What energy drink?

Just having a wee look on CRC & Wiggle for energy drinks (having not used them for a few years), and most of them seem to be ‘hydrating’ or ‘caffeinated’ these days.

I have a 3 day road tour coming up and want an isotonic energy drink to keep me chugging along, preferably in tablet form, for hydration & energy. Anyone got any tips on what to use?

You’ll struggle with the tablet offerings for getting energy, as most of them are lo-cal.

Torq is by a long way the best I’ve used – I’ve tried SIS, High-5, Infinit.

Torq combined with gels when I start to pee too much keeps me going forever.

You can buy them in little shot containers, which are refillable.

Also, if you buy gels from them direct they will mix and match – so you can buy a box of 20 with 5 different flavours 🙂

On the back of the packet there will be information on how much to use, if you’re out on a cold day or just pootling, then up the scoops – as you wont need as much liquid, and if its a hot day or you’re stomping along – then drop the number of scoops.

If you notice you’re pee’ing too much, then slow down drinking and switch to gels until you start pee’ing normally.

I prefer High-5 to drink, but with Torq gels.

Personal at the end of the day, and as said you won’t get energy from tablets, just electrolytes.

I prefer SIS, but Hi5 seems to have suited me well recently. I get sick of gels quite quickly, so use them sparingly – usually for a caffeine kick.

Whichever one you chose, spend a few months getting used to it

Cheers. I used to use High5, Maxim, SIS etc powder in big tubs when it was energy drinks (Maxim used to make me pee like a racehorse), but for portability I wanted a small tube of tabs.

I didn’t really want to use gels as most of them aren’t resealable, and they’re pretty sickly once you reach the end. I guess I’ll just use a bidon of water, one of electrolyte, a gel, and my favourite energy food, jelly babies 😀

myprotein.com

2:1 maltodextrin:fructose = energy

Mix that 4:1 with whey protein if you want to absorb it even quicker.

Mix that with electrolyte powder in the recomended dose on warm days.

The advantage is you can make it up on the day, so on warm days you can make up the water with the right electrolyte concentration, then add less carbs to it, or on a cold day use the same electrolyte concentration but more carbs.

Then just flavour it with your prefered brand of squash.

Interesting. I presume I can pick up the malto, fructose & whey in a health food shop?

Probably, but there’s plenty of websites selling it in bulk mypotein.com, bulkpowders.com, etc

The only problem I’ve had is i bought some BCAA’s and mixed them up in the same proportions as in torq recovery drinks, only they seem to react with each other and go off (tried it twice, makes a horible orange sticky powder) maybe diluting it in whey protien like the off the shelf stops them reacting.

I swear by High5 4:1 on long training rides. Easy on the stomach, doesn’t make me bloated like plain old energy drinks do, doesn’t taste overly sweet, and goes down so easily.

But then everyone is different. e.g I HATE SIS products except for REGO which is OK, particularly if you mix it with milk to a cake-batter consistency and eat it with a spoon ;).

Torq is OK but I get bored of the flavour, and after a while it feels ‘acidicy’ on my stomach and I want to throw up. Their ‘natural’ flavour which is just pure energy powder with no flavours is very good.

I think the only tablet form energy drink that has carbs are the Isostar Power Tabs. They’re quite handy if you want to carry a few extra ones with you to mix up with water mid ride.

I like hi5 too. mostly it seems to be cheap as well.

High5 4:1 here to (and tried quite a few others over the years), only minor issue is the protein (I guess) can settle a bit so need to remember to shake the bottle before drinking each time.

High5 4:1 here too.

You can get the High5 4:1 in single serving sachets as well so they’re good to put into water on a long ride (SIS available this way too).

I really rate the High5 4:1, like the citrus flavour myself, but it’s all so personal you’d have to try some and see what you like.

so is the high five 4:1 the best for during riding? ive been using those high5 tablets, and by the sounds of it from above it sounds like they arent actually gaining any energy?

should i be using this 4:1 stuff for the actual hours im out riding for more energy nearing the end of 4 hour rides when im starting to fade? guessing the tabs aint gonna help nearer the end then

The high5 zero tabs have zero calories, hence the name. They are purely fluid replacement.
Some versions have caffeine I think.

4:1 is for during and after, to keep energy levels topped up. It also has some salts in for fluid replacement.
And protein for muscle repair. Hence the name, 4 parts carb, 1 part protein. You can get it in small sachets and as part of trial packs to sample before buying in bulk.

balls then! ive been using them hi5 tabs (not the zero ones, the citrus/berry), but even still doesnt sound like they are giving me any more energy/stamina 🙁 doh!!

ill get and buy some of this high 5 4:1 then, got tonnes of gels, so just need some of this for longer rides, just at the end of the last few 3-4 hour rides legs have just been going, with seemingly my so called energy* tabs not giving me any further energy 🙁

*(my bad for not realising they are’nt for extra energy)!

still the tabs taste better than water so nothing lost!

Torq for me.

As above the tablets tend to just be electrolytes.

Not sure what is meant by hydrating – isotonic? Contains Electrolytes? Contains water? Contains words on the packaging thought up by marketing?

If you don’t want much there are often offers on high five race packs. Try ribble/discount supplements or energy4sport

Just done 8 days road riding in the French Alps and used High 5 2 and 4 to one powders and a few gels.Normally i start to get cramp on longer rides but didn’t suffer at all and my stomach mostly felt ok.
This was the first time i had used these products, being a bit of a sceptic,but for longer rides i think they did help.

I’ve started using Nectar[/url] gels, they come in a sachet but are meant to be diluted in water, not taken neat. No idea if they’re more effective than others, but they’re not too sickly – with any energy/recovery stuff it’s important that you like the taste. Very much personal prefence, just try a bunch and see which you like best

Good stuff guys, looks like I wasn’t the only one a bit confused!

I always believed ‘isotonic’ meant the body absorbed it quicker, hence rehydrating better (in layman’s terms); One’s performance will drop off once dehydration sets in, so in a way it is performance optimisation. And electrolytes are the salts lost during sweating, which is really bad news if you don’t replace them. However, there’s no energy in them.

What I was looking for was a product like High5 4:1, with carbs and protein to supplement any other energy food I intake during the day, and if it comes in handy individual pcks or tubes then I’ll look for that. I normally just use water, have a good breakfast and eat natural snacks on a ride (flapjack, bananas, jelly babies) and some chocolate milk for recovery 😉

Is it me or are there fewer energy drink products on the market these days, and more fluid replacement/caffein products?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18863293

Everyone knows Lucozade is just sugary water. I wouldn’t call it a sports drink, just a drink used by people who want to look sporty 😉

Lee, fwiw when i was touring for a month last year, i didn’t have any energy drink/gels during the entire time. I had nuun tablets with me and just had plenty of proper food/regular cafe stops for espresso and cakes! I did have two emergency packets of honey stinger chews in my panniers though, just in case but they were never needed.

I used to use high 5 4:1 but have gone right off it and prefer honey stinger chews as and when needed (but mostly for racing).

Do you really need/want the extra fuel? How far/where are you going?

Nice Claire, where do you go?

I’m off to Kintyre for a 3-day recce, not much in the way of caffs over there! I’ll be doing 60 ish miles per day but wanted to keep going, get to the camp spot and chill. I’ve not done multi day riding for a while and I guess I’m worried I’ll feel it on day 2 & 3, hence the extra energy intake.

But, with good brekky, lunch and dinner I might be alright on isotonic/electrolyte drink…

we rode from Lisbon – Madrid (basically along the coast of portugal, crossed into spain, took a few trains to miss v busy cities, granda, sierre nevada, cabo de gata, sierra nevada, granada, train to madrid). Was 35-40 degrees for almost a month solid…so could do with that this year after this ‘summer’!

Its all personal pref obviously, but another option to consider is electrolyte tabs in water and energy bars…i’ve been using lunar bars (ok they are for women, but the cliff bars are quite nice). The thing about high 5 4:1 is it makes your mouth all furry after long days in the saddle and i just can’t bring myself to have any kind of energy drink these days so i rely on bars, nuun and chews. Also, you’ll prob still want to snack as well, unless you can have a massive lunch (but then that’ll be uncomfortable to ride on) so that’s more to carry. Just a suggestion, sorry am prob making things more complicated for you! 🙂

the zip fit stuff seems to be quite good

ps, best multi day tip is to drink choc milk asap after riding…we lived on it touring and i never woke up thinking that i couldn’t ride the next day!

Ah sounds nice! Now all I have to do is convince the missus she can do a big tour like that…

I do remember getting the furry teeth thing now it’s been mentioned. I tend not to eat much mid-ride, rather snack and then stuff my face at the end.

I don’t like flavoured drinks so Maxim original is the only one I have any experience with. I used to use it when I raced and I think it helped for the longer races and rides, but I see little point these days as I can stop and eat proper food.

Big glass of milk shortly after hard exersise in the “protein window” was reccomended to me by a few trainers to aid recovery.

I think the isotonic thing is pretty much BS and all an energy drink should be doing is putting carbs into your stomach for your body to process into energy… YEMV etc etc.

Everyone knows Lucozade is just sugary water. I wouldn’t call it a sports drink, just a drink used by people who want to look sporty

I did a race in the summer a while back and ran out of water. All I had was Lucazade Sport orange drink. I thought I was going to die! The gloopy, sugary crap made me so thirsty… Should’ve been banned yonks ago (from calling it a sports product).

Can’t believe you guys use so many “products” for riding. Must be a whole other scene as I usually do quite happily with water and a banana. That said, I find it hard enough to motivate myself to go out on the bike anyway, putting a 5:4:1 drink arrangement together and mixing it all up before going would pretty much stop me bothering!

coffeeking +1

Water is the only thing I ever put in my camelback these days as I hate having to clean it…

Can’t believe you guys use so many “products” for riding. Must be a whole other scene as I usually do quite happily with water and a banana. That said, I find it hard enough to motivate myself to go out on the bike anyway, putting a 5:4:1 drink arrangement together and mixing it all up before going would pretty much stop me bothering!

Depends on the ride, a quick 1 hour local blast I’d not even take water. 2 hours I’d either take a bottle of zero if it was a normal pace or energy drink if it was fast. Longer rides I take one bottle of strongly made energy drink and a bottle of zero, aiming to always drink the energy drink slowly over the ride and drink/refill the zero as required. I’m not a big fan of solid food on rides, and despite being expensive individualy, a box of gells is comparable to jelly babies on a calories/£ basis.

I don’t get many free weekends so when I do I tend to get 2 rides in on both days which could mean 12-16 hours on the bike, which is much more fun if you’re not tired and can keep up a good pace. As an example I did it a few weeks ago and died on the last ride where I didn’t take anything, up untill Sunday afternoon it’d been fine just eating/drining ‘products’ during the ride and a recovery drink after each ride followed by light meals for lunch and dinner.