[Closed] What the best energy supplement for a 12 hour?

Totally personal. I suffer with cramp when I race so I drink Zym caffeinated electrolyte tablets, and get my carbs from Torq gels.

High 5 is proven to deliver more carbohydrate to your muscles than any other energy drink, but that's fairly irrelevant if you can't stomach it, the 4:1 carb:protein one is very good for endurance racing.

Torq is very 'neutral' but the neutral flavour contains no electrolytes. The flavoured ones contain no aspartame so they're not bad for you, but they're very very sharp.

SIS is among the most widely used, but is incredibly sickly.

Try some and use the one you like. It's a bit naive to think that the guys in the tent next to you didn't suffer because they used energy drink though, you may eek your legs out for a bit longer, but it's no miracle formula!

I really rate the All Sports stuff:

Enduro Load is their race fuel:

http://www.allsports-online.co.uk/allsports.cgi

Their recovery is second to none:

http://www.allsports-online.co.uk/allsports.cgi

The isotonic is good too:

http://www.allsports-online.co.uk/allsports.cgi

And if you need a boost in the end of the race:

http://www.allsports-online.co.uk/allsports.cgi

I have used SIS, Hi Five etc etc and its all to sickly for me but this stuff is nice to drink and goes down easily

If you have any tech questions drop them a line, they are usually very helpful

I dont work for them by the way, have just used it for years !!

I've been using zipvit stuff recently and been very impressed with it. The caffeine gels are very good but they are a bit of a struggle to get down - bit like eating glue. Powerbar gels are good for me too.

Whilst I was sick all over my handlebars when I ate a Powerbar gel in a race! You just need to try stuff and see what works for you!

I'd say Torq is the 'safest' for not messing you up, but whether you'll find it effective is something else!

Some very good advice from njee. However, as he/she says its all down to personla prefference and what you can stomach at the end of the day. I trained for an Ironman this year and tried out all sorts of combinations of drinks/gels/bars. I ended up using SIS and nutrigrain bars. The SIS is very sickly but the flavour was more palatable than the others. Also some of the less flavoursome ones eneded up making me feel sick over long periods of drinking them (there were a lot of people throwing up on the day). The nutrigrain choice was down to what i could eat while on the move. Trying to chew energy bars is a mission in itself, then trying to breath at the same time was no good. Nutrigrain are moist and soft and have plenty of energy. I wont tell you what trying to swallow energy gels was like- you can use your imagination.

There is a lot of scienece in these bars/drinks/gels but many people say that flat coke with half a teaspoon of salt, and bannans is just as effective for most.

My advice is try some out first, and see what you like.

The best is the one that works for you best. Some people do quite happily on just energy drink, and others Jam sandwiches. For 12 hours you've got to do the research on your own stomach beforehand 🙂

Oh yeh meant to say try stuff out well in advance of a race. You really don't want to try new stuff when you need to be at your best.

I think SIS is pretty good, but is quite sickly and tends to leave that 'gummed up' mouth feeling.

I now use Torq drink & it's much more palatable - more like drinking squash.
I did however feel quite sick at the last race I did while using it. I think it was because I also took some SIS energy gels & it was a hot day. I could have done with some water to help wash it all down with.

Just make sure when you are off the bike, you keep eating stuff - jam sandwiches, bananas, flapjack etc. as the energy drink in themselves aren't enough in my experience unless you are just doing a 2 or 4hr race.

Agreed, in a pair when you're not riding you want to be eating. I like Jaffa Cakes, Jelly Babies and Clif Bars personally!