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!
Born Superior Sports Care
Born Superior Sports Care offers both nutrition and body care products developed in collaboration with sponsored professionals. Founded in 1985 by Pharmacist and professional cyclist Wim Jennen, Born aims to develop products that “contribute to sportive health, experience and top performances in a natural and ethical way for everyone who holds onto a healthy and active lifestyle.”
Born ISO PRO+ sports drink combines a carbohydrate drink with a peptide protein source for a one-stop endurance fuel. A serving has a 2:1 ratio of glucose and fructose and protein from peptide sources.
The Born ISO Pro+ drink combines carbs and milk protein for a during-exercise drink that’s not too sweet. Five Fuels for cyclocross training. Training Tuesday. © Cyclocross Magazine
A 400g (10 serving) tub retails for $24.90 and a 280g tub retails for $19.90. A four-scoop (40g) serving is mixed with 16oz of water.
The drink isn’t thick or milky like a recovery drink, but the protein separates it from your typical carb-only hydration mix.
Per serving, it’s priced on par with thicker, more calorie-dense recovery drinks.
Prefer a gel for your calories? Born Superior Liquid Gels are provide concentrated carbohydrates in gel form without the need for extra water to wash them down, similar to the SIS gels.
Born, available for our European friends, features gels and “caffeine liquid” for a quick jolt. The liquid gels are similar to S.I.S. and don’t require water to go down easily. Five Fuels for cyclocross training. Training Tuesday. © Cyclocross Magazine
The gels contain 22g of carbohydrates and are available with caffeine in cherry flavor. A single gel costs $2.90 and a box of 12 sells for $29.90. They’re relatively pleasant tasting and easy to consume, but remind us of cherry flavor cough syrup.
The company also has a “Caffeine Liquid” that delivers 80mg of caffeine plus B vitamins and guarana in a tiny 25ml vial.
Born Superior Sports Care products are currently not available in the U.S. but are widely available in Europe and in Canada.
More info: bornnorthamerica.com
