Isotonic drinks..any good?

elderone

I use isotonic/water mix drinks for my rides and just wondering if they are actually any good for hydration.To be fair all through winter its been fine but with hopefully warmer weather coming then hydration is going to be more of an issue.
So are they ok or what do I need for the warmer weather.

Cleat Eastwood

i think its a suck it and see situation - some can be sweet, some can be nice - i like the zero xtreme tablets - find them much better than water - I even use them to make me tea.

Grill

The tabs don't have any real value if you feed and hydrate properly. For longer rides it's a good idea to use a 2:1 drink to replenish your glycogen, but it's different for everyone.

pinkteapot

I'm developing a serious addiction to Lucozade Sport in the summer fruits flavour. I find it far better than water in terms of keeping my energy going for longer - probably saved me a few snack stops so far.

The husband drinks it in the orange flavour when he plays badminton, but that one is too sweet for my taste.

We find them good for sports but with the amount you drink on bike rides it's going to come down to whether you like the flavour. If not, I guess water and the occasional gel is better?

smoggysteve

On a hot day, doing a long ride they are good for replenishing lost salts and nutrients from sweat. They are not really an energy boost, best snacking on a gel or a bar for that. At the moment its still relatively cool so water is just as good as you are not really losing much through sweat. To make a drink high energy, you are going to make it more of a diuretic so you would need more water to counter it with isnt ideal on a long bike ride.

philwint

A good extract from a Panorama here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4e85ZnVjmU

Broadly the science seems to indicate that carbs (sugar) in your drink does add a performance benefit. But only if you are exercising for a long time (more than 1 hour).

So yes, as most cycles are way over an hour in duration they are probably worthwhile.

Otherwise, like pinkteapot's husband playing badminton, or kids playing football, all they do is add calories to your diet. Much like eating sweets, in fact i bottle of lucozade sport contains 8 tea spoons of sugar.

nawty

philwint wrote:

A good extract from a Panorama here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4e85ZnVjmU

Broadly the science seems to indicate that carbs (sugar) in your drink does add a performance benefit. But only if you are exercising for a long time (more than 1 hour).

So yes, as most cycles are way over an hour in duration they are probably worthwhile.

Otherwise, like pinkteapot's husband playing badminton, or kids playing football, all they do is add calories to your diet. Much like eating sweets, in fact i bottle of lucozade sport contains 8 tea spoons of sugar.

I don't think anyone will argue that drinking sugar doesn't help with energy...

Isotonic, i.e. replacing electrolytes seems a sensible thing to do to me as I'm a sweaty git (after serious exercise my bathwater is like the Dead Sea!) and prone to the odd bottle of wine the night before a long ride so am rarely properly hydrated at the start.

Also, lack of electrolytes can cause cramp, as I've found on a few marathons and I'll do anything (except abstain the night before) to try and avoid that!

Mikey23

Apple squash works fine for me. In my very humble opinion, isotonic drinks are a complete waste and a cynical marketing ploy to create a demand where none existed before and to encourage us to part with our hard earned readys. If you like them them use them but I doubt if they are actually doing any good

nawty

Mikey23 wrote:

Apple squash works fine for me. In my very humble opinion, isotonic drinks are a complete waste and a cynical marketing ploy to create a demand where none existed before and to encourage us to part with our hard earned readys. If you like them them use them but I doubt if they are actually doing any good

Isotonic drinks and rehydration are not a marketing ploy but as with anything there are brands out there that will charge you hundreds of times more than needbe by exploiting peoples doubts through exaggerated claims.

Some squash (and not that no added sugar rubbish) or juice+water and a small pinch of salt is all you really need. Fact is, people will buy the branded versions as the relative cost is minimal and it buys peace of mind, it happens in every walk of life - that's consumerism for you...

edit: and by way of example from a different point of view: I was at the mother in law's last week and they had Tropicana 50%, i.e. Tropicana juice with half the calories. How do they achieve this reduction in calories? they mix juice with water! So they're selling you half the amount of juice, charging the same for it and making you feel good about yourself. Anyone with half a brain would just mix their own but people buy this stuff in droves. Pure genius on Tropicana's behalf.

Mikey23

Excellent ... And to take that further, nil calories would be plain water!

chrisaonabike

Last couple of longish rides I've just diluted some apple juice - about 3:1 water:AJ.

Is there any actual evidence that the amount of salt loss over even a long sportive, for instance, makes any actual difference to anything?

simon_masterson

nawty wrote:

Mikey23 wrote:

Apple squash works fine for me. In my very humble opinion, isotonic drinks are a complete waste and a cynical marketing ploy to create a demand where none existed before and to encourage us to part with our hard earned readys. If you like them them use them but I doubt if they are actually doing any good

Isotonic drinks and rehydration are not a marketing ploy but as with anything there are brands out there that will charge you hundreds of times more than needbe by exploiting peoples doubts through exaggerated claims.

Some squash (and not that no added sugar rubbish) or juice+water and a small pinch of salt is all you really need. Fact is, people will buy the branded versions as the relative cost is minimal and it buys peace of mind, it happens in every walk of life - that's consumerism for you...

edit: and by way of example from a different point of view: I was at the mother in law's last week and they had Tropicana 50%, i.e. Tropicana juice with half the calories. How do they achieve this reduction in calories? they mix juice with water! So they're selling you half the amount of juice, charging the same for it and making you feel good about yourself. Anyone with half a brain would just mix their own but people buy this stuff in droves. Pure genius on Tropicana's behalf.

Pretty much this.

That Panorama documentary was mediocre and poorly targeted, but the point that supermarket shelf energy drinks are a con is valid; if only because of 'Extract of snakeoilflower will improve your endurance by 2.87%', and the rest of it. Apart from that they're just expensive, and overpriced; if you want to pay for prepared energy products then knock yourself out, but you can do better than Lucozade from Tesco for the same money.

In my view it is best to put aside the inflammatory terminology ('Sports drink', 'Isotonic', etc), and focus on what we are dealing with: Carbs. Using a carbohydrate drink is just one way to ingest them; however much gullible mothers these days may feed their kids on them because they're playing sports and therefore should have the matching drink, that hopefully is not the level of understanding of the people reading this!

With that in mind, personally I [currently] use bulk maltodextrin and dextrose from MyProtein, myself; mixed with water. Incredibly cheap, and I can use it in my recovery drinks as well. If I don't need it, I don't take it.

prhymeate

I always find that the 2:1 drinks give me a lot of sticky phlem. That's when mixed in 750ml bottles rather than the recommended 500ml. Does anyone else find this?
I haven't had any trouble with the tabs that I've tried...can't remember which as they were freebies from wiggly but might have been high5 grapefruit.

MichaelW

The red cross and the world health organisation both publish simple formulae for Oral Rehydration Therapy isotonic. It is something like a litre of water, 3 tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of salt.

DavidJB

I prefer to keep hydration and energy separate...water in my bottles and food in my pocket.

pinkteapot

But if people don't mind paying the price, what's the problem? Lots of things in life have cheaper alternatives. So long as people know that and know what they're getting...

Re energy, bottle of Sport is 147 cals so I don't see a difference between that and water with a 147 cal snack.

In defence of the husband, he still burns more cals than he drinks doing an hour of badminton and he plays at a fairly decent level so sweats a LOT more than I do on my bike rides, so is probably more justified in needing the electrolytes.

Hawmaw

I use this and it appears to work ...


http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ink-25744/

slowbike

DavidJB wrote:

I prefer to keep hydration and energy separate...water in my bottles and food in my pocket.

Yup - most of the time I'd agree with you - although usually on a longer ride I'll take some squash instead of water - it's zero calories - but just tastes nicer.
However, on a long ride where you're pushing yourself then it can get to the point where you just can't stomach eating - then some energy drink or easy swallow food (like Jelly beans) will help. Make this the exception though and it'll give you a boost when you do it (how much is real effect and how much is in the mind I have no idea - but if it works then it works! )

drlodge

Prhymeate wrote:

I always find that the 2:1 drinks give me a lot of sticky phlem. That's when mixed in 750ml bottles rather than the recommended 500ml. Does anyone else find this?

Yes a bit, not a big problem for me, just spit it out on the road.

I use High5 isotonic, 2 scoops in 750ml bottle and find it works a treat. Good balance of hydration and energy. On long rides supplemented with jelly babies and flapjack.

Blonde Cyclist

I think that the issue of energy should be kept separate here, ultimately if you're doing a longer ride (1hr+) you will probably need to fuel yourself somehow but trial and error will tell you whether liquid, gel or solid is best for you.

However, salts are really important for hydration - even in the cold you can sweat a lot and won't always realise as it evaporates off you. Some people can replace this entirely with water but there is a limit to the rate at which your body can absorb water, including electrolytes helps improve this rate and will rehydrate you more quickly during and after a ride.

Proper hydration is important to a proper recovery (not just preventing cramps) and therefore key if you want to keep training day after day. I know from experience as I didn't get it right for me during the Marmotte and previous training and ended up with chronic DOMS, admittedly this was a slightly extreme training load but brought it home to me. I guess whether you want to use a premium product or make your own comes down to a question of personal taste.

supermurph09

There is an article in this months Cyclist magazine. Might give people some more info.

sgtzara

I buy Tesco's own version of Lucozade Sport. Tastes the same as the real thing IMO but only £1.98 for 4 x 500ml bottles.

Generally on a long ride I'll take 1 litre of Tesco 'Lucozade Sport' and 1 litre of genuine Lucozade Energy.

elderone

Thanks for replies,seems as I suspected that the salt bit is the important one.Think its important to get right as it warms up and rides get longer.

MichaelW

Energy drinks and isotonics are different things.

smoggysteve

Problem is a lot is so called isotonic drinks are full of sugar. A Lucozade sport has around half is calories from sugar and that is one of the better ones on the market. Some are so full of sugar you may as well drink a can on cola.

Not to say Lucozade sport is bad, as its only 28kcal (ish) a bottle. Some can be 4 or 5 times that. Best to make sure you know what you are using before you stick it in your water bottle.

nolight

No good if you are not a sportsman and trying to lose weight.

DavidJB

Slowbike wrote:

DavidJB wrote:

I prefer to keep hydration and energy separate...water in my bottles and food in my pocket.

Yup - most of the time I'd agree with you - although usually on a longer ride I'll take some squash instead of water - it's zero calories - but just tastes nicer.
However, on a long ride where you're pushing yourself then it can get to the point where you just can't stomach eating - then some energy drink or easy swallow food (like Jelly beans) will help. Make this the exception though and it'll give you a boost when you do it (how much is real effect and how much is in the mind I have no idea - but if it works then it works! )

Hey,

I get where you're coming from but I never train in such a way where I can't eat real food which would mean I'd just be going all out for the entire ride. There's always a time to get food in but I never really train for more than 4 hours / 75 miles!

I don't really both eating for a 3 hour training session unless it's a super tough one and even then it's probs just a banana.

Even in races I just have water in my bottles and gels in my pocket.

slowbike

DavidJB wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

DavidJB wrote:

I prefer to keep hydration and energy separate...water in my bottles and food in my pocket.

Yup - most of the time I'd agree with you - although usually on a longer ride I'll take some squash instead of water - it's zero calories - but just tastes nicer.
However, on a long ride where you're pushing yourself then it can get to the point where you just can't stomach eating - then some energy drink or easy swallow food (like Jelly beans) will help. Make this the exception though and it'll give you a boost when you do it (how much is real effect and how much is in the mind I have no idea - but if it works then it works! )

Hey,

I get where you're coming from but I never train in such a way where I can't eat real food which would mean I'd just be going all out for the entire ride. There's always a time to get food in but I never really train for more than 4 hours / 75 miles!

I don't really both eating for a 3 hour training session unless it's a super tough one and even then it's probs just a banana.

Even in races I just have water in my bottles and gels in my pocket.

As a newbie riding a first sportive of 86 miles (tailing my brother at an elevated pace) I could hardly stomach any food - most I could do was pop some dextrose tablets - flapjacks just left my mouth dry - so best way to get fuel in was energy drink or the dextrose tabs.
I've a load more miles under the wheels now - most of which have just been done with water/zero cal squash in the bottles - but also done below the effort level of that first sportive.

marcusww

I take one Zero tab in a 750ml and 1 x 500ml water. I am assuming that the salt in the tab helps with the cramp?

Does the lack / heavy utilzation of salt / sodium in the body cause cramp?

Another tip I was given was that skimmed milk was the best recovery drink you can get - high % of sodium?

On the subject of energy food and undertaking my first sportive I found that the media / advice keep pushing gels etc. and gullable as I am I take them! I took one the other day with caffine in - I could really feel the caffine but whether it actually gave me much energy is debatable.

I find that on longer rides on my own I never use gels but just take a few slices of buttered soreen. (Buttered Soreen is not the easiest of foods to store in your pockets let alone eat on the hoof!)

Flexisurfer

Marcusww wrote:

I take one Zero tab in a 750ml and 1 x 500ml water. I am assuming that the salt in the tab helps with the cramp?

Does the lack / heavy utilzation of salt / sodium in the body cause cramp?

Another tip I was given was that skimmed milk was the best recovery drink you can get - high % of sodium?

On the subject of energy food and undertaking my first sportive I found that the media / advice keep pushing gels etc. and gullable as I am I take them! I took one the other day with caffine in - I could really feel the caffine but whether it actually gave me much energy is debatable.

I find that on longer rides on my own I never use gels but just take a few slices of buttered soreen. (Buttered Soreen is not the easiest of foods to store in your pockets let alone eat on the hoof!)

A lack of salt will give you cramps, I discovered this on a recent sportive, I ate enough as had enough in me for a quick final 8 miles but I started to cramp up, I just didn't drink anywhere near enough and will probably look at either drinking more of 1/2 and 1/2 water, fruit juice and a pinch of salt or getting some of those zero tabs.