You don't need a degree in sports science or nutrition to know that one key to maximizing your efforts on the bike or in the gym is proper nutrition during and after a workout.
While manufacturers of sports nutrition products might scare athletes into thinking they need to consume an exact mix of carbs, protein, electrolytes and vitamins in a tiny 15-minute window, sports scientist Christie Aschwanden, author of "Good to Go," assures athletes in our Training Tuesday interview with her that real food within hours of a workout should be sufficient for recovery.
Yet we all know it's not always easy to grab a complete meal during or after a cyclocross or gravel race, hot lap session or trainer workout. Hydration drinks, recovery drinks and gels offer convenient and hopefully pleasant-tasting calories during and after workouts, and there are certainly a ton of options out there.
Training Tuesday: Five New Fuels for cyclocross training.
We've recently received a number of athlete-oriented drinks from Asend Nutrition, Tailwind, OSMO, Born and Fast AF for review, and for today's Training Tuesday installment, we offer up our impressions on them below. Note we do not attest to any performance benefits of such products. There's absolutely no way we have the lab equipment and controlled environment to test such products quantitatively.
Instead, we've commented on taste, offered meaningful stats on cost per serving, and give you some insight into the company and ingredients.
See all five brands' new nutrition products in the slider below.
Happy riding and refueling!
Fast AF Hydration
Fast AF Nutrition is a project of Bikerumor.com’s founder Tyler Benedict. Before Bikerumor, Benedict helmed two beverage brands that were ultimately sold to a larger company.
This year, Benedict launched Fast AF to provide nutrition products at a price that was easier to stomach without sacrificing quality.
Fast AF brings Bike Rumor’s Tyler Benedict back to the drink industry. The lemon-lime tastes familiar, but the other flavors are quite unique. Five Fuels for cyclocross training. Training Tuesday. © Cyclocross Magazine
The hydration mix is sold in a 25-serving bag and retails for $15.95. A serving is two scoops and is mixed with 16oz of water. It contains no artificial sweeteners, colors or flavors and provides 70 calories per serving.
It is dairy, wheat and soy-free and contains no substances banned in competition. Benedict proudly states on the label that he’s tested it during the hottest, most humid days in North Carolina.
We tested it during 45-minute cyclocross races and on an eight-year-old after his races.
Fast AF also uses organic flavors and fruit powders. It’s a good value but our taste testers preferred Asend’s flavors. Five Fuels for cyclocross training. Training Tuesday. © Cyclocross Magazine
The lemon-lime flavor tastes as you’d expect it to, and is both easy to drink and easy on the wallet. The Orange Cranberry and Blueberry Acai are more unique. They’re not overly sweet, but taste like you’re drinking a mix of powders rather than a super-sweet Gatorade or fruit juice. There’s almost a slight medicine taste to them, but during hard efforts, all but the eight-year-old found them more appealing than water.
Benedict certainly delivers on the promise of calories at a price that’s easy to stomach. Not factoring in shipping or the crude name, per calorie and per serving, the Fast AF mixes are the best deal of the lot.
Nutrition Facts
Calories: 70 per serving
Carbohydrates: 18g
Total Sugars: 16g
Vitamin C: 100mg
Riboflavin: .1mg
Niacin: 2mg
Vitamin B6: .4mg
Folate: 8mcg
Vitamin B12: .2mg
Pantothenic Acid: 1mg
Calcium: 20mg
Magnesium: 30mg
Sodium: 360mg
Potassium: 180mg
Price per calorie: $.009
Price per serving: $.64
More info: fastafnutrition.com
