Energy tablets,drinks,bars and gels ect ect

Dannyboy95

Im after someway of giving my self a boost for my daily commute to work and just wondering what's the best way to get it. Some supplements are more expensive than others and some offer more of a boost than others what should I take and how often? What do you guys recommend?

cooldad

Breakfast.

Dannyboy95

your just an arse you are lol

bennett_346

I fail to see what benefit these products give.

querhoch

if its just for a commute then have a decent breakfast. brown bread with honey or peanut butter and a coffee, or muesli. energy bars are slow release and contain far too much protien and carbs for your needs in any case. unless your ride is a 30 mile lung buster you dont need anything more than a decent feed before you leave the house.

bluechair84

There was a documentary on TV recently about energy supplements. They concluded that proper energy things were only useful after a couple of hours of hard exercise, so your commute would have to be hard work for at least an hour and a half. 'Energy' drinks like monster are mainly stimulants and actually have very little energy in them and there were no conditions when they would recommend taking them, and they even found that protein supplements were mostly marketing tosh. As Cooldad says, just eat a proper breakfast - never rely on energy supplements, they're mostly marketing.

cooldad

Dannyboy95 wrote:

your just an ars* you are lol

It would appear I'm not the only one. Does that tell you something?

eternalstudent

Double expresso does the job just fine. Just make sure its not a long coffee and a long commute as you can find you loose time having to stop to spend a penny or two :-O

If you seriously suffer from low blood sugar in the morning, then bran flakes and a sliced banana does wonders.

rgliniany

cooldad wrote:

Breakfast.

^ +1

all you need is some grub in your system..... i dont ride first thing due to work commitments....(read that as i have to be in before sparrows fart)... so i ride after work, and all i do is have a crumpet or something else treaty about 45 mins before i head out so i dont feel like i will see it again when hauling ass up a hill.

over here you can get a thing called "honey shotz" pretty much a squeezy sachet of..... yep you guessed it.... honey... natures energy gel..... to use on the longer rides as a bonk breaker....

cloudynights

proper diet is all you need, why stick a load of rubbish down your neck

omegas

depending on how far you commute and how hard you ride.

A banana before I leave does me for a 50 min commute but by body is telling me to eat something as soon as I get to work , if I don't have anything before I leave my body is telling me I need something 1/2 hour into my ride.

If I eat a breakfast before i set off I would be sick , you have to find what works for you, know one can tell you what you should have but you don't need expensive marketed supplements .

Northwind

Breakfast! Maybe with something a little faster acting than you might normally have in breakfast, if you're doing a decent ride straight off.

WindyG

I've tried a few energy bars and gels, didn't notice a single difference over not having them and some of them taste like crap too. Decent breakfast and a banana while out seems to work fine for me.

bennett_346

As above, i had one labelled cherry once and proceded to projectile vomit. Or at least wanted to.

Maybe a cherry that had been rubbed on someone arse.

Northwind

I quite like cherry, so, if you like I'll take your arse cherry from you bennett_346. Though I suspect I'm too late?

bennett_346

You're a funny guy.

Northwind

I am. But sorry if that wasn't taken in the spirit it was meant! Couldn't resist the line.

bennett_346

It's easy for humour to pass by unnoticed on the internet so i'll let you off

Still need to up yer game a bit though.

cooldad

cyd190468 wrote:

If you commute in the morning breakfast is a waste if time. You need to have a carbo heavy meal the night before so your muscles can load a full load of glycogen while you sleep. Breakfast will however help you get home in the evening.Whatever you put in your mouth takes many hours to reach your muscles unless it is in the form of simple sugars. While riding, if you are riding for more than an hour you need a sugar supplement (fill a water bottle add 2-3 teaspoons of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Then add some cordial or lemon juice so it doesn't taste too bad) sip as you ride.
Coffee before you leave and protien (Late) when you get to work.

My favourite word is now censored, so balderdash.


ps roadies love Lattes, which I assume is what you meant.

97th choice

Only time I have noticed any benefit of these things was when I usede isotonic drink for an all day session round kirroughtree, it kept the cramps away quite nicely where before I'd start to struggle towards the end of the day.

Next time I tried a home made version, it worked equally well.

bluechair84

Isotonic aren't energy suppliments though are they? Aren't they just minerals? They should work if you are requiring a lot of fluids. I got horrendous cramp on a 22 mile epic in Borrowness last weekend, I needed some minerals in my water for sure! I ususaly drop a pinch of salt and tablespoon of honey per liter of water in my sack. I like to think it works... but who knows. COuld just be a placeabo.

cooldad

cyd190468 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

My favourite word is now censored, so balderdash.

So every nutritionist working for every pro tour team is entirely wrong when it comes to efficient carbo loading. BTW I am a biology teacher so I'm fairly familiar with the workings of the human metabolism. You may want to pay for gatorade but I prefer to just read the ingredients on the side and make my own. It is just isotonic saline with sugar and flavours added afterall.

There is a slight difference between a pro rider planning their training, and someone riding to work. You don't plan your commute around carbo loading.
Seriously.
And I've never even seen Gatorade, let alone paid for it.

sniper68

2x Sausages
2x bacon
2x eggs
Mushrooms
Beans
Fried bread and/or toast
Coffee
And Roberts' your Fathers' Brother

cooldad

That's more like it. Screw carbo loading the night before.

Northwind

"Carbo loading the night before for a commute" is also known as "Having your tea".

The solution to this thread appears to be to just get on with eating food and riding bikes.

mcnultycop

Northwind wrote:

"Carbo loading the night before for a commute" is also known as "Having your tea".

The solution to this thread appears to be to just get on with eating food and riding bikes.

This.

njee20

So every nutritionist working for every pro tour team is entirely wrong when it comes to efficient carbo loading.

Yes, because its a well known fact that every pro tour rider skips breakfast, because its purely to help that evening and rides 100% on what they ate last night. :roll:

Your ongoing condescension and insinuation that you know everything when you come across as misinformed and stupid is getting very tedious.

To the op, there really isn't any more to it, don't skip dinner and eat breakfast. Energy drinks won't really make any difference. I've rarely even take a bottle on my shorter commute (22 miles each way) these days, use one in summer, but not in winter. Bowl of muesli before I leave and is fine.

njee20

Let me help you then: Con-de-scend-ing.

Did you read your link?

That’s because they need the calories but competing after a big meal is not conducive to good performance, said Grant

Because riders are normally hungry again right before the race start, they eat snacks like bars, cakes, and sandwiches that have been prepared in packs half an hour before the race start.

How pointless, they're fuelled on their pasta from 18 hours ago surely?

You're right that you can't wolf down pasta and expect the energy to be there that very second, but in this instance both dinner and breakfast are significant.

cooldad

“Do not argue with an idiot they drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.” ― Mark Twain

njee20

Well yes, but I couldn't really let it slide that an article that does nothing to reinforce the point was being used!

querhoch

Im going to email the tour de france and tell them to stop wasting time with feeding stations along the route. a big bowl of spaghetti the night before is all those guys need.or maybe they could race til lunchtime, have a break for a meal then start again a couple of hours later? Those crazy professionals have been doing it wrong for decades now. Im sure they'll be grateful now that we've fixed it for them.