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Hi,
I'm starting a new weekly series on the latest in fueling, products, training, and athletes. I was told by marketing I can say whatever I want, so here it goes!
I had it backwards. Let's do Drink before Gels.
For the last few years we have been gel, gel, gel to get to your 80g, 100g, or 120g+ per hour of fuel. I'm guilty of this as well, leaving with a dozen or more gels for long workouts. But if you look at the science and the cost, high carb drinks should be filling a lot of those carb needs and gels really should be your "power-ups".
The science says that if you are trying to consume 120g of carbs per hour, you should have 2g every minute. Since we have to still run, ride, and do things, it is not practical to fuel every minute. But drinks are easier to "sip" on every 5 or 10 minutes. A sip of Maurten 320 is up to 8g of carbs per sip.
The economics. I added up the cost per carb of Maurten Drink ($0.05 per carb) and Maurten Gel 100 ($0.16 per carb). That's crazy. Why haven't I done this math before!
Here is what to do: Build your fueling foundation around high carb drinks and then add on gels, chews, and workout bars to hit your final hourly carb goal.
Start with your training and use a high-carb drink in all your training for the next month.
Here is the deal: I have Maurten Drink at 40% off today. This is one of those "it never happens" deals. Actually this is the best deal ever on Maurten Drink Mix.
If you haven't tried Maurten Drink Mix, this is the drink that started the high-carb revolution. There is the 160 (40g of carbs) great for workouts under 1 hour and 320 (80g of carbs) for workouts over 1 hour.
Protein is having its moment
I've personally already jumped on the protein trend and I'm not getting off. I used to save a protein shake for only after my hardest workouts. No more. I'm all in having a protein shake pretty much every day and the transformation in how I'm gaining strength and body composition has been a total surprise to me.
I guess I'm not the only one. This week was the Natural Foods Expo called Expo West with something like 70K people attending. It was all about protein—it was protein everywhere.
Two big trends here. First is how much protein you take. I recently read a scientific study that basically said that we may want to be taking way more protein per "shake/meal". The idea being that more protein means that you keep muscle synthesis (strength building/recovery) going for longer. So the days of the 20g to 25g of protein a shake may soon be 40g to 50g of protein.
The second trend is "clear whey" protein. This is a protein shake that is more like a hydration drink. My secret is not using water like they recommend. Still use milk and blend it with some ice = delicious. I just launched "Protein" as a top level category on The Feed, here are some protein product highlights:
- ProMix is now available at The Feed and has some of the cleanest (no fillers, nothing added) Whey Protein on the market.
- My Protein (2nd biggest protein brand in the world) has some great Clear Whey Proteins to try out.
- Styrkr Bar 50+ is a workout and recovery powerhouse with 45g of carbs and 15g of Protein.
What I'm taking
Once a month I'll update you on my regular routine of what I'm taking right now and what I've added recently.
Morning Routine:
Drinks:
- Magna (Magnesium Hydration Drink I'm taking midday, great flavors)
- Mortal (Mango Salty is my girl)
- Totum Sport (drink shot of sea water, 2 a day when I go to altitude)
Workout:
Protein:
As needed:
Finally, I hurt my back this week, this is what I did
So dumb. My back has been great for years (after I had surgery a few years ago). I'm doing all sorts of crazy stuff in the gym, skiing, no problems. Go to an early morning spin class and I'm now an 80-year-old man that needs a cane. I think I had my bars too low, or maybe it was all the spin dance moves, but it really messed me up. I raided the warehouse and this is what I did. Good news, it is already doing much better:
I hope you enjoyed this weekly first of a weekly series? Will you let me know if I should keep doing it? (reply with a 👍)
Enjoy your week. Push hard in your training at least one day so you are feeling it again the next day.
- Matt
Founder
The Feed.
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