This energy gel stuff is pretty new to me. It wasn’t until I started doing P90X (an extreme workout program) this summer that I became super aware of my protein and carb intake and started making sure that I was getting enough carbs to fuel my workouts and enough protein to build muscle.
If you’re in the same boat and want a little primer on what’s available, here are some items I’ve personally tested out this year. These are great for an energy burst when you’re on the road and exercising and perfect for stocking stuffers for the athlete in your life.
A few notes:
- All of these are meant to give your body an energy boost with a combo of carbs and electrolytes.
- Some flavors contain caffeine so if you’re averse to that, be careful of what you’re buying.
Sharkies Organic Energy Sports Chews
These energy chews from Sharkies are my favorite of the bunch for a couple of reasons. First, they come in watermelon flavor – ha ha! I also like the fact that one package is one serving with 140 calories. The other brands below are two servings to a package with a higher calorie count (and no, you cannot eat half a package :-)).
Flavors include Watermelon Scream, Fruit Splash, Citrus Squeeze, Berry Blast and two flavors for kids including Mixed Berry and Tropical Fruit.
36 grams of carbs, 17 grams of sugar, 0 protein. 140 calories per serving, one serving per package.
Available on Amazon for under $2 per package.
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ProBar Bolt Organic Energy Chews
Four or five ProBar Bolt Energy Chews are considered one serving but it’s hard to eat just four or five. With B vitamins and antioxidants in addition to complex carbs and electrolytes, they’ll give you an extra boost for your workout.
They come in Strawberry, Raspberry, Berry Blast and Orange.
24 grams of carbs, 12 grams of sugars, 0 protein. 90 calories per serving, two servings per package.
Available on Amazon for about $2.50 per package.
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Gu Chomps – These energy chews are not too different from those above in that they are going to provide you with a burst of energy for your workouts with their mix of carbs and electrolytes. A big plus is that they offer a wide variety of flavors.
They come in Lemon, Strawberry, Blueberry Pomegranate, Orange, Watermelon, Peach Tea and Cranberry Apple.
23 grams of carbs, 11 grams of sugar, 0 protein.
Available on Amazon for under $2.50 per package.
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Clif Shot Bloks – With 33 calories per cube, these ShotBloks from Clif are also a good combo of electrolytes and carbs for an energy boost during workouts.
Flavors include Black Cherry, Chocolate Cherry, Citrus, Cran-Razz, Margarita, Mountain Berry, Orange, Strawberry and Tropical Punch. Three flavors contain caffeine.
24 grams of carbs, 12 grams of sugar, 0 protein. 100 calories per serving, two servings per package.
Available on Amazon for under $2.50 per package.
Gu Energy Gel – What makes this different from the chews above is that this gel is going to work faster in your body than the chews. Each little packet contains 100 calories and it’s recommended to consume one 15 minutes prior to exercise and then every 45 minutes during exercise.
Available in some interesting flavors including Salted Caramel, Peanut Butter, Jet Blackberry, Vanilla Bean, Chocolate Outrage, Tri-Berry, Strawberry Banana, Espresso Love, Mandarin Orange, Lemon Sublime, Just Plain and Peppermint Stick.
22 grams of carbs, 7 grams of sugar, 0 protein. 100 calories per serving. One serving per pouch.
Available on Amazon for about $2.25 per package.
Nuun Active Hydration Tablets – After testing the products above, I came away convinced that what got me through my workouts best was simply having plenty of water and electrolytes in my system rather than carbs for fuel. A friend had suggested Nuun hydration tablets as well as coconut water. So, I would add a Nuun tablet to my bottle of water and sip it throughout my workouts and drink coconut water afterward. This seemed to do the trick.
Available on Amazon for about $3.75 a tube (12 tablets to a tube).
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I have to admit that these were all very similar to me. I have a particular sensitivity to sugar and ultimately I discovered that they were all just a bit too high in sugars/carbs for my body to take, even during more extreme workouts. Perhaps I need to run a marathon in order to reap the full effects!
That doesn’t mean these aren’t a great option for you. You’ll have to test them out yourself.
While I think on one or two occasions I felt like one package of these helped me get through a P90X workout, mostly I felt like really all I was doing was eating extra calories. Plus having that sugar in my system made me hungry to eat protein so I was eating more calories that day than I would have liked.
And, yeah, these were all so good that sometimes I did treat these like candy, reaching for a package when I wanted something sweet to eat but wanted to pretend I was being healthy.
Travel Well,
Beth
Disclosure: Some items on this page were sent to me for review. Regardless, everything I have said in the post reflects my honest opinions.
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