Energy Powder recommendations

yost72

I believe that an energy powder which gets mixed with water is better than something like Lucozade Sport. Any recommendations as to which is the best as there are loads to choose from?

meanredspider

I use hydration tabs (Zero is my favourite) to keep the minerals but the calories I get from food

paul2718

When I want something more than water then I add maltodextrin powder. (From £3.79/kg at myprotein.com...)

I think something more than water works for shorter, intense rides, where proper food is a bit of a hassle. I save gels for special occasions, and they're usually out of date... But those work too, much more expensive of course.

Paul

hypster

Eat solid food if you want a guts ache or want to stop for a dump on a long ride. Otherwise get maltodextrin from MyProtein at only £3.79 for 1 kg (cheaper if you buy 2.5kg or even 5 kg a time as I do). Maltodextrin has virtually no flavour and is 94% carbohydrate. It's the main constituent of most commercial energy drinks such as High 5 or SIS Go etc.

Estimate how much fluid you drink per hour and add it to your drinks bottle at 60g for that amount of fluid. e.g. if you drink 500ml per hour and you have a 750ml bottle then add 90g. Add flavouring to taste, I use orange squash but Zero tabs are good too.

hypster

madasahattersley wrote:

I'm often on my bike 25 hours a week and not once have I ever had gut ache or needed a dump on a ride, nor have my 7 teammates who eat the same as me, nor I'm sure do any of the 1000+ WorldTour/ProConti riders who don't put powder in their bottles.

Try telling that to the likes of Claudio Chiappucci and Paula Radcliffe.

What do you think the tons of gels that pro riders pound down consist of then? If they didn't have team cars to dole this stuff out their pockets would be bulging after every feed station.

Each to their own though.

imposter2.0

hypster wrote:

madasahattersley wrote:

I'm often on my bike 25 hours a week and not once have I ever had gut ache or needed a dump on a ride, nor have my 7 teammates who eat the same as me, nor I'm sure do any of the 1000+ WorldTour/ProConti riders who don't put powder in their bottles.

Try telling that to the likes of Claudio Chiappucci and Paula Radcliffe.

What do you think the tons of gels that pro riders pound down consist of then? If they didn't have team cars to dole this stuff out their pockets would be bulging after every feed station.

Each to their own though.

Like Luke says - most musettes contain real food. There might be a gel or energy bar in the bag as well, just to keep the sponsors happy...

nunowoolmez

Cocaine? Speed? Maybe not.

hypster

Imposter wrote:

Like Luke says - most musettes contain real food. There might be a gel or energy bar in the bag as well, just to keep the sponsors happy...

I'm not disputing that fact but on the 86 mile ride I did on Saturday I didn't have the luxury of a soigneur waiting for me with a musette. Ordinary mortals have to do something different and liquid energy replacement does it for me and a lot of other recreational cyclists. Maybe the pros could do with reading this (paying special attention to item 6).

http://www.hammernutrition.com/knowledg ... ge-section

imposter2.0

hypster wrote:

Ordinary mortals have to do something different

No they don't. The last time I did an 80-miler I took a couple of marmalade sarnies in my jersey pocket. If you keep reading the ads in those links, you might think you need all that chemical sh1t, but you really don't.

hypster

Imposter wrote:

hypster wrote:

Ordinary mortals have to do something different

No they don't. The last time I did an 80-miler I took a couple of marmalade sarnies in my jersey pocket. If you keep reading the ads in those links, you might think you need all that chemical sh1t, but you really don't.

LOL! Maybe you ought to try reading the labels on your marmalade jar and bread wrapper! I didn't know it was marmalade sandwiches that Richie Porte was passing to Chris Froome on l'Alpe d'Huez in last year's TdF.

You've obviously been watching too much "The Flying Scotsman" Imposter or maybe you're Graeme Obree

hypster

Here's something else I found very easily on a web search:

http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/ ... o-cyclists

I'm not disputing they eat a lot of solid food at feed stations but the sections below are telling. Unless of course active.com are just making it up. Maybe they are being paid by the energy drinks companies to say this.

Racers Drink a Lot

Depending on conditions, racers down 1-3 16 fluid-ounce(0.5 L) bottles every hour. Depending on preferences and stomach issues, a racer drinks water, sports drink and Coke. Most teams use a commercial sports drink. A few outsource custom drink mixes and have them tested for purity to be sure they won't present problems with drug testing.

Racers Eat a Lot

Even though they are racing hard, racers consume 300 or more calories an hour. They eat sports bars and gels provided by the team sponsors. Since they are racing nearly 21 days in a row in the Tour de France, they also eat real food to provide variety and additional calories. During a stage they'll eat boiled potatoes, rice cakes, panini (small sandwiches) and cut-up fruit to provide an assortment of flavors. Providing a lot of variety is the key to getting through three weeks of racing without bonking.

imposter2.0

So now you're an advocate of solid food, having previously said it would give you gut ache..??

hypster

Imposter wrote:

So now you're an advocate of solid food, having previously said it would give you gut ache..??

Yeah, I gotta try those marmalade sarnies!

Seriously though, I do use a little solid food on longer rides just for some variety. I get the majority of my calories from maltodextrin in my bottle though. I have had guts ache with various things I have eaten in the past as have several of my riding buddies so we all predominantly use energy drinks of one sort or another.

Grill

hypster wrote:

Imposter wrote:

So now you're an advocate of solid food, having previously said it would give you gut ache..??

Yeah, I gotta try those marmalade sarnies!

Seriously though, I do use a little solid food on longer rides just for some variety. I get the majority of my calories from maltodextrin in my bottle though. I have had guts ache with various things I have eaten in the past as have several of my riding buddies so we all predominantly use energy drinks of one sort or another.

Actually most pros these days are using proprietary mixes with a much lower carb concentration. Too much maltodextrin (like what is found in most energy drinks) requires additional water to absorb so you'd need a second bottle of just water to prevent gut rot and carb sickness.

The most valuable part of energy drink mixes are the electrolytes as you can easily get the carbs from food (yes real food is fine).

FatTed

I drink water and if no food available Clif shot Bloks.

bernithebiker

I don't like the taste of energy drinks and find they don't quench my thirst. Also the hype in their ads is ridiculous.

So I stick to water, just water, very refreshing.

For training rides of less than 2 hours I eat nothing (in a previous thread, there was disagreement about whether or not this was a good idea).

For races or for full bore stuff, I'll eat my own recipe energy lumps; dried apricots, figs, dates, peanuts, almonds, sultanas, bananas, oats, coconut, mashed up Breton sable biscuits and honey. Delicious!

And sometimes a Torq gel, 'cos they're pretty tasty too. (And supposedly 100% natural).

hypster

The main problem I find in relying predominantly on solid food is that you don't actually know how much energy you are consuming hour by hour. In long events which may have varying energy requirements depending on the terrain or pace, the temptation is to pack too much food down in an effort to make sure you don't hit the wall at any time. Also, I have read on several occasions that due to the effort involved in digesting solid food this is more likely to lead to GI distress than easily absorbed liquid sources of energy.

Using a known quantity of energy powder like maltodextrin, I know that my energy requirements will be met even at the highest level of exertion by consuming 60g per hour. I have never had any GI problems even from exceeding this level from time to time and I have also never read any warnings about the same other than the general warning about consuming to much carbohydrate per hour, solid and liquid. In fact, research shows that if you include fructose at a ratio of 2:1 you can push the consumption rate to 90g of carbohydrate per hour due to the different absorption pathways of the maltodextrin and fructose in the gut.

I have tried this in the past but have found that the fructose makes the mixture very sweet but other than that had no adverse stomach effects. Having used most of the major brands on the market over the years, I will admit that most energy drinks follow this sort of ratio as well which is what makes them a bit sickly. If I ever do have recourse to use a commercial energy powder such as High 5, I usually cut it with maltodextrin to reduce the sweetness and make it more palatable which is what most of my friends do.

Maltodextrin is derived from corn starch so in that aspect it as natural a product as anything else especially manufactured products such as marmalade, bread, gels etc. so don't kid your self you are eating anything more natural going down that route either.

I would ask anyone to read the Hammer Nutrition article I linked to earlier. I don't use any of their products and never have done but cutting through the marketing BS there is some good advice in that article, especially for relatively inexperienced riders. Even experienced riders may find something of interest so maybe keep an open mind and give it a read. Me, I'm just looking for all the marginal gains I can find...

andyeb

For long rides, I'd recommend real food and something like High5 Zero tabs to keep your electrolytes topped up and mask the plastic-ky water bottle taste.

For shorter high intensity rides - say a chaingang, I'd recommend something like High5 Energy Source. But as others have alluded to - think about your teeth; clean them before and after a ride and consider mouthwash too. Cleaning before the ride is supposed to have a protective effect.