Pre/Race/Recovery sports drink mix

Hi Boiler,

For a prerace/prework drink, I would recommend just going with water.  A lot of the sports drinks and workout stuff have a lot of things you don't need until your actually racing/working out.  It would probably be fine drinking a sports drink within 30 minutes of a workout, but I wouldn't recommend one prior to that.

I'm a big GU fan.  I use their gels as well as their electrolyte brew.  As for recovery, I really like Hammer Recoverite, but the stuff is pretty expensive.  A lot of people recommend just going with some chocolate milk.  This stuff and all personal preference and figuring out which products work best with your body.

As for your nutrition plan, that really varies from person to person as there are a lot of variables that play into this.  Your longer training sessions are a great way to test out what will be best for you so you'll need to experiment.  If something works well for you/your body during training, it should translate to the race.  However, it is strongly recommended that you do not try something new on race day as that can lead to disaster.  You may want to also consider using whichever products are going to be on the course at your HIM.  The race you're doing should provide details about what they will have on the course for the athletes.

I hope that helps and good luck!

Agree with hockeyhands.  Personal pref is big.  Some get GI upset from certain sports drinks, possibly due to high fructose content.  Many swear by chocolate milk for recovery, but not if you're lactose (milk sugar) intolerant.  Some swear by all liquid diet during long (>4-6hr) events, but others (like me) prefer some easily digested solid foods. 

Advertising hype is HUGE in this market. Buyer beware!!!  Many claims are based upon questionable evidence at best.  I have no problem with athletes who find X product works for them, but those who claim Company X products are the ONLY way annoy me.  There are many ways to supply the body with what it needs.

In general, don't start an event or long training session dehydrated or starved.  Eat something light 2-3 hrs pre-event, and drink a bottle of water 30-60min before.  Drinking TOO much water can dilute blood sodium, sometimes dangerously.  For events up to 30-60 min, water is fine.  About 1 bottle/hr (12-16oz) is ballpark, with a bit more under hot conditions based on your sweat rate (which can vary 200+% between athletes).  Longer than 1hr or so, add some carbohydrate.  Roughly the equivalent of a typical energy bar every 45-60min. Think about electrolytes beyond 2hr efforts, esp sodium (sweat content varies between athletes,too).  Beyond 4-6hrs think about some protein intake.  It's up to the individual to find what works best for them.  Try stuff out during training.  An event is NOT the place to find out something upsets your stomach.

So what do I use?

My pre-event AM meal is hot tea with honey & a bagel with peanut butter & honey or jelly.  An hour pre-event I drink a bottle of water, and maybe a few bites of a Cliff bar if I'm hungry.  During event it's water, sometimes Gatorade (or home-brew sports drink), various gels (Powerbar gels contain significant sodium & potassium for electrolytes), Cliff bars, and good old peanut butter & jelly sandwiches at lunch stations for day-long event.  My typical recovery drink is 12oz of Accelerade + 10g/serving of flavored whey protein.  I do NOT use Accelerade during exercise because it gives me stomach cramps.  It's best to get take in some carbs within 30-60min of ending exercise ("glycogen window" for faster repletion of muscle glycogen stores), but follow-up with good balanced meal. 

BTW- Lots of good, objective info can be found in position statements of American College of Sports Medicine (www.acsm.org).  On their web site search terms like "fluids, electrolytes, nutrition" to find download links for these reviews (each with hundreds of scientific references). 

I make my own post workout drink, using powdered gatorade (Lemon/Lime flavor) and vanilla whey protein. I use either a 3:1 carb-protein ratio or 2:1 depending on the intensity & duration of exercise.

I stay away from anything containing high fructose corn syrup. Nearly all the ready to drink Gatorades and Powerades have corn sugar (fructose) as the carb component. Powder gatorade uses sucrose.

I have also used dextrose with whey in the same ratios, but find I like the gatorade much better, for taste and it has the salts, electrolytes, etc... that dextrose doesn't have. Essentially, it's just like choc. milk in the carb-protein ratio.

Pre-workout, just make sure I'm hydrated (at this point it's too late to do much).  Lots of water throughout the day.

During workout: For anything under an hour or light intensity, just water is fine.  Above that, I use sports drinks.  I alternate between Nuun, Accelerade and Heed.  I've never tried Gu Brew but some love it so that might be my next attempt.  Gatorade on the race course, usually.   I also swear by GU (Roctane if I'm racing) and will take salt tablets if it's a particularly long race or hot out.  Every 45 minutes, religiously.   I can't do solid foods on the bike or run, but others do.  Bars are good for this.

Recovery: For anything over an hour or a particularly grueling session, I always have a recovery drink.  Right now I'm on Gu Recovery Brew, which I happen to really like, but I've had Endurox, Fluid, and Recoverite as well.  I usually mix it up to keep it interesting- after going through one of those big tubs I'm ready for a different flavor!

I would experiment if I were you.  A lot of these products come in single servings so you can try a couple before you find what you like then buy in bulk to save $$.  I once spent $60 for a massive tub of a product I ended up hating, that was stupid!

I am using the P90X recovery formula made by beachbody.  I have been using it for a while now 

Sports drink is definitely not necessary, and can get quite pricey if you're doing a lot of training.

The ones you mentioned are most popular - if I used them though, I'd probably be shelling out $30+ per week!

If you're not doing long runs or rides yet, stick with water - easiest. Once you get to those 90+ minute runs or 2.5hr+ bike rides calories in light food & bars are the least messy.

Bulk maltodextrin is the cheapest powder calorie you can get - do a search and you'll see a lot of posts about it. Tough to get in small batches, but it's $50 for 50 lbs online, or 1/10th the cost of the stuff you mentioned. Plus, it generally comprises 90+% of the calories of those concotions - they're pretty much all maltodextrin. Even GUs are 90% malto. It's a LOT cheaper without the advertising!

I use this on my long 5 hr bike rides - about 300cals/ bottle if you use 1 cup malto/bottle. Add flavoring - it's nearly tasteless.