Author Topic: Sports drinks  (Read 12281 times)

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Offline no-name

Sports drinks
« on: June 05, 2007, 10:50:09 am »
after 2 days of training last weekend in the Wyoming heat, I sat down
to a big plate of pasta and more water.  afterwards I felt awful.  Then I
had a soda a popsicle  and perked right up.  I am starting to see the
value of sports drinks.

My family has been trying to reduce the amout of crap we eat.  is
anyone aware of any sports drinks that also focus on healthful content,
environmentally responsible productions, etc.

Thank you.  
Matt


Offline wanderingwheel

Sports drinks
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2007, 04:28:04 pm »
Warning!  I know just enough about nutrition to be dangerous&  Here goes anyway.

Sounds like you needed sugar, not carbs from the pasta, at least in the short term.  When I finish a hard ride, I reach for protein, some fat (not a dirty word), and a little sugar.  The protein allows you to rebuild your damaged muscles before your next ride, the fat quickly refills your tank since you are almost certainly running at a calorie deficit, and the sugar gives you a quick burst like, well, sugar.  

There are plenty of fancy and expensive sports drinks/foods that provide all this, but dairy works as well as any, and better than most.  Try grabbing some chocolate milk, fruit yogurt, or ice cream after your ride.  This is why Dairy Queen is so popular among touring cyclists, even if they never thought of it as recovery food.

In my very poor understanding of nutrition, sports drinks serve a few purposes.  First, they are should taste good so that they entice you to drink a sufficient amount of water.  Next they deliver sugar to give you quick energy.  The arguments between the types of sugar, be they dextrose, sucrose, fructose, or whatever go way over my head, but their primary goal is the same.  The final benefit of sports drinks is salt.  How much salt you need varies from person to person, but cramping is usually a sign that you are running low on salt.  

For most people, standard Gatorade works as well as any of the fancier sports drinks, as can the powdered lemonade or tea mixes, or even Tang.  Some other, more natural choices include diluted fruit juice or honey.

Sean


Offline boonebikeguy

Sports drinks
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2007, 10:11:47 am »
Pastas and complex carbs should be eaten days before you plan on utilizing those carbs. simpler ones say like fresh breads have enougn sugars and fats in them to immediatly make you feel better.

I raced, for  along long time here is what worked for me:

AFTER a long ride? I would immeditaly drink ice cold milk and ovaltine OVALTINE. for meals? Believe it or not the things I got the most benefit from were: Ramen noodles with an egg dropped in (simple egg drop). The noodles are cheap and break down very quikly. I rode like a monster the weeks i ate them as my noon meal. Another thing that helped me HELPED me after a long grueling ride was two ice cold beers. Not three or more just two. Rerlxaed my muscles and I usually drank them later on in the evening, when I woke up I was READY to ride.

Things that never worked for me:
Protein shakes.
Power bars.
eating podwered anything out of a can.

Things that worked for me:
Dr.Peppers on long club rides.(sometimes we stopped for a rest and I drank one at a local ma and pa...ROCKET FUEL.
Eating plain corn flakes before a ride

Rice & eggs for breakfast.

Cliff Bars

Candy Bars
Eating pasta works and everything but don't DON'T eat it right before a ride. Or a day before either. Your body WORKS very hard to digest stuff like heavy pastas. You will ride worse than if you ate say a hamburger and some french fries. I generally eat pastas all week...but I eat smaller protions and know that if i eat say a monday meal of pasta, then be wednesday my body is ready to use that power.My best results came from stuff like Ramen pride, Chicken and rice, couple of beers before bed. I raced for 12 years, and this stuff worked for me after years of trying all the fad crap out there.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb
"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

Offline Sailariel

Sports drinks
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2007, 10:20:54 pm »
Pasta and complex carbs are great the day before the ride. On the day of the ride, I like oatmeal, a bannana, a glass of OJ and some strong coffee. During the ride, I carry 2 24 oz bottles, one full of Gatorade and the other full of water. I also carry a bannana and a couple of Clif Bars. Every 20mi or so we have a rest stop where I chow down on what is there and replenish my liquids and Clif Bars or Power Bars. With that routine, I can go indefinitely. Did a century today and feel great.I`m no nutrition expert but that works for me. I`m also 65.


Offline boonebikeguy

Sports drinks
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2007, 10:18:11 am »
OK,
So obviously we have two conflicting suggestions. So instead of posting an argument, I will only add couple of things and let it go at that. The reason I said what i said about pasta is because it is true. Pastas are difficult for the body to digest. I am not a nutritional expert either. I just raced for a long  time in my life, like on an actual . The reason Cyclist and pasta go together is because in order to gain the benefits of pasta, you need to have it in your daily diet, and proportionatlly. Never  eat a huge gigantic plate of it before or even after a ride.

 But you know instead of inciting ome kind of debate over it that's simply my opinion,just take that as a simple suggestion.

Sports drinks?(AGAIN my simple opinion)

People love to swear by things like Cytomax..well that's dandy I guess, and I know many teams use it. I never noticed the difference between it and gatorade. That's just me. I will say that on long hot rides, I prefer cold water over everything. Gatorade is the bomb too but nothing beats cold water ON a ride. And carrying mixed bottle sets one gatorade one water is what I do as well. I used to mix a little kool-aide (sweetened) and gatorade at times. Another good thing to mix into gatorade for replacement afer a ride is something called :  emer'gen-c    .it is a dietary supplement that is claimed to be an energy booster. But the reason i mix it in with things like gatorade or kool-aide is because of what is in it:
some of what is in it:

Vitamin C B1 B2 B3 B6 B12

POTASSIUM

Chromium.

MOst of the other stuff in it will neithe take away or help but the things I listed DO help recovery. You can certainly find it in places like Organic grocery stores, whole foods carries it I believe and other health food stores.

It works..the taste is not all that but gulping it down with gatorade or kool-aid makes it hunky doory.
Having said these things..


If I came off as some kind of know-it-all expert then just forget what i said and simply go with what you feel and think will wotk.

Safe riding,

and have fun out there.

Paul.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb
"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

Offline no-name

Sports drinks
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2007, 11:58:35 am »
That's great stuff.  What I am gathering is that I need to remebre that
my body needs more than just water when I am riding, and that be
eating smartly I can keep replenished without putting alot of
unnecessary, and unhealthy, crap in.

Now as I recall, the natural yeasts in homebrewed beer has all kinds of
B Vitamins, and nothing tastes better after a ride than a frosty brew.  
Time to get out the old brew kit again.

regards.

Matt


Offline Lydia-Hines

Re: Sports drinks
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2018, 09:29:44 am »
Water will do just fine if you ate a good meal a few hours before the ride. If you go with a not so good meal in your system you may want to take a sports drink and maybe a banana as well.

Offline BikeliciousBabe

Re: Sports drinks
« Reply #7 on: August 26, 2018, 12:41:25 pm »
After more than 11 years, I think he has figured it out.

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Sports drinks
« Reply #8 on: August 26, 2018, 04:16:39 pm »
Don't forget some salt (don't over do it), especially if was a hot day and you sweated and/or drank a lot.  Usually the times I feel super worn out after a long hard day, it is because my electrolytes have gotten low.  Even something small like a snack sized bag of regular potato chips helps immensely.  I am not saying the stuff above doesn't count, but your body does need salt to balance everything out.   

Offline hikerjer

Re: Sports drinks
« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2018, 01:20:45 am »
"Another thing that helped me HELPED me after a long grueling ride was two ice cold beers. -  two cold beers alwsy seems to help me regardless of the situation. ;D ;D ;D

Offline hikerjer

Re: Sports drinks
« Reply #10 on: August 29, 2018, 01:21:19 am »
"Another thing that helped me after a long grueling ride was two ice cold beers." -  two cold beers always seems to help me regardless of the situation. ;D ;D ;D