ANS is right, its about osmosis. A hypotonic drink in theory has a lower concentration of electrolytes (such as salt or sugar) than the average cell in the body, an isotonic drink should have roughly the same concentration and a hypertonic drink will have a higher concentration of electrolytes.

When we sweat, we not only loose water but also some of our electrolytes so with that in mind, to rehydrate yourself it is best to go for something that not only replaces the water you have lost but also the electrolytes, an isotonic drink would do this best.

J

This is quite interesting, if you wanted to make your own, full link below

http://www.atg.wa.gov/teenconsumer/h...rts_drinks.htm


If you enjoy drinking sports drinks you may want to know that you can easily make them at a fraction of the cost. For a hypotonic drink, you can mix 100 ml of frozen orange juice concentrate, 1 litre of water and a pinch of salt.

An isotonic drink is made of the same ingredients but you would use 200 ml of the frozen orange juice concentrate. For a hypertonic drink, you would need to increase the amount of concentrate to 400 ml.

You can experiment with different juices and vary the amount of juice used and your new mix will have all the benefits of a sports drink without the high cost.


I personally use a product from Hammer Nutrition called HEED (high energy electrolyte drink) have tried other sports drinks but prefer this, not too sweet

http://www.hammernutritionuk.co.uk/p...products_id=88

according to Tri 247, they have a 10% discount code on this site at the moment until end of April, code is TT0408

well done to Andy B who did marathon in 2.50 yesterday beating PB by 7 minutes

For a decnet quality protein supplement, DONT use holland & Barrett's gunk. Very poor Quality and its not worth any more that £5 per kilo to be honest

To get in good calories, have a Protein shake with water or milk and add a few glug of extra virgin olive oil. Stuff that comes in a dark bottle is best as it preserves the fats from oxidising and keeps them very healthy and packed full of goodness.

I find supplementing with protein and a quick carb source to be the best method of improving recovery (although i only run short distance and weight train so take that into consideration). Dextrose powder (20g) mixed with unflavoured Whey protein (50g) and 5g of green & blacks organic cocoa powder is brilliant. Some find that dextrose bloats them too much and prefer "WMS" (links to come).

Creatine supplementation works by replenishing ATP stores in the muscles. This is the type of energy burnt when involved in anaerobic exercise rather than aerobic...so its only useful if you are doing some sort of interval training involving sprints or weight training for example.

Cheap but high quality sources of supplements

www.myprotein.co.uk
www.bulkpowders.co,uk

I have only used MP although i know guys that like the service from BP

MP use a price matcher. Type in www.bulkpowders.co.uk and hey presto.

Hope that has been of help.

SJ

Yea i agree -avoid the cheap holland and barret stuff -better to get a quality supplement -my protein is a good site and im sure you can get good supplement advice in their forum.

Dont wanna fill your body with stuff just cos its cheap -too many poor supplements out there -better to research a good one with good feedback!

Interestingly, aged 62, I ran a good sub-3 hour marathon training off 'cheap Holland & Barrett stuff'. Not to mention a 22.24 5K aged 75. Each to his own!
Cheers!

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Give me the hills!

well there's always the placebo effect! ; )

Depends what your diet is like in the 1st place to how much help supplements give you.

I'm surprised that we are this far into the thread without any mention of the alternative to supplementary drinks..... water. Drinks, pills or otherwise, if you eat a balanced diet there really is no need for any supplements whatsoever.

A total waste of money in my books. Use what is given to us free.

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It's about getting out there and doing the distance, time doesn't matter apart from making it.

I agree in the most part although i think that supplements can when used in conjunction with a good diet (and not to fill in the gaps) can be of a large benefit.

The way i see it is that a good diet provides you with 95% , with the extra little 5% coming from supplementation.

RunningFox - The holland and Barrett protein is poor quality and overpriced. Impressive achievements, I hope im in as good a nick as you at that age.

I se the protein powders similar to butcher meats from the supermarket and a good local butchers. The supermarket gunk will do you ok, but the Local butchers is better in every way.

Regards

SJ

Cytosport Cytomax from bodytemple.co.uk is great if you are looking for a mixture of complex carbs, electrolytes and PolyLactate.

adding on to what scr8pe said, there are more 'natural' ways of getting protein... For example this morning I came back from a run and I had scrambled egg on toast. So much protein in the egg alone!