All About Nutritional Supplements

When you come into the shop and look at the nutritional supplement shelf, you may feel a bit overwhelmed from the selection of goods we have in stock. An assortment of powders, gels, chews, and bars; how do you choose what is best for you and your needs? This post will educate you on everything you need to know about our nutritional supplements along with highlighting store favorites.

One of the most popular nutritional supplements in our store is Gu, a gel-based supplement that comes in a variety of flavors. If you aren't interested in a pop of flavor we suggest Vanilla or Just Plain; Josie’s favorite flavor is Espresso Love and Travis fell head over heels for Salted Caramel.

Gu should be ingested 15 minutes prior to any event, ride, or workout along with 8 oz of water. You should refuel once every 45 minutes after the start of your event. Gu is easily digestible for most, quick to take, and very pack-able.
 

Gu is high in sodium, potassium, and carbohydrates; it gives you energy and reduces cramping.

Some individuals enjoy getting a jolt of caffeine with their supplements; Espresso Love, Orange, Vanilla, Just Plain, Tri Berry, Jet Blackberry, Chocolate Outrage, and Salted Caramel all have caffeine. Salted Caramel has added electrolytes as well! Your body looses electrolytes gradually as you sweat and one needs to replace them.

Gu can be purchased individually for a $1.50 a pack or you can purchase a box of 24 for $30.00
Another fact that some may find appealing is that EFS and Gu also work with gel flasks that we carry in-store.

The chews preferred by our store would be Clif Shot Bloks, which are easy to open and can be eaten straight out of the package. No fumbling or mess! The Clif Shot Bloks also provide more texture and substance, which many runners prefer so they feel full and sustained.

Clif Shot Bloks are high in potassium and carbohydrates; they have more sugar content than the Gu gels. One should note that the blocks are 100 calories per serving and ½ the package is a serving size.
Another great fact about this product is that it’s 95% organic!

If you prefer a kick of caffeine: Black Cherry, Orange, and Tropical Punch flavors have caffeine added.

Travis loves Cran.Razz
Dan prefers the Black Cherry flavor for the caffeine
Customers Kristin Torresdal and Novian Whitsitt root for the Margarita flavor, which has 3x the sodium content for cramp busting.

We also carry Sport Beans by Jelly Belly which come in 4 delicious flavors: Fruit Punch, Lemon Lime, Orange, and Berry. In addition we have Honey Stinger chews in the Pink Lemonade flavor, which both Travis and Josie can vouch for being tasty! Novian loves the Powerbar Gel Blasts, which are a combination of gel and chew combined. We have Raspberry and Lemon flavors available in store for the Powerbar Gel Blasts.

For bar options we carry several varieties of Clif Bars, right now a fun option is the selection of seasonal flavors; Spiced Pumpkin, Pecan Pie, and Iced Gingerbread. Travis loves the Sierra Trail Mix Clif Bar while Josie found herself loving the new Pecan Pie Clif Bar.
The Clif Bar flavors we have in stock at the store are 70% organic and if you want a little caffeine with that, the Cool Mint Chip Clif Bar will have that.

Clif Bars are great when you really want to have the feeling of eating something sustaining, but not have it taste like a candy. Clif Bars are a good source of protein and fiber combined with vitamins and minerals. If you forgot to eat breakfast, one of these bars will help push you through those hill climbs and sprints.

Hydration mixes are another popular nutritional supplement that many people like. Skratch Labs Hydration Mixes are used by local mountain bike racer, Trevor Rockwell. Novian regularly uses Cytomax which we carry in Cool Citrus.

Skratch comes in easy to use single serve packages or 1 lb bags, the benefit of the 1 lb bags are you get 40 servings per bag! We have four flavors to choose from for the single serve packages; Raspberry, Orange, Lemons and Limes, and Pineapple. The 1 lb bags come in two flavors- Raspberry and Lemons and Limes. To use the single-serve packet, mix one packet with 16 oz of water.

Many individuals like using Skratch Labs Hydration Mix due to it not being sticky or sugary. Travis said that the Lemons and Limes flavor tasted just like natural lemonade. 

The hydration mixes are all natural and they replace electrolytes along with enough calories to help fuel muscles. They are flavored with real fruit; you won’t find artificial colors or preservatives in these mixes! Plus, the Skratch Labs Hydration mixes won’t upset your stomach or leave a bad aftertaste.

This is just a basic run down of our nutritional supplements and what they can do for you. You will find we have a variety of products but we aren’t even scratching the surface for variety.
For example other choices for chews are Gu Chomps or other flavors of Honey Stinger.
Alternate brands of gels are: Power Gel, Car-Boom, Honey Stinger, and Hammer Gel. We can also order smaller sizes of the EFS Liquid Shot for you as well.
There are several other Clif Bar flavors you can order along with Clif Builder Protein Bars, Luna Bars, and Mojo Bars.

If you see a nutritional supplement or flavor we do not carry in the store and would like to order, just ask! We are more than happy to get the product in for you and it usually comes within a day of ordering.