Energy Tablets

thegodplato

Can anyone tell me if these tablets work - both the energy ones and the powder recovery ones. What are the electrolyte ones and the carbohydrate ones for? Is the electro for lost salt? The Carbo for food?
What sort of miles means I would benefit from using these?

t.m.h.n.e.t

thegodplato wrote:

Can anyone tell me if these tablets work - both the energy ones and the powder recovery ones.

Yes they do although chocolate milk for recovery purposes is just as good and cheaper than branded recovery products. Polyphenols found in chocolate(especially dark) help prevent inflammation,

What are the electrolyte ones and the carbohydrate ones for? Is the electro for lost salt? The Carbo for food?

Electrolyte drinks replace calcium sodium magnesium and potassium. Energy drinks do as packaged,yet are not a replacement for food (unless you absolutely cannot stomach eating mid ride)

What sort of miles means I would benefit from using these?

I wouldn't say miles,rather time spent. Most humans with decent diet are fine for 90-120mins worth of riding.

ps:should you feel the need to purchase energy products. Maltodextrin/dextrose from myprotein.com is extremely cheap.

springtide9

thegodplato wrote:

Can anyone tell me if these tablets work - both the energy ones and the powder recovery ones. What are the electrolyte ones and the carbohydrate ones for? Is the electro for lost salt? The Carbo for food?
What sort of miles means I would benefit from using these?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte#Rehydration (salt)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate#Nutrition (energy)

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ing-30327/

thegodplato

would this be worth a punt rather than say the High 5 tablets? - http://www.sportsdirect.com/lonsdale-is ... 1kg-763013

t.m.h.n.e.t

thegodplato wrote:

would this be worth a punt rather than say the High 5 tablets? - http://www.sportsdirect.com/lonsdale-is ... 1kg-763013

Can't find any actual label info on the Lonsdale stuff. Don't forget there are two types of High5 tabs.

thegodplato

These were the High 5 Tablets I was thinking about getting before I saw the Lonsdale offer.
http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... ts%20Drink

t.m.h.n.e.t

thegodplato wrote:

These were the High 5 Tablets I was thinking about getting before I saw the Lonsdale offer.
http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... ts%20Drink

Those are just electrolyte tabs,they do work.

g00se

T.M.H.N.E.T wrote:

thegodplato wrote:

These were the High 5 Tablets I was thinking about getting before I saw the Lonsdale offer.
http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... ts%20Drink

Those are just electrolyte tabs,they do work.

I use the Zero tablets. They work great in replacing the salts you loose from sweating. Taste OK too - whereas the carb/salt drinks are often sickly sweet.

lochindaal

The High 5 tablets are not an carb energy drink replacement. They are for salt/electrolyte replacement on a long ride in hot conditions when you will be losing a lot of these nutrients.

Similarly they will do the same thing if you are out on a high exertion ride when you will be sweating a lot over a shorter period.

They won't get you through a 100 mile Sportive.

alwaystoohot

Based in Singapore for my weekly 100km ride at average 30kms/hour at a humid 28-30 degrees C:

Drink 700ml water + carb powder 30 mins before setting off,
2 x 700ml bottles, 1x 50% electro drink/water combo, 1 x fresh orange juice 50/50 combo,
1 x gel after 1 hour, 1 x gel after 2 hours.

After getting home I'll drink another 2-3 litres within 3 hours.

I sweat like a bucket and I assure none of the above is unnecesary or not needed!

You cannot ride long and hard in hot conditions without fuelling your body.

thegodplato

lochindaal wrote:

.

They won't get you through a 100 mile Sportive.

so what should I be buying then as I intend to be doing 60m to 100m sportives in the coming months.

g00se

thegodplato wrote:

lochindaal wrote:

.

They won't get you through a 100 mile Sportive.

so what should I be buying then as I intend to be doing 60m to 100m sportives in the coming months.

You could use High 5 Zero tabs in water and consume 60g of carbs as food/gels.

Or use an isotonic/carb drink, calculate how much carbs you'll end up drinking in an hour and make up a shortfall of 60g an hour in gels and food.

jthef

It is all personal to you.
I sweat a lot so on short rides commutes I use high5 Zero to I don't get cramp etc at night.
For the longer ride I use SIS go plus gels and bars depending on how hard I am riding and coffe stopes etc.
On long rides I sometime struddle near the end feeling a bit skick when drinking energy stuff but you have to make sure you fule/replenish liquid from the start (infact you start drinking before you start).
But this is personal. on a long ride I need to drink a bottle an hour but some frnds will only drink 25% of that and be ok.

timrichardson

On sportives I have one bottle with high 5 tabs in and one with zipvit energy drink, seems to work well. And carry energy gels and bars too.

thegodplato

Surely those that don't drink will tire quicker? Thought it was all about keeping the body hydrated. Currently as I'm still trying to get upto fitness I'm going through a bottle of High5 on a 30m ride. Still finding it hard to drink and pedal as I get out of breath when drinking so would have thought it would be similar to that if I eat as well. Maybe I should stop for a minute to eat?
How quick do these energy bars, etc work? Or last?

t.m.h.n.e.t

thegodplato wrote:

Surely those that don't drink will tire quicker? Thought it was all about keeping the body hydrated. Currently as I'm still trying to get upto fitness I'm going through a bottle of High5 on a 30m ride. Still finding it hard to drink and pedal as I get out of breath when drinking so would have thought it would be similar to that if I eat as well. Maybe I should stop for a minute to eat?
How quick do these energy bars, etc work? Or last?

Fairly quickly - 2-3 per hour probably in hard efforts.

g00se

T.M.H.N.E.T wrote:

thegodplato wrote:

Surely those that don't drink will tire quicker? Thought it was all about keeping the body hydrated. Currently as I'm still trying to get upto fitness I'm going through a bottle of High5 on a 30m ride. Still finding it hard to drink and pedal as I get out of breath when drinking so would have thought it would be similar to that if I eat as well. Maybe I should stop for a minute to eat?
How quick do these energy bars, etc work? Or last?

Fairly quickly - 2-3 per hour probably in hard efforts.

The ZipVit ZV7 gels are double strength so 1 gel every 45-60 minutes work for me. They are thicker than a lot of other gels though.

thegodplato

So is a good combination a bottle of High 5 tabs for salt, and a second bottle of whey/dextrose for energy?

thegodplato

I've just sent MyProtein an email to see what they recommend. Too much choice and the high probability that I would get something I didn't need!

Monty Dog

Keep the whey protein mainly for before and after rides and stick to energy / isotonic drinks for during your ride. How much you need depends on both duration of ride, ambient conditions, how hard you're working and how much you weigh and everyone is different.

t.m.h.n.e.t

thegodplato wrote:

So is a good combination a bottle of High 5 tabs for salt, and a second bottle of whey/dextrose for energy?

High5 tabs/ second bottle of dextrose (don't bother with whey,it really doesn't do anything mid ride)

Or: http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/tri_carb which is an all in one product.