Hammer Gel/ Endurolyte vs Cytomax

[OakLeaf]

Gels are meant to be eaten straight out of the packet or flask. If you want a powder to mix in your water, Hammer Nutrition's product is called HEED.

Hammer Gel and HEED are primarily calorie replacement products. They contain a small amount of sodium - each flavor of gel is different, but none has more than 40 mg sodium per 90 calories, and all flavors of HEED contain 40 mg sodium per 105 calories - but only trace amounts of other electrolytes and amino acids. Cytomax contains sodium and potassium, and a bit of magnesium, as well as calories.

HEED and Hammer Gel contain xylitol and/or stevia for a sweet flavor, since almost all the calories come from maltodextrin. I'm not sure about Cytomax - I don't have any and they don't have an ingredients list on their site. Some people get stomach upset from sugar alcohols. I'm guessing that Cytomax doesn't have any non-caloric sweeteners, from the simple fact that their sugar content is so much higher than the Hammer products'. In general, more sugar = more immediate energy; more complex carbohydrates = more sustained energy.

I'm not sure you really need to replace electrolytes during a ride of less than two hours, especially if you're not getting muscle cramps during your rides. Just remember that if you sweat a lot, you'll need to eat something salty and a healthy serving of vegetables to replace calcium, magnesium and potassium. Are you getting symptoms that suggest to you that you need to be replacing electrolytes during your shorter rides? (Leg or foot cramps during the ride that don't happen in cooler weather - facial tics - nausea beginning the day after a long ride - are the primary symptoms I'll get.) Honestly, I'm the queen of subclinical hyponatremia, but I don't replace anything but calories unless I'm going three hours or longer - and it's really calcium and magnesium I need the product for, since I can find a bag of chips for sodium almost anywhere.

If and when you need to replace electrolytes during a ride, and if you want to stick with Hammer Nutrition products - which are probably the most widely available at retail - you also need to buy Endurolytes powder or pills to replace electrolytes. That's how they get ya. Endurolytes powder has a salty, bitter, slightly metallic flavor. The pills are more expensive, but you don't have to taste them. Personally, I'll use the powder for training runs - just because it's so much harder to swallow a pill while running - but pills for day rides on the bike, when I can stop and take a break and get the pills. I recently trained myself to swallow the capsules while running so I could rely on water stations at races, but it isn't so easy. Cytomax likely has enough sodium and potassium to get you through, but I would still need more calcium. Again, everyone's different...