Roadierookie

I have been using Gatorade on and off the bike for years and have recently been told that Gatorade is ineffective and I should use something with complex carbs and some protein (for rides over 3 hours). A friend directed me to the Hammer Nutrition website and I read their extensive info on their products: HEED, Hammer Gels, Recoverite, Perpetuem etc. Does anyone have any advice for me looking to switch to these products? Are they all necessary? What experience do you have with these products?

Thank you very much,

Jeff

ericgu

The advantages of a real sport drink:

They're generally less sweet so you can drink more.
The protein gives you a little more energy and reduces muscle damage
The mix of sugars allows you to absorb more calories/hour.

Additionally, they don't have much fructose, which the ready-made gatorade does. There is a limit in how much fructose you can absorb in an hour, or you get the dreaded "GI distress".

I'm an accelerade guy myself, but the most important part is that you find a drink that you can tolerate drinking. Some guys like accelerade, some like the hammer stuff, some like other stuff.

Accelerade for rides and endurox as a recovery drink has made a big difference for me. I haven't had good experience with gels. I'll sometimes eat some newtons or a few clif bloks for variety, and for long rides (century+) I add some solid food.