Sports Drink of choice?

[i12ride]

Water and lots of it of course but only other drink supplement when riding for me on longer rides is Cytomax. Didn't do the science, just know it keeps me going and makes the post ride better too....all that matters to me. Cliff bars and edible stuff better suited for discussion about ride food, not sports drink. With a bottle of Cytomax and 70oz of water in the camelbak, I'm good for 5 hrs of riding of whatever type in whatever weather or conditions which is longer than my ass wants to be on the seat but that's another thread too.

 

[BellaVega]

I grab whatever is closest. Sometimes I drink Gatorade and sometimes I drink Powerade. I tend to either mix them light or mix the liquids with water because they both tend to give me heart burn many times. It seems like Gatorade is always coming up with a new flavor or liquid or entire line. -Bella Vega, Golden Rule

 

[Cco.175]

Originally Posted by i12ride .

Water and lots of it of course but only other drink supplement when riding for me on longer rides is Cytomax. Didn't do the science, just know it keeps me going and makes the post ride better too....all that matters to me. Cliff bars and edible stuff better suited for discussion about ride food, not sports drink. With a bottle of Cytomax and 70oz of water in the camelbak, I'm good for 5 hrs of riding of whatever type in whatever weather or conditions which is longer than my ass wants to be on the seat but that's another thread too.

X2 on this.

 

[user574386]

Originally Posted by TKOS .

So somehow the Gatorade people have been screwing with us for all these years and making us dehydrated?

Oh and it is a combo of sucrose and glucose-fructose.

Personally I'll take that over sucralose any day.

They haven't it's based on science. I'll explain below.

Originally Posted by Threshold .

I agree that the best thing that you can drink is water, but that's usually only for the shorter rides (1 - 2 hours)... well, at least for me that is. After that, I usually start feeling like I need to fuel up again. Like I mentioned, I usually bring Clif Bars with me, but having something mixed with your water for a constant flow of fuel is always nice.

I ended up ordering Hammer Perpetuem in Vanilla-Orange flavor, which I believe is about 270 cal per serving and about 52g of Carbs. The last time I used it, I put half the dosage in one bottle and the other half in the other bottle, so that in addition to consuming the Clif Bar, I do not exceed about 250 calories/hour. The average uptake of calories that the body can process to the muscles efficiently is anywhere between 240-280 cal/hr for someone that is around 165 lbs. If you take in more than that, that's when you start to feel bloated/full and could possible vomit due to the strenuous exercise.

Water is good for short periods of exercise, there is a reason for the carbs/sugar/sodium in gatorade/powerade.

Originally Posted by mitosis .

Quote:
Originally Posted by cyberlegend1994 . The sugar in sports drinks in most cases is sucrose, which is formed by dehydration synthesis of two glucose molecules - the two molecules lose the equivalent of a water molecule when combining, so to break the sucrose back down into glucose that water molecule needs to be replaced. So essentially if you consume anything with sugar in it during a workout, you need even more water not only to stay hydrated but to digest the sugar.

Glucose = C6H12O6, sucrose = C12H22O11.
What a load of ****.

The carbohydrate in most sports drinks contain fructose or short chain polymers of glucose.

Sucrose is glucose plus fructose. It is split enzymically in the gut and absorbed as monosaccharides.

The one water molecule you are worried about is more than compensated for by the 11 water molecules released when you metabolise it.

Any sports drink worth its salt (pun intended) will need to have some source of carbohydrate and short chains are considered a good balance between rapid absorption and overload.

Try to get a few facts right before you post.

Unless you are going to be out for hours the best drink is water.

Water can cross the intestine on it's own, but does a lot better when other stuff is crossing as well (osmosis). Sugars are broken into their broken into their monosaccharide components in the intestine. Fructose is taken up on it's own by GLUT5 transporter. However, sodium (Na) and glucose/galactose transport is paired together by the SGLT1 transporter. Pair them together in a sports drink and they are taken up together quickly. When these ions/monosaccharides cross, chloride (Cl) and water follow. You need the NaCl for sweating, sugars for energy and water for creating the energy from the sugars and sweating.

Short term, water is fine. Long term, a sports drink can help to increase the efficiency of the water absorption of your body as well as decrease the depletion of the resources. Hence, Gatorade and Powerade's success due to simple understanding of the transporters in your body. They weren't discovered, they were designed to work on those premises.

 

[maydog]

For long rides where I need to replace carbs, I found that mixing 1 can of sweetened condensed milk to 1 liter of water and adding unsweetened coca to taste works really well and tastes good too. The condensed milk has 1300 calories and 30 grams of protein and fat. Generally I will mix up one batch and then have another liter of water or regular sports drink in the other bottle holder.

Take note that the bottled gatorade you find at the store is not like the powdered form. Powdered gatorade is more geared for athletics.

I have also used Accelerade on and off, it is hard to get over the bad taste and can make your bottles a stinky mess. Perhaps it has helped my endurance, but its really impossible to tell.

 

[MikeRoger]

For me,it's Gu2O, especially the mango flavor.Like Gatorade Endurance, it has more sodium than many sports drinks, which I have found to be very helpful.


weight loss diet

 

[Froze]

Originally Posted by Addicted2Speed .

Gatorade-since 1966 (ish) it has stood the test of time...

Plus 1, though I've only been using since 73. Powdered is the best and cheapest way to go.

 

[Cred]

Powerade Zero is what I have been using since it hit the market. Great stuff.

 

[jpr95]

A little tip on using the powdered Gatorade:

Dissolve it into boiling water at about 4 times concentration, then dilute it down to regular strength with ice water. It will dissolve better and not leave that gritty aftertaste.

I don't have a very high body fat percentage, so unless the ride is less than an hour, anything that goes down the hatch had better have some calories in it. Gatorade for me. Gatorade+a scoop of whey protein immediately after riding.

Jason

 

[Froze]

Originally Posted by jpr95 .

A little tip on using the powdered Gatorade:

Dissolve it into boiling water at about 4 times concentration, then dilute it down to regular strength with ice water. It will dissolve better and not leave that gritty aftertaste.

I don't have a very high body fat percentage, so unless the ride is less than an hour, anything that goes down the hatch had better have some calories in it. Gatorade for me. Gatorade+a scoop of whey protein immediately after riding.

Jason

Interesting tip Jason, I've never heard of that before about boiling it. But, the one thing I do know from my howbeit old racing days, is that we never used Gatorade at full strength while riding; we always diluted it 50%. At full strength your mouth would begin to feel sticky and yucky more and more the longer and harder you rode. But I'll try the boiling technique to see if it works. But I found Gatorade to work no better or no worse then expensive bike boutique drinks. Interesting story, I knew the guys that won the 4 person RAAM race in 2001, and they all used Gatorade...but they did use Cytomax post ride recovery powdered drink that is no longer made by Cytomax. Companies that keep changing their formulas should be a clue that they don't know what their doing, their just trying to sell you on their slick marketing to get you to buy the newest thing when their old thing was the best thing...which was it? the new one or the old one? Gatorade has never changed their formula until they came out with Poweraide, but that's a new separate drink that again is no better then Gatorade. Also it's not a good thing to drink any sport drink as a casual drink, drink water instead.

Whey protein is good only after a strenuous ride. But you can do the same thing far cheaper with just eating protein loaded food. Whey protein should also be taken only at a rate of 1 grm per pound of the person. Also remember Whey has lactose of about 5 to 6%, so you could have issues if your lactose intolerant, but they do make Whey protein isolate that contains around 1% lactose which is better tolerated. Also Whey can be dangerous if taken over a long period of time by damaging the kidneys, make bones weaker, increase in allergies not related to lactose like hives and itching, swelling of the mouth, and lips, geographical tongue; and other hazards we may know nothing about yet. I would rather eat it in it's natural food state like Ricotta Cheese, other cheeses, milk and yogart then to take a supplement.

And vitamin water is a huge waste of money. In fact mega doses of vitamins is a huge waste of money too. If your eating right the most you should ever take in a vitamin is a cheap One A Day vitamin, your body will flush away any larger amounts of vits down the toilet (which you can readily tell from the bright yellow appearance of your urine); and sometimes it can become toxic if you overtake.