WHAT'S FUELING YOUR RIDE?
EFFECTIVE FUELING FOR EVENTS 3 HOURS AND UNDER
by: Steve Born
They’ve only been out for a short while, but our How to Fuel guides have already been a huge hit. Why? Because their detailed, step-by-step recommendations take the guesswork out of fueling your sport or race with them, showing you exactly how to easily and effectively fuel your body for the race. Each article provides specific, actionable advice to help you fuel your body the right way and feel great, no matter what sport you’re doing or what distance you’re competing in.
While many of these events are longer in duration (like a full Ironman triathlon), we've also created fueling guides for shorter races, such as:
All-day road cycling races (short distance)
Road Cycling Criteriums (Crits)
For events under 3 hours , you can of course use Perpetuem — a “meal in a bottle” drink that contains complex carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats — but a carbohydrate-only fuel , such as Hammer Gel , HEED , or a combination of the two, is really enough.
Hammer Nutrition founder and CEO Brian Frank explains this in more detail in his short article and video:
Hammer for workouts longer than 3 hours and shorter
For such shorter duration events, HEED is a particularly attractive choice because it comes closest to the convenience of an “all-in-one” power supply. Here’s why:
Each serving contains 110 calories of fast-acting, yet long-lasting complex carbohydrates . 1.0 to 1.5 servings of HEED per hour — up to 2.0 servings for larger athletes — will fully cover the calorie intake required for one hour.
If you mix it in a 600–770 ml bottle , it will also cover your fluid intake for an hour.
Depending on how many servings of HEED you use, you can cover most or all of your electrolyte minerals for an hour. HEED contains a balanced blend of all the necessary electrolyte minerals and also provides a little extra sodium in the form of sodium phosphate, which also has excellent acid buffering/pH balancing properties .
NOTE: If you need more electrolytes, you can add a scoop of Endurolytes Extreme Powder to your water bottle or carry Endurolytes or Endurolytes Extreme capsules with you to use as needed.
HEED contains no simple sugars or enamel-damaging citric acid , and it also contains some key additional nutrients not found in other sports drinks:
Chromium
Many nutrition experts consider chromium to be the “master nutrient” for blood sugar regulation (meaning stable blood sugar levels during exercise). Chromium plays an important role in energy production, as well as the synthesis of glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids.
L-carnosine
Together with the sodium phosphate found in HEED, L-carnosine is a highly effective acid buffering compound: it neutralizes acids that accumulate in muscles during exercise, which delays fatigue and improves performance. L-carnosine is also a powerful antioxidant and anti-glycation nutrient.
BOTTOM LINE: Whatever you decide to choose:
Hammer Gel with water + any Endurolytes product
HEED mixed in water + additional electrolytes if needed ( Endurolytes product )
...with these you can be perfectly prepared for any training or competition that lasts up to 3 hours!
SUMMARY
For nearly four decades, Hammer Nutrition has been at the forefront of not only providing athletes, active lifestyles, and health-conscious individuals with the best fuels and supplements, but also providing outstanding support and service.
As I often say — and this fully reflects Brian's thinking from the beginning — a company can make the best products in the world, but if it's not backed by excellent customer service and high-level guidance on how to use the products to achieve maximum benefit, users will never realize their full value.
When it comes to informational support, our knowledge base is unmatched in the sports nutrition supplement market. Even if we only offered the 5 Secrets to Success , we would still be light years ahead of our competitors in the field of proper fueling. But with our latest knowledge base, the 20+ How to Fuel Guides, we offer much more:
Hammer FAQs and almost every product page
LOTS of archived articles (EN)
Need more help? No problem! We are available via Live Chat, email, and phone if you have any questions.
We are Hammer Nutrition , which means you can count on us for everything:
High-quality sports nutrition products? ✔
5-star customer service? ✔
Unparalleled knowledge and professional support? ✔
