Sports Drink Plus Gels/Bars Together???

MST.ESQ

MST.ESQ

New Member
Probably time for me to invest in a training book, but until then... Should I be using BOTH a drink powder and gels while on training rides? They seem to have very similar ingredients. The GU gels (Cliff blocks, etc) recommend one every 20-45 minutes - but I also drink over 1/2 bottle of Cytomax during that same time period. I have yet to "bonk" with this approach but am I taking in twice as much sugar and carbs than is necessary?

My issue (as some may recall from a prior thread) is that I can't drink plain water as it makes me sick to my stomach.
 
No expert advice here; But you may have to experience what sits in your stomach best. Salt, caffeine, etc. Everyones different.

I've had good results with soda and M&M's, your results may vary. I've also seen people stick a brick of Fig Newtons in their jersey pocket.
 
It will be different for everyone, but if you're not suffering you're probably taking enough in. It is different for everyone, experiment to find out what works for you. If you aren't taking in any plain water, you might want to dilute your sports drink more if you are taking in a lot of gels as well.

Personally, I use a mix of both water and sports drink (usually heed), gels (accels/hammer/gu) and solids (cliff bars/apples/bananas) for longer duration rides. I generally consume 1-2 bottles of sports drink for every bottle of water. I ran exclusively HEED and gels for my endurance races this year with good results, for me.

I'm no expert though, I generally grab some fast food after said longer rides as well.
 
I am going to try and cut back on how much powder I put in the bottles to cut back on the sugar. I do like having something solid during a ride so I supplement the gels with small cliff bars and Cliff blocks (my favorite).

I think I am going to try and find some training/nutrition book this weekend. I just plugged in my numbers into the mapmyride nutrition planner and it told me I am "overweight." Nice! I obviously need more help.
 
keep on cutting back until you bonk .. then you know how much you need :D
 
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