Sports products vs sweets

blatchcorn

Tried out some nutritional products today that I receive for free, during a 60 ride I had some ride shots for energy ad afterwards I had a sis protein bar for recovery.

Although it is nice to use sports products for psychological boost, I felt like the ride shots were identical to haribo and the protein bar identical to a mars bar. Are these special sports products worth paying for?

elmsallmissile

No

amaferanga

No. But if you look at the ingredients you'll see that the protein bar is nothing like a mars bar.

dave35

Take a banana out with you...tastes good and comes in it's own bio-degradable wrapper

Daddy2Coull

all this talk of bananas, but i can't eat them, they give me awful cramp

dave35

Really? they helped with mine..those and potasium phosphate tablets.

Cleat Eastwood

Daddy2Coull wrote:

all this talk of bananas, but i can't eat them, they give me awful cramp

You do know you're meant to peel them and not eat them sideways.

Monty Dog

Read up on nutrition, including simple and complex carbohydrates. Whilst you get a sugar boost from sweets for each glycemic kick there can also be a dip whick plays havoc with your metabolism when working hard which can make you feel worse. Try 'slow burn' fuels rather than pure sugars for endurance.

nferrar

Generally sports energy products are designed to provide a mix of fast and slower release energy (carbs). Whilst they're far from essential I think they still have their value, they're usually more calorie dense for a start so on a long ride it's less to carry. More modern stuff goes beyond just a carb mix to and adds proteins etc. in which has other value.

cyco2

If you have been eating healthily during the week you shouldn't need anything special for a 60mile ride. It helps to know how long different foods take to digest when you're on the move because your digestive system tends to slow down during exercise because the blood is being used for the muscles. So, its good to have something that gets in to the blood stream pretty quickly. If you look at what is on offer nothing is nearly as good as glucose and water for price. I favour Mars Bars at recently 5 for a £1 to bulk up. I have tried a couple of boiled sweets which worked but I would prefer Glucose Barley Sugar sweets next time. I have to buy on line though.Sweets have been used in the TDF. So, I know these things work well because all I every did was race. Its all I needed for a 4hr 100mile TT. Naturally if your touring a ride then a couple of current buns is nice. I always have Muesli with extra dried fruit for a cross section of carbs before a long ride.