nuts, bananas or the majority of off the shelf energy products but here's the ingrediets in my flapjacks:

Porridge Oats
Muesli (something like Dorset Cereals fruity stuff)
Honey
Golden Syrup (Helps stop them staying too gooey)
Peanut butter
Ground Nut oil (and a dash of olive oil)
Torq Natural Carb powder
Cinnamon (Optional)

They're nice and high in carbs, have a bit of protein and are pretty low in fat (and most of the fat in them is unsaturated anyway).

I'll dig out the quantities if you want but basically you pop the peanut butter and oil in a pan until it softens up, add the torq powder and mix it in and then add the muesli/oats and mix it until it forms a dough type mixture. Pop it in a baking tray, into the oven for 15 mins and it's good to go.

It costs me about £2-3 to make a batch of 20(ish) snack sized bars.

I use plain oats and a handful of muesli rather than just muesli for the reason I mentioned above (K+ intake) but you could just use muesli as it's mostly oats and good stuff anyway!

They keep for a good few weeks, so there's no hurry to eat them if you don't need to either

rls

springtide9 wrote:

IFor bars - I have yet to find an alternative food that can be squashed into the back of your jersey, heated to body temperature for a few hours and covered in rain or sweat - and still be edible!

I am sure you could make home made bars and make up your own drinks etc, but for me - life is too short.
.

+1

I also find buying the big tubs of maxim powder for mixing in your own bottles an extremely cost effective way of staying fuelled. I have significantly reduced my energy bar intake by using it. I once tried just using mars bars to fuel a ride, but started feeling sick after an hour or two, the high fat/sugar content just made them too hard to digest. I went straight back onto proper energy food.

bigpikle

AlainR wrote:

I make my own flapjacks that I eat when I'm riding and they're as good (to me) as anything... They can get a bit hard in the cold and a little soft in the sun but I've successfully enjoyed them during everything from sub zero winter training rides to l'Etape du Tour in 36 degree heat!

I have to watch my potassium intake (I've only got one kidney) so can't eat so much dried fruit, nuts, bananas or the majority of off the shelf energy products but here's the ingrediets in my flapjacks:

Porridge Oats
Muesli (something like Dorset Cereals fruity stuff)
Honey
Golden Syrup (Helps stop them staying too gooey)
Peanut butter
Ground Nut oil (and a dash of olive oil)
Torq Natural Carb powder
Cinnamon (Optional)

They're nice and high in carbs, have a bit of protein and are pretty low in fat (and most of the fat in them is unsaturated anyway).

I'll dig out the quantities if you want but basically you pop the peanut butter and oil in a pan until it softens up, add the torq powder and mix it in and then add the muesli/oats and mix it until it forms a dough type mixture. Pop it in a baking tray, into the oven for 15 mins and it's good to go.

It costs me about £2-3 to make a batch of 20(ish) snack sized bars.

I use plain oats and a handful of muesli rather than just muesli for the reason I mentioned above (K+ intake) but you could just use muesli as it's mostly oats and good stuff anyway!

They keep for a good few weeks, so there's no hurry to eat them if you don't need to either

I really like the look of these and would appreciate quantities if you dont mind? PM if easier?

I made up some energy drink mix today using simple ingredients from MyProtein, and in 5 mins I saved £15 per kg tub over the prices of off-the-shelf stuff, and it takes better without the sickly sweet artificial taste of the branded stuff. I can tweak the mix in seconds as well, so a great result.

I'd dearly love to find some good recipes for energy food as well, if only for variety!

AlainR

Bigpikle wrote:

I really like the look of these and would appreciate quantities if you dont mind? PM if easier?

I made up some energy drink mix today using simple ingredients from MyProtein, and in 5 mins I saved £15 per kg tub over the prices of off-the-shelf stuff, and it takes better without the sickly sweet artificial taste of the branded stuff. I can tweak the mix in seconds as well, so a great result.

I'd dearly love to find some good recipes for energy food as well, if only for variety!

I also make up my own recovery drink using MyProtein ingredients too, based on their RecoveryXS drink.

Essentially I use the Waxy Maize Starch for carbs and Whey Blend or Isolate, with the addition of some L-Glutamine and a couple of other amino acids. I then simply flavour it with some drinking choc (or just straight cocoa) - you could add some sugar / sucrose if you want it a bit sweeter too.

It's far cheaper than buying the ready made product and means you can add / remove whatever you want (creatine, L-Carnitine, caffeine etc)

psiturbo

Regardless on what you spend your money on...

This is my 3-5 hour to/go munchies:

- Endurolytes pills (if it is very hot day would start taking them around 1.5 hour of been cycling. I highly recommend these pills, take them before cramps kick in, or bunking. If you start feeling the effects it may be too late. Thats why I take them at around 1.5 hours, starting with 2 pills. If it is very sunny and humid then 2 more pills every 45 minutes to an hour mixed with plenty of fluids. It helps a lot to end the ride much fresher and energized instead of burned out and beat up by de-hydration.

- 1 Carnitine pill an hour before the ride, and maybe half a banana or 3 to 4 prunes, with one tall glass of water. (An hour before the ride)

- One bottle with Accelerade sports drink, (Polar water bottle)

- One bottle of regular water. (In a Polar water bottle, stays cold for hours)

* As the bottle get empty I follow the same trend 1/1 Sports drink/plain water

- 2 small bags of Gummy fruit snacks (the ones with low sugar)

- 1 Zip lock bag with trail mix, I used to buy it mixed, now I just go buy the big boxes of unsalted almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, unsalted peanuts, raisins, etc.

It may sound strange, but I grab like 8 to 10 prunes (4 of them have the same nutrients as a medium banana. I prefer prunes as I can get the nutrients little by little while I ride and does not melt like the banana if kept on the jersey.

>> For an hour to an hour and a half bike ride I just take one Polar water bottle and one Polar water bottle with Accelerade (half a scoop).

At the end of every ride will take Omega-3, Garlic, Bee Pollen (Royal Jelly), Ginseng; a pill of each with a protein shake (Whey protein, ONLY one scoop that contains 25 grams of protein). I do not take the recommended 52 grams as that is more for power/ bodybuilders. And studies anyway show the body will absorb no more than 20 or so grams of protein after a good workout of an hour or more.

At the end of the day before going to sleep one teaspoon of fiber with 10 ounce of water.

bigpikle

so I've now made a batch of AlainR's flapjack recipe and its great - thanks

Texture is good so it will carry in a pocket nicely and they taste really good too. I used pure maltodrextin powder in place of the Torq, but its the same thing from looking at the ingredients.

Now I've successfully made THE best tasting energy drink using Jibberjims recipe and some really good solid food, all at a fraction of the cost of branded versions, and I know exactly what is in them as well

Bon_Jovi

Sounds like most people like the convenience of "nutrition bars", and I would agree. I dont really eat them much, but do take a couple just in case I need them.
That said, many of those bars keep their costs down by using cheap soy protein, rather than milk or egg derived protein (take a look at Kashi bars, Pria, etc). Too much soy in your diet has been scientifically linked with an increase of estrogen. A good friend of mine who was eating at least 3 - 4 bars a day actually did have elevated levels of estrogen found during a complete medical, and the doctors pinpointed it to the amount of soy he was ingesting. Luckily, because he was also lifting a lot of weights, he did have somewhat elevated levels of testosterone that compensated to a degree. The danger here is not just developing man boobs but that elevated estrogen can make you feel like you have low energy. There have been a few publications warning against excess soy, ranging from Men's Health to American Scientist. This is a long way to say: carefully read the ingredient list; not just the nutritional value.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... -genistein

http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_51/b3712218.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/37122 ... -much-soy/

Richa1181

I say use whatever works for you. I went through a phase where I tried one of every bar/gel/drink and I can honestly say I didn't notice much in the way of a performance increase. Unless you're out smashing it then it's just something to eat and Soreen works just as well for filling your stomach.

I always make sure I have a decent breakfast and can get away on most rides with a peanut butter sandwich but I do find the odd gel helps if you're tanking it.. If you do the maths and work out how much protein/carbs you need to take in for any given amount of exercise I don't think it matters whether or not it comes from a sandwich or a £2 energy bar.

Personally I think I spent enough on my bike, for me to then spend £10 on "sweets" every time I want to ride it I may as well have bought a car!