You don't need a degree in sports science or nutrition to know that one key to maximizing your efforts on the bike or in the gym is proper nutrition during and after a workout.
While manufacturers of sports nutrition products might scare athletes into thinking they need to consume an exact mix of carbs, protein, electrolytes and vitamins in a tiny 15-minute window, sports scientist Christie Aschwanden, author of "Good to Go," assures athletes in our Training Tuesday interview with her that real food within hours of a workout should be sufficient for recovery.
Yet we all know it's not always easy to grab a complete meal during or after a cyclocross or gravel race, hot lap session or trainer workout. Hydration drinks, recovery drinks and gels offer convenient and hopefully pleasant-tasting calories during and after workouts, and there are certainly a ton of options out there.
Training Tuesday: Five New Fuels for cyclocross training.
We've recently received a number of athlete-oriented drinks from Asend Nutrition, Tailwind, OSMO, Born and Fast AF for review, and for today's Training Tuesday installment, we offer up our impressions on them below. Note we do not attest to any performance benefits of such products. There's absolutely no way we have the lab equipment and controlled environment to test such products quantitatively.
Instead, we've commented on taste, offered meaningful stats on cost per serving, and give you some insight into the company and ingredients.
See all five brands' new nutrition products in the slider below.
Happy riding and refueling!
OSMO Nutrition Rapid Recovery
OSMO nutrition launched in 2012 based on research and testing by Dr. Stacy Sims. The Bay Area company provides a variety of hydration products intended for use before, during and after exercise and has a long-standing relationship with 3x road World Champion (and former cyclocross world championships silver medalist) Peter Sagan.
Osmo’s new Rapid Recovery drink features whey and micellar casein. Five Fuels for cyclocross training. Training Tuesday. © Cyclocross Magazine
OSMO Rapid Recovery is a post-workout mix that combines protein, carbohydrates and green tea-based caffeine to encourage muscle repair and glycogen storage. A two scoop-serving contains 15g of protein, 16g of carbohydrate and 150 calories. It is sold in a 15-serving canister and retails for $35.00.
Osmo uses whey and casein in its Rapid Recovery drink. The chocolate flavor tastes better in milk than water, in our opinion. Five Fuels for cyclocross training. Training Tuesday. © Cyclocross Magazine
Per serving, the pricing is in line with the recovery drink from Asend, and a bit less than Tailwind. Per calorie, it’s the most expensive of the three products.
We enjoyed the chocolate recovery powder best when mixed with milk. Even though the protein source comes from dairy, OSMO’s packaging curiously encourages mixing the powder with water or non-dairy milk (almond, rice or soy). We enjoyed it with unsweetened almond milk.
It’s a tasty treat that is tempting even without a workout, but as a daily habit, it could get expensive at $2.34 a serving.
Nutrition Facts
Calories: 150 per serving
Total Fat: .5g
Cholesterol: 5g
Sodium: 170mg
Carbohydrate: 16g
Dietary Fiber: 0g
Total Sugar: 14g
Protein: 15g
Vitamin D: 5mcg
Calcium: 208mg
Iron: 2mg
Potassium: 114mg
Magnesium: 23mg
Price Per calorie: $.015
Price per serving: $2.34
More info: osmonutrition.com
