Energy Gels: Can They Help Performance?
By Chris Newport, Head Coach and Sports Nutritionist
Energy Gels: What Are They?
If you’re looking for a convenient, lightweight, portable (especially when running or cycling), condensed source of carbohydrates for your next long workout or race, energy gels are it.
Most of them contain about 25 grams of carbohydrates, or approximately 100 calories. They are thick liquids like honey or sugar/water that don’t require chewing and “go down” quickly during intense exercise.
Can energy gels help performance?
Carbohydrates during exercise are heavily researched for benefiting endurance performance, particularity during intense exercise over 90 minutes.
Many people use them and have great success with them. Others complain that they just can’t get past the “corn syrup” texture. I had one friend liken it to eating “snot.” Lovely, eh?
Your fueling formula is unique
We use metabolic testing to determine each athletes carbohydrate needs based on the paces they’ll be doing during training and racing. In fact, we call it the Fueling Formula (VO2 testing).
For example, we’ve seen many women racing marathons who need 20-45g of carbs per hour while men generally need 30-50g. Considering this, gels can definitely fit into someone’s fueling formula.
Avoiding the gel “gut bomb”
Gels are often be too many carbs at one time, which can cause stomach upset.
Think of it like this: on a normal basis, how often do you “chug” 1-2 tablespoons of honey in a sitting? That’s likely not going to make your stomach feel great during exercise, let alone at rest.
People also make the mistake of combining gels with sports drinks and additional food, reducing the time it takes for those carbs to get delivered to working muscles and causing GI distress (usually nausea).
Spreading a gel out over 30-60 minutes rather than taking it all at once allows for better gut tolerance (i.e. improved intestinal perfusion). Try diluting gels in an exercise flask like this one.
Experiment with gels before race day
Just like anything else, train your gut before race day.
I’ve made this mistake using Huma Chia Gel on race day (yes, sports nutritionists make dumb mistakes too). I couldn’t get past the chia seed lumpy texture and intense jelly-like flavor, so I didn’t eat it (and my pace suffered at the end of the race).
If I have to use them, my personal favorites are Gu Gel (plain: the one that I got ridiculed for resembling “snot”) , and Honey Stinger Organic Gel. There’s also Untapped, which is pure maple syrup, or nature’s original energy gel (other than honey, of course).
Some of our athletes have done well with Infinit Dill Pickle, Infinit Tripwire Caffeinated Grape, and First Endurance EFS, although I haven’t personally tried them.
Some newer ones on the market are Muir Energy, with flavors like Pineapple Kale, which actually has pineapple, kale, molasses, coconut nectar and salt in it (no flavors added), Blackberry Thyme, or Cashew Vanilla Mate, which contains the slow releasing caffeine from mate.
Just keep in mind gels are not necessary for racing, but they are convenient.
Should you use gels?
We specialize in developing customized fueling formulas based on your metabolic and sweat testing results and personalized goals/paces. Schedule your Free Discovery Session with one of our certified sports nutritionists and Registered Dietitians today and get your customized recommendations!
