# Accelerade



## Scott speedster (Aug 15, 2010)

Do any of you use Accelerade or any other endurance products? I have used some gels and the cliff block shots on long hikes, but never anything else any recomendations? thanks


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

I like Gatorade. Most people shrug it off as being ineffective but it works for me. Cliff bars are good, too. I've never used Gu or anything like that. Sometimes I'll take trail mix or just raisins.


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## sxharr05 (Aug 2, 2010)

I've gotten decent results over the years with cytomax. As far as solids, I'll go with a Clif bar or bagel and banana.


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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

I may be one of the last Powerbar holdouts. I like that they don't crumble all over the place when I'm trying to eat one during a ride. A little more of a food-like experience than a gel.


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## ColoradoVeloDude (Oct 7, 2005)

Scott speedster said:


> Do any of you use Accelerade or any other endurance products? I have used some gels and the cliff block shots on long hikes, but never anything else any recomendations? thanks


See what works for you. My body doesn't "do" Accelerade. I am certain it's a good product, but it just does a number on my stomach. I finally settled down on Cytomax because it tastes good to me and it comes in a powder you can mix up pretty easy in a water bottle.

As for on-board fueling, the choices are almost endless. I like the Clif products because they are packaged well. Sport beans and GU are pretty sweet. Snickers Marathon bars are tasty but the chocolate in them can be messy. Odwalla, Lara, and even Starbucks has bars and other items you can use.

Some people even use their own concoctions of rice mixed in with other binders (egg, peanut butter). Bagels work good too (cut up on pieces for easy management). 

The best piece of cycling fuel I ever had was a baked potato given out at a rest stop on Ride The Rockies. The San Luis Potato Board ("Quality Higher Than The Mountains") sponsored a rest stop. It was hot and dusty and the last thing you wanted was a baked potato in 100F+ degree weather. But, I ate it and about 15 minutes later felt like someone had put jet fuel in my engine. 

Go search the 'net for some nutrition explanation on how your body processes food. Sugars get converted into glucose. Glucose is used by your body as an energy source. Your body doesn't really care about the source to synthesize the glucose. But there are more concentrated sources out there than others. Get too concentrated and you might have stomach issues. Get too much "filler" and you might bonk. 

The trick to all of this is to find the happy medium. In my case this means having a good dinner the night before a ride and a good breakfast (oatmeal, fruit, yogurt). The meal the night before fills up all the energy stores. Breakfast helps to top it off before the ride. Once you start riding it's a losing proposition - your body is taking out energy faster than it can be replaced - the best you can hope for in on-board refueling is to slow the loss.

Hope it helps...


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## runnerstreet (Aug 8, 2010)

sxharr05 said:


> I've gotten decent results over the years with cytomax. As far as solids, I'll go with a Clif bar or bagel and banana.


+1
For long rides I use one bottle of cytomax, hammer gels, and bananas.
For short rides I use one bottle of cytomax and some gels.
Works for me…


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## crazyc (Jun 5, 2008)

I tried full strength Accelerade but I felt like puking the whole ride. I tried 1/2 strength
which worked a lot better. Gatorade and some sort of gels for rides under 50 miles.
Longer rides include "power bars", bananas, pbj's, etc.


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## SidNitzerglobin (Jun 22, 2010)

(1) 22oz 2/3 - 3/5 strength lemon lime Gatorade, (1) 22oz water, and a Clif bar (especially digging on the non-chocolate coated peanut and pretzel Mojo ones of late as they don't have quite the same brick in the gut effect the other Clif bars can cause) and I'm set for ~3 to 4 hours. 

Never tried any of the other sport drinks out there.


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## erj549 (Jul 26, 2008)

I did Accelerade for a while, but it's honestly pretty gross. I tried to use it to see if I could notice any performance boost coming from the protein in it. I couldn't, and it is just too nasty to keep drinking if it's not giving you any advantage. The real deal is Cytomax. It tastes awesome, doesn't give you that desire to puke like Gatorade, and has a lot of additional scientifically formulated ingredients that should (at least in theory) make you perform better. Oh, and it tastes awesome.


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## twiggy73 (Jan 19, 2010)

I have moved away from gatorade purely for the fact that it doesnt contain any magnesium 
My research and trials have found drinks that are lower in sugar and have mag in them have helped me increase my preformance and most of all assist my recovery 

The mag is said to help with endurance preformance 

I have just had a look at the cytosport web site and it you get the cytomax powder it contains mag and other good things including potassium and sodium also very important for endurance and preformance and most of all very low in sugar about 12% compared to gatorade at 36%

glucose found in things like gatorade just go through the system to quickly and are a quick fix so have a look around and always try stuff out first espeacialy before a big ride 

You dont want to get half way through a century and find your self throwing up 

Thats my experience so far with sports drinks 

Twiggy

PS just had a look at the accelarade web site aswell one thing that i dont understand is the addition of cholesterol ??? i am trying to lower mine not add to it lol 
and with the cytosport contains chromium ?? would be interesting to know why


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

I do Accelerade on my 2 hour rides.

Accelerade and Gu flask on my longer rides.


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## vontress (Jul 19, 2009)

+1 for Cytomax. I've tried a lot of them and I prefer the Cytomax. I have to mix it a little lighter than instructions or it gets too sweet for me. For long rides I prefer real food. If I have to use gels, I try to save towards the end of the ride and limit to 1 per hour. Otherwise I get stomach problems. It's unfortunatly something you have to go through but it looks like your getting a good starting point.


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## frdfandc (Nov 27, 2007)

Gotta try different types to find what works for you. I can't stand Accelerade, Cytomax, or a couple of others on the market. Gatorade works well for me.


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## Becky (Jun 15, 2004)

Vitalyte for me.


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## Geoffersonspin (Feb 12, 2010)

Nobody has mentioned this yet but I've recently picked up some Nuun tablets. They are like an alka-seltzer tablet you drop in your bottle and it has all the electrolytes you need. The only thing it doesn't have is carbs/calories, so if you use it you will need to supplement it with something else to give you actual calories on longer rides. It's tasty though.


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## Scott speedster (Aug 15, 2010)

Thanks for all the advice I pick up some powerbars and really enjoyed them. I am going to try some cytomax on my next ride.


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## gardenrunner (Jul 25, 2009)

Long rides: HEED, Hammer Gels, home made energy bars, and we'll stop to eat if it's a really long one. 
Short rides: HEED and Hammer Gels. 

*Hammer products are really easy on the stomach- I should know, I just went through a bout of horrible stomach /GI issues over the past year and that stuff never once gave me problems.


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