Review: Energy and Hydration

An often overlooked area of walking even relatively small distances is hydration. This becomes even more important in the hot summer months (assuming we get them) as the body can lose up to a litre an hour during exercise and the harder  and longer the going, the more fluid can be lost.

Whilst not claiming to be any sort of expert, I do have some experience of maintaining hydration whilst walking and cycling. When we exercise and sweat to maintain temperature, fluids are lost from the body. When we sweat more than we take in, then dehydration occurs and this affects performance on the hill, whether it is speed or duration. Whilst plain water will rehydrate you in the purest sense, it will not restore the imbalance of minerals lost through sweating (mainly sodium chloride or salt and potassium).

Fortunately for us, there are sports drinks available to help restore the dehydration imbalance. Whilst not specifically designed for hill walking, these sports drinks are perfect for taking on the hills and are a relatively cheap way of maintaining performance, and therefore enjoyment, of a day on the fells.

There are so many supplements out there though, so which to choose. Well there are different supplements and each has different advertised and perceived benefits. Like many people, I have tried all sorts of different carb and electrolyte powders. Some have proved to be more beneficial than others but other factors come into it such as taste, ease of mixing and portability.

My personal favourite of them all is High 5 2:1 – according to the blurb it delivers 50% more energy and delivers it faster than others, so if I am going on a medium length walk this is my preferred one and I find both the Summer Fruits and Citrus flavours to be very palatable. For longer walks and high endurance events like cycling, the flavour of the month (pardon the pun!) is High 5 4:1 which has 4 parts carbohydrates to 1 part protein and is scientifically proven to aid performance and has recently had rave reviews in the cycling press.

Finally, one more product I have recently found to be a bit of a revelation is the High 5 Zero tablets and the Nuun Active Hydration tablets. These are a lot less fuss than the powder and a single tablet in 500ml water gives optimal hydration with no sugar and no carbs – that means you can control your own carb intake with bananas, sandwiches, gels or whatever takes your fancy. The taste of these is very light and refreshing and they are ideal to carry around in your pack as they take no room and weigh next to nothing.

High 5 Zero tablets, left and Nuun tablets, right.

Fortunately for StridingEdge followers, fellow walker Shaun Barnett at www.ss4u.co.uk has all of these for sale and much more.

Check out his range of supplements and take advantage of this special StridingEdge.net offer – if you spend over £30, you will receive one of the following products of your choice FREE :-

1 tube of Nuun Tabs.
1 tube of High5 Zero Tabs.
1 Tube of Isostar Power tabs.
6 Mixed Energy gels.

Just  mention Striding Edge and your choice of free item and flavour at checkout.