Gatoraid vs other sports drinks

Jacob24

how does gatoraid as a sports drink compare to other's like the Powerbar drinks, clif drinks, ect. Also, how much of a differance do recovery drinks make after a ride.

vio765

ive tried it all. however, i mix my own gatoraid now and again. they mix it to 1-2%. lame! i mix it to 9%!!! way more affective. i think the best energy drink in the world is the stuff that costs the least. its true. unless you burn out thousands of cals per day on the bike, dont think too hard. get the cheap stuff that tastes the best to you. if you start riding more than 2 hours, your solid food choice is more important.

buckybux

Be careful with Gatorade. They sell a bunch of different products, and some are not very good. They do have a good line, but the stuff they sell in the grocery stores usually is not the good line. I just purchase Cytomax, which I get online. I like the taste and it works for me. There are a bunch of similar products, try them and find one that works.

jcjordan

I have tried both Gatorade and the new Powerbar drinks and found them to be far to sweet. They both get really unpleasent when they get warm. I find that I need to water them down to make them pleasent to drink, which kind of less then effective.

My recomendation is to try High 5 (you can get it from completehealth.com.au) its not as sweet and comes (at least in Australia) in a wider range of flavors.

I also find the High 5 bars are nicer then the Powerbar ones as well, but thats personal as the Powerbar range tends to upset my stomach.

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"Pain does not last, bones heal and chicks dig scars"

Hookyrider

Gatoraide is way too acidic for me. I have had sucess with and enjoy Accelerade, Born, and Enervit.


HR

Rockslayer

I still use gatorade only in the gym but for riding I still had problems with cramps and lactic acid especially around 1.5 to 2hours on the mtb so I switched the Endura mix one now, not as sweet, tastes disgusting but it does the job. has some extra magnesium or some other Ions. I don't get into the technical info it too much but I know it works me. Plus I feed on gels every 30 to 45 minutes but I avoid the ones with caffiene

UNF_Chaz

I've tried Gatorade on my rides and its good, but there are better options out there. When I do my rides, I usually go out with Cytosport Cytomax. I <3 Cytomax. When I do long rides or group rides, I will mix in some Scivation Xtend with the Cytomax.

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Unassertive Rider - Felt F3C

ratboy83

sod the gatorade and all the other expensive sports drinks. sure they work but there are tons of recipes on the net for people to be able to make their own sports drinks at a fraction of the price- just takes a small amount of time and effort.
mix one part orange juice to one part water (provides sugar in an isotonic concentration and a fair dose of potassium, an important electrolyte), and then add a pinch of sea salt (provides sodium and chloride in easily assimilated forms, two important electrolytes) and one eighth of a teaspoon of calcium/ magnesium powder (provides calcium and magnesium, two minerals important for healthy muscle function). a pot of calc/ mag powder can be bought for as little as £10 and gives you a kilos worth- gonna last for a long time with only using a fraction of a teaspoon at a time.

alex.

benkoostra

I desolve a cup of sugar in a liler of water then fill the bottles. It's VERY sweet, but it works well and is cheap.

offthebackCT

Seems as though many sports beverages have "special" ingredients and high prices. Standard Gatorade is good, and inexpensive, but lacks sufficient sodium to replenish what is lost through sweat. Gatorade Endurance makes up for this shortcoming, but gives up some flavor quality in doing so, and is slightly more expensive. My personal preference is to mix my own drink one gallon at a time and keep it chilled in the fridge for immediate use. Here is my recipe, based upon the general guidelines of the exercise science/nutrition community:

1 Gallon Water
8oz. (wt) Granulated Sugar
2 Packets Kool-Aid (any unsweetened flavor)
1 tsp. Morton's Lite Salt
3/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1 pinch Calcium/Magnesium Powder

benkoostra

That sounds great. I'll have to try it. Some have suggested potassium cloride as well, although your recipe sounds better.

offthebackCT

The Morton Lite Salt contains a little less than 50% potassium chloride, thereby meeting the body's potassium needs. I was looking for the articles from which i derived this recipe, and can't seem to find them. Nonetheless, my recipe is based upon the consensus of sound science from multiple sources and has worked well for me even as I sweat significantly more than the average guy my size. I am open to any suggestions on how to improve the effectiveness of this recipe without drastically increasing the price and without employing questionable additives.

benkoostra

Well, I think it's an excellent starting point. It really depends on the individuals needs for salt replacement, although that's pretty hard to guage. I suppose it's better to err on the side of caution, especially considering there is salt in everything now days, so maybe less in the drink is good, and add more as needed?

That's my only suggestion. I might add a squirt of lemon juice to give it more zip!

I'll definitely try it out.

offthebackCT

I almost missed the second part of the question at the beginning of the thread. Recovery drinks can be a huge help in rapidly replenishing muscular glycogen (energy for high intensity) stores immediately following exercise, with little risk of the calories being stored as fat . This allows you to maximize your workout intensity the next time out by ensuring fuel is available for hard(er) efforts. The closer together your workouts are (i.e. daily or twice a day), the more important a recovery drink may be. In addition, the protein content of many recovery drinks gives the body the raw material it needs to repair any muscular trauma caused during exercise. In this role, proteins derived from animal sources (whey, milk, STEAK ) are superior to those derived from plant sources (soy), due to the presence of certain essential amino acids. The protein may also help the muscles store more glycogen (energy), but the studies are somewhat inconclusive. As with the sports drink, I use my own recipe for a recovery drink, based on the research of others and also upon my personal taste preferences.

24 fl.oz. Skim Milk
2 oz. Nestle Quik Powder
Drink IMMEDIATELY following exercise



Pretty simple, huh? This recipe works for someone who is appoximately 75kg and should be adjusted for other weights as described below. The best part is that research suggests that this recipe and ones like it are every bit as effective as recovery drinks costing many times as much . The key is to make sure that you consume approximately 1 gram of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight, and .25-.33g of protein per kilogram body weight. It can be in any form you like (I also will eat a bowl of sugary cereal with skim milk, or toast with sweetened jelly and a big glass of milk if the mood strikes me) Another important thing is to avoid fat consumption (sorry, no donuts )within the first hour following exercise, as it will slow the metabolism of the recovery drink/Meal. My rule of thumb is to drink one recovery drink immediately following exercise for moderate to intense training rides of 1-2 hours, and for specific recovery rides. If the ride is longer than 2 hours, I will drink another recovery drink or have a specific recovery meal one hour later. Using the methods I have outlined, you should be able to train hard and recover well with little other modification to an already-balanced daily diet. Hope this helps you get faster and save some money!!!

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Foolproof ways to go faster: 1) Apply more force to the pedals, without reducing cadence. 2) Increase cadence, without reducing pedal force. 3) Employ gravity by avoiding climbs and descending more. 4) Always ride with a tailwind.