Staying hydrated during long races can be really difficult. You’re focused on making your best time, so you want to charge forward. But if you charge through your body’s cries for help, it won’t be long before you’re left cramping and nauseous. The following companies make hydration and recovery for endurance athletes extremely easy. Whether you’re someone who loves a quality powder or chews, chances are there’s a product that will help you get through the toughest parts of your activity.
| Best Flavor | VFuel |
| Best Value | Tailwind Nutrition |
| Best Nutritional Content | Infinit Nutrition |
| Most Unique | Slopeside Syrup |
Hydration and Recovery Tips
Endurance athletes put their bodies under a tremendous amount of strain, which is why fueling is so important to your success. Balancing your vitamin and mineral intake can have a tremendous impact on your overall performance. The following video will walk you through the basics of hydration and recovery for endurance athletes. The overview provides insight into sodium output and proper replenishment.
Key takeaways about hydration and recovery:
Hydration and recovery are important elements of the training process. By providing your body with the appropriate building blocks, you’re more likely to set yourself up for success. But what happens to us during training, anyways?
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- We sweat at a rate of about 1/2-1 liter per hour (cool temps)
- We sweat at a rate of about 3 liters per hour (warmer temps)
You’ll probably end up dehydrated after your training session because we lose sodium in the highest concentration during endurance sports. And the consumption of sodium and electrolytes is essential to maintaining health.
Finding ways to balance your electrolyte and fuel intake is an extremely important part of the athletic process. Luckily, there are tons of products on the market that help us to do just that.
Skratch labs
Skratch Labs offers a variety of products that are geared towards the adventure athlete. You can select sugary gels, electrolyte mixes or recovery drinks from this brand. But one of our favorite products was the Sport Hydration Mix.
MSRP: $35 / 20 single servings
$1.75 / serving
Calories per Serving: 80
While Skratch Labs offers flavors like Strawberry Lemonade, Passion Fruit and Matcha Green Tea & Lemon, our favorite was actually the Lemon & LIme. The Lemon & Lime hydration mix has 80 calories per packet, featuring decent levels of sodium and carbohydrates. But the sugar content is also extremely high, with 19g per serving. Overall, the flavor of this drink mix was delicious and the product was satiating. Additionally, this brand offers bars, energy chews and recovery mixes. Despite the company’s mission to minimize sugar consumption, we found the chews and bars to be too sweet.
About Skratch Labs: Skratch Labs was born when Dr. Allen Lim began making his own fuel for athletics. He worked as a cycling coach and was inspired by the need to boost the nutritional content that was accessible to these types of athletes. Dr. Lim began diluting conventional sports drinks to minimize the sugar content. And then he started to add the minerals and nutrients that our bodies actually need during performance, giving us a more balanced way to hydrate. This company focuses on natural ingredients, attempting to veer away from conventional fillers and additives.
Tailwind Nutrition
Tailwind Nutrition offers everything from caffeinated endurance fuel to calming recovery mixes. With flavors that range from Cola to Tropical Buzz, it’s not difficult to find an option that suits your palate. But the benefits of incorporating fuel like this into your regimen are plentiful too. Out of these mixes, our favorite was the Caffeinated Green Tea Buzz Endurance Fuel.
MSRP: $38.99 / 50 servings
$0.77 / serving
Calories per Serving: 100
This particular mix has plenty of salt, carbs and sugar to keep you motivated during your long adventures. This company prides itself on preventing nausea, and the Green Tea Buzz does a great job. It’s tasty, full of vitamins and minerals and easy to swallow. And unlike many competitive products, it doesn’t have a nasty aftertaste. Overall, Tailwind’s products are substantial in their performance. And we love that they’re also affordable, despite their high-quality.
About Tailwind Nutrition: The founder of Tailwind Nutrition began his search for better ways to fuel after vomiting into a trashcan after the Leadville 100. Jeff wondered if it was possible to create a product with dense nutrition that wouldn’t cause nausea and discomfort. Together Jeff and Jenny Vierling created Tailwind Nutrition in order to do just that. The resulting products include fuel and recovery options, giving your body the extra boost it needs.
Slopeside Syrup / Untapped
Slopeside Syrup offers an array of intriguing, natural products. This brand built the company based on New England’s dedication to maple syrup. Out of the company’s products, we enjoyed the Maple Untapped Syrup the most. Though naturally sweet, this product is pure in its construction.
MSRP: $89. 95 / 60 packets
$1.50 / packet
Calories per Serving: 100
Slopeside Syrup’s Maple Untapped Syrup is delicious and it offers a different option for those who are used to sipping on gels. It comes with plenty of carbs, sugars and salt to refill your stores. And while this product was one of our favorites, we also really enjoyed the Ginger Mapleaid and Lemon Waffle. All of this company’s goods are easy to take with you on the go. And they focus on natural ingredients, which makes it easy to feel good about the consumption of them.
About Slopeside Syrup: Untapped is a New England company that has a unique take on nutrition for the endurance athlete. While most shops feature products that are full of ingredients with weird names, Untapped keeps it simple. Ted King, the company’s founder, saw tremendous potential in maple syrup. And it wasn’t long before the company started turning that delicious syrup into fuel for endurance athletes. Today, the brand offers traditional syrup, waffles and mapleaid.
Infinit Nutrition
Every athlete is different. Our genetic makeup paired with our experience determines where our strengths and weaknesses lie. Which is why customizing nutrition is really important. Infinit Nutrition does a phenomenal job of doing just that by offering customized hydration and recovery drinks. Just call up a company nutritionist and it won’t be long before you have a series of products that are designed just for you. We had the pleasure of trying out a watermelon flavored hydration powder and a vanilla flavored recovery powder. While both were terrific in their own right, the recovery powder was a game changer.
MSRP: $51.45 / 12 servings
$4.29 / serving
Calories per Serving: 300
Our recovery blend featured 300 calories to replenish our stores after long endurance activities. Each serving has 20g of protein and 55g of carbs. But depending on your needs, you can opt for a lower calorie option. And you can customize flavor, flavor sweetness and protein type. Overall, we found this recovery blend to be really great in terms of nutrition. Our only caveat is that each serving is a hefty two scoops, which seemed like a lot of powder. Due to the nutritionist’s expertise, guidance and customization options, Infinit Nutrition is a really neat company. But it’s not the most affordable option on the market.
About Infinit Nutrition: The founder of Infinit Nutrition, Michael Folan, aimed to provide wholesome nutrition for endurance athletes of all kinds when he created the company. As a ten time Ironman finisher, Folan wanted to take the guesswork out of nutrition. Today, the company is so confident in their products that they offer an 100% satisfaction guaranteed policy for the first 30 days. And their team of experts makes it easy to cater to your athletic needs.
Saltstick
Saltstick fastchews offer a really quick and efficient way to keep your salt stores high. Rather than worrying about lugging around powders during your runs, you can pop two of these tabs in your mouth and chew them on the go. It can be difficult to replenish your body’s essential vitamins and minerals while you’re living an active life. But saltstick products changes that factor. Fastchews are easily accessible and simple to implement into your lifestyle. We had the chance to try out a few flavors of these tablets. And the peach flavor was our favorite.
MSRP: $15 / 30 servings
$0.50 / serving
Calories per Serving: 10
The peach flavored fastchews taste like peach rings – the sugary gas station candy. We looked forward to taking these tablets during long workouts because the flavor is so great. Each serving has a whopping 100 mg of sodium, 30 mg of potassium, 10 mg of calcium and 6 mg of magnesium. And the accessibility of these tablets makes them easy to pack with you on any kind of adventure. With flavors like watermelon, orange, and lemon lime, there’s an option for anyone. Plus, they’re affordable.
About Saltstick: Dr. Jonathan Toker built Saltstick as a way to compliment his lifestyle as a triathlete. With an educational background in organic chemistry, he used his experience and expertise to cultivate the perfect list of ingredients for athletic support. Saltstick products were the result of Dr. Toker’s efforts. And today, the company’s products are used across the globe.
Vfuel
VFuel specializes in gels and hydration mixes. We had the chance to try out a number of both, and none of them disappointed us. But our favorites were the cool citrus gels and cool lime hydration mix. The Cool Lime Hydration mix is available in a sample pack or in a package of 12. Each serving comes in a durable package, making it easy to take with you while you’re on the go.
MSRP: $23.95 / 12 servings
$2.00 / serving
Calories per Serving: 200
Vfuel’s Cool Lime Hydration Mix balances the subtle saltiness that endurance athletes need with a citrus flavor. Each packet contains plenty of carbs, sodium and sugar to keep your energy stores from depleting during your adventure. Made in the USA, this product is one of the best tasting that we’ve had the pleasure of encountering. And each packet has higher caloric content than the average hydration mix, too.
About Vfuel: Vfuel was founded by runners from Colorado. By prioritizing “taste, quality, and performance” the founders hoped to create products that would fuel endurance athletes through any challenge. Together, a team of athletes tested prototypes during races and long adventures. And after extensive research, they arrived at the hydration and gel products that created Vfuel.
Hydrant
Hydrant offers a series of different hydration options, giving you the chance to caffeinate yourself or to stick with traditional powders. With flavors like Grapefruit, Blood Orange and Lime, there are plenty of options to choose from. One of our favorite options was the Caffeinated Lemon Hydration Mix.
MSRP: $43.75 / 30 servings
$1.46 / serving
Calories per Serving: 20
The Caffeinated Lemon Hydration Mix offers the perfect hint of citrus without overpowering the palate. Compared to many popular sports drinks, this product provides up to 3x the amount of electrolytes and significantly less sugar. But we love that this product offers a caffeine boost too. Each serving contains 100 mg of caffeine and 200 mg of L-Theanine. But on top of offering your body all of the fuel it needs, this product also does not contain artificial fillers and sweeteners.
About Hydrant: Hydrant’s founders, John and Jai, were on a mission to offer a healthy hydration option when they created the company. Recognizing that many Americans live in a constant state of dehydration, the duo set out to build a hydration product that could remedy such a basic issue. While athletes use this fuel, it was intended to meet the needs of the masses, too.
Nuun
Nuun offers a variety of hydration products for the eager athlete. And among them is the Mixed Berry Hydration Mix. This product is as delicious as it is useful. And it’s easy to stay hydrated when you like the flavor of your product.
MSRP: $20 / 16 servings
$1.25 / serving
Calories per Serving: 60
We found the Mixed Berry Hydration Mix to be rather tasty, even though we tend to prefer hydration products with a little tartness to them. Each serving has 15 G of sugar, 380 MG of sodium and 200 MG of potassium. And we love that Nuun products are available in tablet form. This makes them accessible while you’re on the run.
About Nuun: Nuun was the first company to separate electrolytes from carbohydrates. This essentially means that they’re built to hydrate the body without giving you all the added junk that many competitive products contain. Today, Nuun products are some of the most accessible due to their popularity and time-tested formula.
When you live a fast-paced, athletic lifestyle, it can be difficult to slow down long enough to boost your body’s energy stores. But your energy output is so extreme as an endurance athlete that it’s extremely important to find ways to balance the hydration and recovery process. By providing yourself with the perfect balance of products, you’ll ensure your success as an athlete.
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