Nutrition Review: Hammer Products while Mountain Biking

We just took a 3 day trip up to Kingdom Trails. Each day we had a slightly different ride; I tried to tailor the energy supplements I used to the particular ride, to varying degrees of success. 

Day 1: Hammer Gel – Raspberry flavor – on a short ride

I did eat a Clif protein bar before this ride, because we started out around 4:30 and I hadn’t eaten since lunchtime! About an hour in, before we started our climb out, we both had our Raspberry gels. They tasted like melty Starbursts. I tend to think the fruit flavors of these gels taste like melty candy. But it gave a nice burst of energy, much like it did when I was road biking. Thumbs up.

 

 

 

 

Day 2: Hammer Perpetuem – Orange-Vanilla and Caffe Latte – and Hammer Gel – Nocciola 

We knew we’d be taking a long ride this day, and that it was supposed to be a warm day (not hot, but in the high 70s), so we mixed a package of Perpetuem into our Camelbaks and set off. I was initially worried about mixing in the Camelbaks, but it was surprisingly easy. Whether it’s because it was super diluted with a full pack of water, or because these Perpetuems just have a nice mild flavor, we again found both flavors of the Perpetuem to be a bit chalky and very mildly flavored like Creamsicle and coffee, respectively. Like when we had it in our water bottles, the flavoring came out more as the water in our packs got warmer, but it was never unpalatable or overwhelming.

I had my nocciola flavored Gel about 2/3 of the way through 3 1/2 hours on the trails. It gave me a nice boost of energy to finish the ride, and tasted, as my husband said, “Like Nutella. Kind of crappy Nutella.” He supplemented with it earlier than I did, and was fine for the end of the ride.

I was, like on our hot road ride, very, very happy to have the Perpetuem on this ride. I felt fresh and perky the whole time; I stayed hydrated and didn’t need very much to supplement besides that even on a longer day.

 

 

Day 3: Hammer HEED – Strawberry and Mandarin Orange – and Hammer Gel – Espresso 

HEED [“Hydrating Energy Electrolyte Drink”] differs from Perpetuem in a few ways: it has no soy protein isolate, so is missing some of the small amounts of protein and vitamins that come from that source; it’s lower-calorie per packet, meant to be consumed over a shorter exercise period, and thus has fewer carbohydrates and sugars per packet than Perpetuem; and it has no amino acids. It’s Perpetuem without the sustained-energy components; it’s supposed to be pure energy. The body absorbs water-dissolved fuels more efficiently than solid fuels and gels; this was our first time trying one, and we were excited.

We planned a slightly shorter ride time this day, but it was supposed to be quite a bit warmer than the day before, so we decided it was the right time to put a packet of HEED in our Camelbacks. Retrospectively, we probably should have put at least two packs in to actually get any benefit, but we thought consuming it within the time period in which we were biking would make up for that difference.

HEED smells good. Pouring it into my waiting pack smelled like pouring a pixie stick; the flavor, even in 48 oz of water, came through much stronger than in the Perpetuem. It tasted pleasant while riding. I imagine that, less diluted (say, one packet in one 20-oz water bottle), it would have the flavor quality of a sports drink rather than flavored water.

Because I diluted the HEED so much, I wasn’t expecting to feel much; I just wanted a little extra boost of hydration/electrolytes on a very hot day. Maltrodextrin is the sugar in HEED, as it is in Gels; this is supposed to be an efficiently-absorbed, low GI sugar while exercising. I generally find that I have fewer hard sugar crashes – insulin issues – with maltodextrin than other sugar sources, including natural sugars like cane sugar or maple syrup. Continual drinking of HEED at this dilution did give me a sense of constant rehydration and replenishment, but I felt a little extra-jumpy. Maybe the lack of protein alongside carbohydrate? Maybe the faster absorption because it was water-based?

Then I had my Hammer Gel. The Espresso flavor has caffeine in it. Oh man, does it have caffeine in it like doing a shot of espresso. it tastes like very sweet coffee. On the whole, we find these Hammer Gels to be quite palatable. However, maybe because I’d faceplanted two days earlier; maybe because of the sun; maybe because of the sugar delivery systems; maybe because of the caffeine; I started seeing bight spots and reeling a little. I felt like I was floating, riding. I rode fast, and it was fun, but I’m not sure I would combine these two products again in quite the way I did!