Hydration/Recovery Supliments

[NickF]

Hi all,

Has anyone been using any hydration or recovery supliments, during or after riding?

I know it's not advised to just drink water during long periods of exercise and when I run, I tend to use Lucozade Sport, mixed in a water bottle.

Having done a bit of research, other brands I've come across are: Science In Sport, Maximuscle, High 5 and Zipvit.

Anyone got any experience of the above brands?

Many thanks,

Nick

 

[Garz]

There's energy drinks to give you more whilst on the ride, and there's recovery drinks for after the rides. I only require energy through drink/food when I start exceeding thirty mile rides, for you it may differ.

I dont take recovery supplements, however if I commuted or went on successive long outings then I would consider. You can get the same benefits by eating the right foods and timing meals better, but that is an art only you can adapt for your own body.

 

[4F]

Zipvit are good. The energy drink and the caffeine energy plus gel really hit the spot.

 

[fossyant]

Over 30 miles and I use Isostar Long Energy - find something that suits your stomach, as not all suit everyone - get the single patches.

Haven't yet used gels though, but same rules apply - lots of fluids plus gels. Also eat - don't forget that!

Recovery - just eat and re-hydrate - juice, tea...etc, milk or milkshake is good too.

 

[aJohnson]

You'll only really need them for longer rides as said above, they can give you a real kick which can be extremely helpful.

If you're looking at trying some, I know SIS offer a "starter" pack: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Science_in_Sport_Starter_Pack/5300004924/

I'll be buying that pack this week once I save enough money.

 

[zacklaws]

The SIS starter pack was on special offer for £5 in Tesco's last Friday (Centre of Hull branch) so I bought a couple.

 

[longers]

Chocolate milkshake is a very good recovery drink. Frijj ones from the Co-op are two for a pound fifty at the moment.

 

[GrasB]

I use gels on a number of my rides, they're not long but often I'm often carrying a lot of weight which means I can easily bong inside 20miles. A loaded return is only 1mph or so down on average speed than the outgoing leg.

For my commutes I usually have a recovery bar & 500ml of hydration drink at the work end, but for my ride home I just have a decent sandwich & more hydration fluids. I use a recovery bar after my inward commute as it gives the shortest recovery period to get energy back in my legs. It's not cheap but I find I can push harder in to work without it effecting my work, I also have to plan around taking in an excess of energy in the morning

 

[wyno70]

I occasionally use SIS during rides but nothing else other than water and the occasional Lucozade sport or coke if it's a real long ride.

I did John O'Groats to Lands End this year in 8 days averaging between 110 and 120 miles a day and stuck to the above. I don't use recovery drinks at all and prefer to stick to a healthy diet (good mix of carbs and protein), plenty of fruit and liquid!

My after drink treat is usually something like a blended mango with some water chucked in to make it a bit more 'liquidy'.

That works for me.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Chocolate milkshake is a very good recovery drink. Frijj ones from the Co-op are two for a pound fifty at the moment.

I use SIS for rides over 40 miles.

Second Milkshakes as the ultimate cheap, cheerful and effective POST_RIDE recovery product, personally a pint of Nesquick works. Have within 30 mins of stopping.

 

[zacklaws]

I make my own and buy all my ingredients from:-

www.myprotein.co.uk

And usually just make up a 2.1 mixture of maltodextrin and fructose and if I think theres a need add caffeine and salt or electrolyte powder straight to the bottle. My last purchase equates to £12 for 3kgs whereas SIS comes to roughly £18 for 1.6kg. Even a box of glucose,500grm is only about £3 from superdrug which is just as good.

There is a few sites with recipes but a straight forward one is:-

http://www.jibbering.com/sports/drinks.html

 

[NickF]

Thanks for all of you replies guys, very much appreciated.

I've not ben unhappy with Lucozade, which I use at the gym virtually every time. I can run for about 6-7 miles before I need a little extra, compared to just water, hence the Lucozade. I can then run for another 3-4 miles without any acid burn in my legs or tiredness. With riding, I would imagine that a 30-40 mile ride on just water wouldn't be impossible if I've eaten well prior to setting off.

As I've seen these other brands on offer, I just wanted to get some feedback from people who have used them, which you've all kindly done! I'll give SIS and Zipvit a try, as they have trial packs available. As one of you said, the key is finding something that your stomach likes!

I'll give the milkshake thing a try too, I really Frijj so I need no excuse to have one of them! And big thanks to zacklaws too, never thought about making my own protein shake, so will have to give that a go too!

 

[Globalti]

SIS works for me but I can get 25 kgs of maltodextrin for £25 so may go down that route and flog some on here to finance the bag.

 

[HonestMan1910]

Zipvit are good. The energy drink and the caffeine energy plus gel really hit the spot.

+1

Zipvit goods are great, the recovery drink mix is fab.

 

[zacklaws]

The way I see it is, I am not a professional or top amateur cyclist but just a casual cyclist who enjoys a run out on my bike and to keep me fit and healthy and also keep my weight down, I'm not after world records, so I cannot see much point in buying expensive energy drinks etc for my normal runouts, I could buy high performance oils etc for my car but would it make it any better, just a hole in my pocket probably.

When it comes to something special in cycling though, then I will use something like SIS or High 5 but I think its more psychological . In a recent sportive, in training I was doing the course over the time by 15 minutes, but on the day, I fell for the High 5 blurb that it was shaving time off peoples performance so I bought some, and on the day, chopped 15 minutes off my time, but was it the High 5 or being psyched up by so many riders on the route, tagging on with riders, getting coaxed along and chasing riders. I think I could have done it with my home made drink but it was also the psychological effect that helped to pull me along as well.

In reality you do have to ask yourself, do you need to buy ready made energy drinks or just make them yourself. Look at the ingredients on shop bought ones and there is nothing much in them that you cannot buy yourself. Sadly gels are a bit harder to make, but you can just carry some dextrose tablets if you feel the need to take something.