Firstly, you must remember that there is no single sports drink which will meet the needs of every athlete in every situation. To add to this, you have personal taste preferences too! So what should you look out for?

1. Carbohydrate content:It is better to consume drinks which contain complex sugars like maltodextrin rather than simpler ones like glucose.The advantage here is more ‘bang for your buck’.You get a higher load of carbohydrates into your system without making your drink more concentrated.The equivalent amount of carbohydrate from a glucose based drink would only be possible in a much more concentrated solution (“hypertonic”) which could cause gastric upset.
2. Electrolytes:Sodium (Na) helps with the uptake of sugar and water from the gut.Many other electrolytes are often added like potassium and magnesium but the benefit they provide hasn’t been fully demonstrated in independent studies
3. Protein:There have been many conflicting studies regarding the benefit of protein in sport drinks.Short duration (< 2.5 hours) exercise performance does not seem to improve with the addition of protein.However, as most well trained athletes would have enough fuel in their bodies for this duration anyway, this is really unsurprising.Endurance activities lasting longer than this are a different story.Your body needs more than carbohydrate at this point and if it doesn’t get it, it will start cannibalising muscle protein – not a very desirable outcome!Soy protein is easily digested at this point and provides what you body needs to keep on going.
4. Other ingredients:Caffeine is added to enhance the effect of the carbohydrate you burn – and it does indeed do this!However, remember that caffeine is also a diuretic so mix around your fuel sources otherwise you may find yourself dehydrating and hopping from bush to bush!

Please remember, there is such a thing as overhydration and it can be fatal. It is particularly common in those slower athletes who are out longer on the course and drink more. Work out your sweat rates by weighing in before and after exercise and make sure you tailor your nutrition strategy to fit your needs.

So, what activity are you doing, how long, in what conditions and what can you stomach taste-wise during exercise? Now you’ve worked all this out you need to train your nutrition strategy the way you will race it! You keep these things in mind and you are well on your way to optimising your performance to the max.

If you find that despite having an effective nutrition strategy, your performance seems to decline or your recovery is taking longer and longer, then you would probably benefit from a Chiropractic assessment. Let’s find the problem whilst your body is giving out an orange light and not wait for the red.