electrolytes, whats your preference?

[aquamoose32]

I am been doing a lot of 70-100 mile rides. I used to just drink water, but I have been turned onto these GU packets and shock blocks that they instant give me bursts of energy. I did a century ride event and met this guy who was telling me all about long chain sugars, ect (he used Hammer nutrition). He thought GU was too much sugar. I tried one of his hammer packets and didnt feel as good as I do when I eat a GU 50 miles in. What do you prefer, or do you stick to water as well?

[zoom-zoom]

For electrolytes I use any combo of sports drink, water, and Endurolytes capsules. Gels and blocks and things are relatively low in electrolytes. I sweat like a horse and finish hot weather rides covered in salt crust, so I have to keep up on replacing lost minerals or else I end up cramping.

For calorie replacement I'd rather stop and eat real food. Long rides require more protein than any of the bars offer.

[Owlie]

When I get to the point of doing metrics and beyond, I'd just stop to get real food at some point, as well as take a little break. ;) 35-40 seems to be my break point, at which no amount of gels/blocks/bars will do much to help.

For electrolytes, I use slightly diluted Gatorade--I dilute it because I hate the strong taste of undiluted stuff. Plus, adding ice helps keep it cooler. Warm Gatorade is nasty. I need to tweak this a little, because I find I'm losing a lot more salt than I think. Maybe I should look into the extra-salt shot blocks...

[OakLeaf]

I like Zenergize Hydrate. Plenty of sodium, a noticeable amount of calcium and magnesium, and no antifreeze. :rolleyes:

+1 on real food on a long ride. I need my protein and, as a recreational rider, I don't have to worry about eating something I can scarf and digest quickly. When I'm on a supported ride, a lot of times they don't offer much protein and don't go near any stores, so I will pack some Perpetuem even though I normally avoid soy. It's what I use on runs over 15 miles.

No Gatorade for me. I just can't tolerate much fructose during a workout. It doesn't matter whether it's HFCS or fresh fruit.

[itself]

Ultima Replenisher in Grape or Wild Raspberry. Those were the only two flavors where I could tolerate the stevia.

[PscyclePath]

I am been doing a lot of 70-100 mile rides. I used to just drink water, but I have been turned onto these GU packets and shock blocks that they instant give me bursts of energy. I did a century ride event and met this guy who was telling me all about long chain sugars, ect (he used Hammer nutrition). He thought GU was too much sugar. I tried one of his hammer packets and didnt feel as good as I do when I eat a GU 50 miles in. What do you prefer, or do you stick to water as well?

If you're going to be out riding for more than two hours at a time, you need to take some food along, or stop somewhere for a snack. A good rule of thumb is that if you're just pootling along at 12-15 mph, you're burning approximately 400 calories/hour, and you need to start putting some of that back in the tank in order to stay fueled.

Now, just what you eat or drink is going to be a personal thing, based on your appetite, and what your stomach will let you keep down and digest. Some folks can get by on gels or energy bars, others do better on "real" food such as a sandwich, cookies, or maybe a boiled potato ;-) It's something you're going to need to experiment with and see what works for you.

Me, I carry two bottles, one of energy drink and one of plain water. Over the past year or so, I've been replacing the energy drink bottle with Nuun (for electrolytes) and carrying a couple of Payday bars or Clif Shots for the carbohydrates. At rest stops (e.g., local convenience stores) I'll get a Coke and maybe a bag of chips. It's worked really well for me... but your or somebody else's mileage on the same fuel may differ widely.

[Crankin]

I also have stopped using the energy drinks and have used only Nuun this season. I supplement with Luna Bars and real food, and occasional Shot Blocks when I feel really tired.

[azfiddle]

I like Nuun, because they are only 10 calories, and I don't always need the extra calories but I do have concerns about electrolytes in the desert heat. I have tried a couple of similar products, but so far, I prefer the Nuun tablets to the

I don't like Gatorade- too sweet for me, but I recently tried Gu Brew, and I like it because it is very light- not too sweet or thick.

As for other stuff- I like Luna bars and shot blocks- only use GU when I am on a very long or demanding ride. Today, we stopped at a farmer's market, and picked up delicious peaches, apples and a little bag of locally grown pistachios before getting back on the road, and my DH and I shared one bottle full of Gu Brew, in addition to water.

[ny biker]

My stomach can't tolerate food on long rides, especially when it's hot. I stick with gu, gu roctane and gatorade.

[badger]

Ultima Replenisher in Grape or Wild Raspberry. Those were the only two flavors where I could tolerate the stevia.

+1. I just ordered the wild raspberry so I'd be curious to see how it tastes. I've tried the lemonade, which is ok but I'm not a lemon fan.

[OakLeaf]

Remember that sweat normally contains more or less a gram of sodium per liter - there's a lot of variability depending on the individual and their heat acclimation. If you're eating salty foods, then good, but if you're relying on gels and electrolyte supplements for your sodium, make sure you're getting enough. Ultima wild raspberry only contains 37.5 mg sodium per packet! If you took enough of those to replenish even an hour's worth of sweat, you'd be way overdosing on some of the other heavy metal minerals in it. :(

[Catrin]

My stomach doesn't care for real food on long rides - outside of bananas (as long as I only have ONE) - outside of that Cliff bars, shot blocs, Hammer Heed, Accelerade all do well by me. I am unsure why I can tolerate Cliff bars, but my stomach accepts them. PB sandwiches also go down well if I can keep from smashing them - on a banana is even better.

[Becky]

Vitalyte if I need to drink my carbs. Nuun or Elete if I don't. I love the little Elete dropper bottles for keeping in my jersey pocket on long rides.

[Owlie]

I can't do real food on rides, and can't do Clif bars if it's hot and humid. I probably need a longer break for food--you know, eat at a leisurely pace, wander around a little, then hop back on the bike. I'm basing this on my experiences with riding right after breakfast. :rolleyes:

I'm going to have to try Nuun or something else, as I don't generally need the sugar since I carry at least one package of shot blocks in hot weather.

[nscrbug]

As of this season, I am a NUUN/ZYM/GU electrolyte tablet convert. On hot, long rides I will carry 1 bottle of NUUN (or other type of tablet) and 1 bottle of plain water. I also carry a few extra tablets wrapped in foil in my bento box. I actually prefer the taste of the orange ZYM tablets over all the others, but NUUN is easier to find in my area. I don't like strongly flavored beverages while on the bike, so I tend to dilute mine a bit more. Aside from that, I generally always carry with me (but don't necessarily eat): 1 Luna or Lara bar, and a pack of Shot Bloks, Luna Moons, or Honey Stinger Chews (my personal fav!). On longer rides, I will sometimes also bring an Uncrustable (PB & Honey flavor). Depending on how I'm feeling, I may also share a banana (bought at a gas station) with my DH.

[marni]

I usually carry a Bottle of FRS which gives me fruit based energy, some electrolytes and doesn't get funky tasting when it gets warm. I carry a bottle of plain water for dumping on my head, drinking with endurolyte/sports legs tablets. When both are empty I stop and refill, I carry extra FRS tubes with me and mix up one bottle at a time. I also carry gu and cliff shot rocks along with a couple of luna bars. If the ride is over 50 miles I stop somewhere for a banana and some chips or other real food.

several years of distance of riding have taught me to step down for a moment or two every 20 miles or so take a deep deep drink and nibble something, even if it's just a gu shot or a cliff blok, and also to eat more real than not. Cn't stand gatorade, gives me a stomach ache. I tend to be a rut sort of person anyway, so having found something that works for me, I stick with it.

I do like Nuun tablets as well and will use them if I can't get FRS.

marni

[ivorygorgon]

I am another Nuun convert. I start out with two bottles of Nuun. When I stop I usually fill one bottle with half water and half Gatorade (I can't stand full strength Gatorade) and the other bottle with water. I think I am going to start carrying Nuun tablets with me though, as I really am not a huge fan of the Gatorade.

I take 1 Payday and 1 Cliff bar or Luna bar, and I usually eat - er - choke them down. I try to take a bite every 20 minutes to a half hour, but I am not super good at remembering to do this. This is for a 50 mile or so ride. If I am going longer, I like some real food - like a turkey sandwich, chips, and banana.

[Sky King]

Another Nuuner here and also an Ultima user but Nuun tablets are so easy to carry. As I am a "pootler" love that and not a racer, I carry a Zimbale Top Rack bag and can put my PB and Honey sandwich in there. Depending on the length of the ride, I stop every 15 to 20 miles, stretch and have a small snack. I also carry an emergency supply of JellyBelly electrolyte jelly beans. Those things save my butt when doing rim to rim of the grand canyon (hiking not biking) a great treat when the mantra in my head starts saying "no you can't" instead of "i think i can"
I am allergic to soy and most energy bars give me stomach cramps too.

[TsPoet]

Another NUUN vote. I put 1 NUUN tablet in a 24 oz bottle (it's supposed to be 1 tablet/16oz) and I carry another 24 oz bottle with water in it.
I bring some sort of food with me, depending on the ride and temperature. Fig newtons are good, cheese crackers...
I also often carry 1 tiny bag of Sports Beans. But I suspect that's mostly because I like them and I love the excuse to eat candy.

Sandy Earl, who just broke the women's 12 and 24 hr distance records, likes pizza. She says that someone can hand her a pizza as she pedals by and she can hold it and it gives her a punch.
Don't know what she likes on her pizza :cool:

[Chile Pepper]

I have never liked sports drinks--I don't want the sugar, and I don't use any artificial sweeteners, so NUUN is out as well. I also dislike the taste. I just found a recipe for a homemade alternative, based on lemon juice for potassium plus a pinch of salt:

Just mix together:
1 cup (8 oz) water (not carbonated)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
small pinch of salt
Flavoring and sweetener to taste

Has anyone tried something like this? I think I'll mix some up for my ride this weekend, maybe with just a bit of honey to smooth it out.

[Susan Otcenas]

I went through FORTY (yes, that's four-zero) bottles of Hammer Perpetuem mixed with Hammer Powdered Endurolytes on Paris-Brest-Paris last month. That accounted for about 1/3 of my calories consumed. :D

Hammer Products in general seem to have lower electrolyte levels than many other sports nutrition products. Add electrolytes to a hammer nutrition plan via their powdered Endurolytes, the pill-form endurolytes, or the Fizz tablets (similar to Nuun).

Susan

[maillotpois]

Hammer Products in general seem to have lower electrolyte levels than many other sports nutrition products. Add electrolytes to a hammer nutrition plan via their powdered Endurolytes, the pill-form endurolytes, or the Fizz tablets (similar to Nuun).

Susan

I love the Endurolyte Fizz tablets. I simply will not remember or bother to take endurolyte capsules. The fizz is interesting and makes the sports drinks taste better (I combine sustained energy with something like Heed for flavor, but as you noted none of those have much electrolyte).

And forty bottles of liquid nutrition is staggering to think of. Understandable, but staggering.

[OakLeaf]

Hammer Products in general seem to have lower electrolyte levels than many other sports nutrition products.

It drives me crazy that they make you buy (at least) two of their products instead of just one.

And yet ... HEED is so easily available. And it works really well on my stomach. :rolleyes:

I like my Zenergize tablets a LOT, but fizzing bicarbonate tablets are a problem in sealed containers like hydration packs and straw/bite valve water bottles. Endurolytes mixed strong in the secondary bladder of my Nathan Synergy pack is a lifesaver (literally) in hot weather marathon training.

DO NOT under any circumstances mix a scoop of Endurolytes into your diluted gel flask. Yecccccccch.

[soprano]

I have never liked sports drinks--I don't want the sugar, and I don't use any artificial sweeteners, so NUUN is out as well.

Put 1/8 tsp lite salt in 1 liter water. Sounds yucky, but if you can taste the salt, you aren't low on electrolytes.

Bananas are my favorite.

[OakLeaf]

But you sweat out sodium MUCH quicker than potassium.

[maryellen]

Another fan of Ultima Replenisher though I like the lemonade flavor

[Chile Pepper]

I tried the homemade electrolyte drink on my rides this weekend. Following Oakleaf's advice, I upped the salt a little and didn't worry about the potassium, so I wound up using the juice of one lemon (two to three tablespoons) and about 1/16th teaspoon salt in my large water bottle. I added about half a tablespoon of honey, which balanced out the flavors and gave a good mouthfeel.

I really liked it! It tasted great, it was practically free (the lemon was from my tree), and it contained no artificial ingredients. Most importantly, I drank it, so my hydration was better than with plain water. I will definitely be using this for my longer rides.

[goldfinch]

So, do you really need anything other than sodium salt? Currently I only take water and a form of sugar and salted walnuts. I throw a bit extra salt on the walnuts. I hate fruity flavored drinks. Are there any electrolyte tablets that have no flavor?

[OakLeaf]

So, do you really need anything other than sodium salt? Currently I only take water and a form of sugar and salted walnuts. I throw a bit extra salt on the walnuts. I hate fruity flavored drinks. Are there any electrolyte tablets that have no flavor?

I need magnesium and probably calcium. YMMV, but a friend of mine carries a whole baggie of Endurolytes capsules and hands them out to anyone who's getting cramps.

I've never heard of unflavored fizzy tablets, but Endurolytes comes in powder form if you'd rather mix something into your water than take a pill. It's a noticeable flavor, and I think the added flavors and sweeteners are mainly to cover the bitter/metallic flavor of the electrolytes.

S-Caps are another popular pill alternative, but I've never tried them.

Obviously we're talking about longer and/or warmer weather efforts here - assuming reasonably good overall nutrition, I don't think it's a worry for anyone until you've replaced a couple of liters or so of water.

[TsPoet]

Obviously we're talking about longer and/or warmer weather efforts here - assuming reasonably good overall nutrition, I don't think it's a worry for anyone until you've replaced a couple of liters or so of water.

That's a very good point. In fact, I've wondered several times reading answers how long/hot/fast rides are people talking about, I don't use anything for rides less than about 20 miles unless it's >90 degrees out.

[Bethany1]

I was in GNC yesterday and was looking around. Are most sports related products full of "extra" herbal ingredients? Because of the medications I take, some herbal stuff will set off a reaction so I have to look through the ingredient lists.

Since I haven't bought herbal stuff in 14 years, I can't remember which one will set off liver failure with the depakote I take. I should have gone to the hospital that night and have never done the herbal fad again. I avoid energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster like the plague as well.

[OakLeaf]

Yikes.

It depends on the brand, it's best for everyone to read the label but especially someone with potentially life-threatening issues.

Still, most electrolyte replacement drinks if they contain any herbs, it would be stevia for sweetness and nothing else. There are a lot of drinks sold to athletes that have herbs for other reasons, but I think we're only talking about electrolyte replacements here. GNC particularly markets a lot of bodybuilding and weight-loss oriented snake oil stuff. Visit your LBS or LRS for things that are more oriented toward endurance athletes - just about all of them have Hammer and Gu products and possibly a few other brands.

[Bethany1]

Yeah. Figured out you need to really be into weight loss or bodybuilding after wandering through the store. Some of that stuff seems to be for pretty desperate people.

My LBS doesn't really have much. I'm heading to Lincoln tomorrow and will hit a couple of stores to see what's there. I'll write down what has been posted here as there's some great info.

[ny biker]

I was in GNC yesterday and was looking around. Are most sports related products full of "extra" herbal ingredients? Because of the medications I take, some herbal stuff will set off a reaction so I have to look through the ingredient lists.

Since I haven't bought herbal stuff in 14 years, I can't remember which one will set off liver failure with the depakote I take. I should have gone to the hospital that night and have never done the herbal fad again. I avoid energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster like the plague as well.

Wait what? What can't you have with depakote? I've been on it since the early '90s and have never heard of this.

[Irulan]

I was in GNC yesterday and was looking around. Are most sports related products full of "extra" herbal ingredients? Because of the medications I take, some herbal stuff will set off a reaction so I have to look through the ingredient lists.

Since I haven't bought herbal stuff in 14 years, I can't remember which one will set off liver failure with the depakote I take. I should have gone to the hospital that night and have never done the herbal fad again. I avoid energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster like the plague as well.


I use Hammer nutrition products, and they do not contain herbs. Heed is their electrolyte product. They have very helpful customer service people on the phone.
http://www.hammernutrition.com/

[chatnoire]

I use a non-herbal as well. Friends of mine are Advocare dealers (https://www.advocare.com/09044055/default.aspx), and while I'm definitely not a bandwagon-type for products, I really like the Spark (https://www.advocare.com/09044055/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=A2096&id=E&flavor=L&size=C) (an energy drink) and Rehydrate (https://www.advocare.com/09044055/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=A4412&flavor=E&size=P&id=E) (electrolytes).

I have tried the rehydrate gels (https://www.advocare.com/09044055/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=A1403&id=E) as well, and I'm still trying to decide which I like better for electrolyte replacement. I felt a bit wiped after our ride on Sunday, despite the 4 bottles of water, banana, clif bloks, and good food in advance, with a muscle milk after.

[Catrin]

I use Hammer nutrition products, and they do not contain herbs. Heed is their electrolyte product. They have very helpful customer service people on the phone.
http://www.hammernutrition.com/

+100 on Hammer Heed (strawberry). I also like Cliff Blocs, something called Salt Stick (capsules) occasionally, and Accelerade for rides >2 hours. It takes time to work out the mix our bodies need, as well as the timing. We are all a bit different in this area and what works for one may well not work for another at all.

[Wahine]

I use Hammer as well but I supplement the heed with endurolyte capsules.