Which energy gels work best

If you are able to run the 10k under 40 minutes, you do not need to take on any carbs, but if you run between minutes, you should take a swig of a sports drink if you feel like you need to. The benefits of taking on fuel do not make too much of a difference until you are running for minutes though, so if you are running under that, there is not really a big need for it, unless you want to take something to wake you up! Just like almost every facet of running, the timing of when you should take your gels is individual.

Each runner absorbs and processes carbohydrates at a different rate — some can feel the effect within three minutes while others might take up to 15 minutes. When running hard, your body often diverts blood away from the digestive track to help give your legs more blood and therefore oxygen.

Somewhere between minutes, depending on how well you generally react to gels in training. I wrote a full guide on exactly how to practice your pre-race nutrition that may be helpful if it is your first time following a marathon training schedule. While there is no problem with this from a physiological standpoint, I find it better to consume a more substantial breakfast, with less simple sugars.

My suggestion for breakfast would be a bagel with peanut butter, an energy bar, or oatmeal. Read this article for a full breakdown of pre marathon nutrition guidelines. Because the digestion process will be slowed or halted the further you get into the race, you need to be careful not to overload your stomach.

Remember, the simple sugars from the energy gels will first be absorbed into your blood stream as glucose. The sugar will stay in the blood stream until absorbed by the working muscles or other organs. The other aspect to keep in mind is that your digestive track is trainable like most every other part of your body. Without water, energy gels will take longer to digest and enter the blood stream.

If you take an energy gel with a sports drink, you run the risk of ingesting too much simple sugar at once. Taken together, a gel and sports drink could be delivering close to 60 grams of pure sugar — yack.

Not all energy gels are the same. Some are more viscous, some taste better, and each flavor can be delicious or wretched to another runner. Everything she took in came back up. During long workouts, Linden would force herself to drink and eat gels, but her system still rejected it. Eventually she found the right combination of gels and fluids to train her stomach to handle the sugars and she went on to run in Boston. These are the type of individualized questions that make following a generalized nutrition plan difficult.

You need to develop a strategy that caters to your physiological needs. Want to join the webinar to learn how you can avoid the marathon bonk? Then join our limited-time webinar. Click Here to See Available Times. Your team of expert coaches and fellow runners dedicated to helping you train smarter, stay healthy and run faster.

We love running and want to spread our expertise and passion to inspire, motivate, and help you achieve your running goals. Running coaches and exercise physiologist have long debated the potential benefits and possible disadvantages to performing long runs during marathon training on an empty stomach. Why do you even need gel, if you consume a drink that has say calories per bottle? I use Infinite Nutrition drink..

Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission. But will they help keep you on your feet? And with flavors running the gamut from vanilla and strawberry to sweet potato and beer , which ones are actually good? Nutritionally, most gels have around calories of quick-digesting sugar, and some have added extras like caffeine for even more energy or amino acids to promote muscle recovery during longer efforts.

Lots of gels also contain electrolytes like sodium, because losing them through sweat can cause cramping. Still, no one wants to try a new gel for the first time in the middle of a marathon and learn that it makes them sick. Fortunately, there are lots of options out there.

To find out which ones actually taste good, I tried 51 gels from ten brands over the course of a few weeks of training. Whether you prefer a dessert-flavored gel or a fruity one, the options below should include something for everyone.

The general rule of gel consumption is to have one 15 minutes before exercising and then one after every 30 to 45 minutes of your workout or race. Of course, this is all subject to personal preference. They will have stories about how a certain gel brand, or even a particular flavor, either did great things or very bad things indeed for their running. Always take your gel with plain water. Learn more here. Get exclusive advice, tips, and news so you can run at your best.

For free. Enter your email to receive our weekly newsletter! We take your privacy seriously. Unsubscribe any time. Subject to terms and conditions. No thanks. Shanna Powell. Top 3 Best and Favorites Best Overall. Honey Stinger Energy Gels. Best Overall 1. GU Energy Original These little gel packets are tops, and they come in a rather huge array of flavors including some unusual novelty ones , so everyone should find something to suit them.

Best for Marathon Training 2. GU Energy Roctane As you can tell by the name, these gels are similar to our top choice. Top Organic and Gluten-Free 3.

Best Value Energy Gel 4. Best Isotonic — Consumable Without Water 5. Top All-Natural 6. Huma Plus Energy Gels Not all gels are all-natural. Best Vegan Energy Gels 7. Top Waste-Reducing Bulk Pouch 8. GU Original Serving Pouch For the environmentally-conscious runner, all those discarded gel packets can be an issue. Best Glucose Gel 9. Top Caffeine Energy Gel Hammer Nutrition Hammer Gel Espresso For some of us, a caffeine-packed gel is just a step closer to an upset stomach.

Pin 9. Follow Us. There are five gels in the range, each of which contains 24g of carbohydrates plus sea salt for electrolytes. Taste test: These tiny bundles of energy come from the Gu school of stickiness, in that they are basically impossible to get down without fluid on hand.

One Pro has three energy gels in its range, all of which deliver 22g of carbs and come with the added bonus of mg of BCAAs mg in the blueberry gel , which are thrown in to help you keep firing on all cylinders for longer. The gels also contain sea salt to help replace the electrolytes lost in sweat, and the blueberry version also contains 50mg of caffeine.

Blueberry is the flavour used in the caffeine gel, while the standard energy gels come in two varieties: raspberry and watermelon, and passion fruit and lime.

The latter is a triumph of zingy deliciousness. The gel used by Eliud Kipchoge when he broke the world marathon record in Berlin is a little different to everything else on this list. If you avoid using gels because of past gastrointestinal problems, Gel is well worth trying, though it is more expensive than other options. Each 40g gel contains 25g of carbs and Maurten claims the ratio of glucose to fructose used in them means you can absorb up to g of carbs an hour.

Taste test: The texture will divide opinion, but we enjoyed biting off a bit of the gel and letting it dissolve a little in our mouth before swallowing. For one thing this removes the risk of getting sticky syrup on your hands during a run, which is infuriating. The Leeds brand that helps fuel the Brownlee brothers has come up with a canny idea: two different tear points on the top of the packet. One creates a small hole you can sip the gel through, while the other makes a big hole for a quick gulp, so you can consume according to your preference at the time.

The range of seven gels available contains two caffeinated options and each gel provides 20g of carbohydrates. Taste test: There are lots of different flavours, including caffeinated options. The Wiggle gels are not too sticky, but you still need to take them slowly — a sip at a time, rather than in one quick gulp. Our favourite flavour: Lemon And Lime. They taste like Calpol, delicious Calpol.

These tiny shots of gel that contain 22g of carbs are the best pick for those keen on minimising the amount of weight they carry on the run. Taste test: Gu stands out for the originality in its range of flavours, which includes the likes of Salted Watermelon and Chocolate Outrage. There are also caffeine-rich options available. The Gu gels are, however, essentially impossible to get down without water owing to their stickiness, so make sure you time them right on race day.