Energy drinks & Energy chews / recovery drinks help :)

N

Nessy1

New member
Hi :)

Im wondering if someone on here can help me, a bit of background i tend to cycle around 3/4 hours a day (which is to work and back).

Now i tend to use a energy drink while cycling (something from high5 now found the high5 zero selection also thinking of trying the new luna drinks from clif) and i tend to also have a energy bar/ chews (either clif bar or luna chews). I have yet to try a recovery drink.

Now ive been told by my Gym not to do this and to scrap them completly, which i have to say im not quite ready to do mainly on the fact when i get slimmer i want to do competitve cycling. Now he really didnt state why i should take them, does anyone on here know?

Also on the recovery drinks side, are they worth it? Will it help me for when i do my cycling/ going to the Gym?

Hope someone can help

Nessy
 
Hello Nessy,
I was riding at least 100 miles a week this past summer up to a month ago....usually 20 mile rides 5 days a week. Weekends, I sometimes do 40 milers. I have cut back the biking to the weekends because I just started a running program. In my opinion a ride shorter than 20 miles doesn't require any special energy drink. Now, over the summer I did my first century(100 mile) which required some energy. I really don't think its necesary to buy the expensive energy drinks but, everyone is different. I like to spend my money on other more important things. Go to (spam removed), join and read...it is the largest forum totally devoted to anything biking. Hope this helped.
 
Thanks AJ, but accurate and educational information is available here at WLF :) Nessy...I'd PM "wishes" if I were you, she lost a TON of weight by cycling and would have alot of great advice for you! I know energy drinks are really bad for you. They are FULL of unhealthy ingredients. I'd avoid it if I were you.
 
Heres some info from an article I found on the subject.... it says...

"Most energy drinks contain at least as much caffeine as a standard eight-ounce cup of coffee (~80mg). To put it into perspective, a 12oz. soda contains 18-48mg of caffeine. In addition to large doses of caffeine, energy drinks contain excessive amounts of sugar & legal herbal stimulants."

You can read the whole article here...
 
First off, congrats on getting out there and commuting on your bike. I also encourage you to get into competitive cycling - it is a blast and a great way to shed pounds.

If you are trying to lose weight, you definitely don't need those extra calories that are found in energy drinks and bars for a ride of the length you mentioned.

As a competitive cyclist myself, here's some recommendations I would give. For rides under an hour (so long as it isn't extrememly hot) you shouldn't need any nutrition. One bottle filled with water should be all you need. For rides longer than an hour is when you'd want to start thinking about adding nutrition.

As a general rule, I try to drink one large bottle for every hour that I ride. On really hot and humid days, this rule goes out the window. Long rides require me to eat around 150 calories every 30 minutes or so of riding to make sure I keep energy levels up.

How much you need to eat and drink will vary from person to person. You'll know you haven't had proper on the bike nutrition when you experience the dreaded "bonk." I always recommend taking MORE food than you need to once you start doing longer rides.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
BPC said:
As a competitive cyclist myself, here's some recommendations I would give. For rides under an hour (so long as it isn't extrememly hot) you shouldn't need any nutrition. One bottle filled with water should be all you need. For rides longer than an hour is when you'd want to start thinking about adding nutrition.
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Click to expand...

Exactly this. unless you're competing for long time periods, there is zero reason to consume all that added sugar in energy drinks.

now, recovery drinks are a different story. If you are a) resistance training or b) doing long training periods of cardio exercise, I would recommend recovery meals. Now, they key is you don't need the drink, just make your own. anything with a 3-1 carb-protein ratio fits the bill nicely. rice and chicken for example is an ideal meal. if you're on the go, dextrose, maltodextrin and protein powder are the staple bulk ingredients for a recovery drink.
 
Jynus said:
Exactly this. unless you're competing for long time periods, there is zero reason to consume all that added sugar in energy drinks.

now, recovery drinks are a different story. If you are a) resistance training or b) doing long training periods of cardio exercise, I would recommend recovery meals. Now, they key is you don't need the drink, just make your own. anything with a 3-1 carb-protein ratio fits the bill nicely. rice and chicken for example is an ideal meal. if you're on the go, dextrose, maltodextrin and protein powder are the staple bulk ingredients for a recovery drink.
Click to expand...

Just wanted to add that this meal is best consumed within the first 30 minutes upon completion of the above stated activity.
 
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