If you're on a weight loss mission, rather than a bulking up one, then I'd imagine taking in extra calories not being so very great. As was said before, though: If you're working out for long periods of time, they might be worth it. Otherwise, just drink water. I spend about an hour to 90 minutes at the Gym 5 days a week, and I have only ever had energy drinks for squash sessions on a hangover...
I would give caffiene based energy drinks a miss, but there is a heap of energy supplements that are great, when I used to go to the gym 5 nights a week, for 2.5 hours a night, I used to cycle: No Xplode Superpump Jack 3d 4th month: double espresso an hour before working out. A tub of each of those would last me about a month each, just do a shake 30 mins before your work out. I wasnt really doing c/v stuff though, I was bulking and building so was trying to grow alot of muscle. So I would do 3 months with a supplement, and the 4th month on just coffee.
Fuel is a good idea. But not Lucozade and not Caffeine. Lucozade is just sugary water, it dries your mouth out, tastes horrible and makes you feel a bit sicky. Caffeine (ie energy drinks, red bull etc.) is bad for you for a whole multitude of reasons, some of which Malvolio touched on. I wouldn't take energy drinks before exercise because they would make me want to throw up. I wouldn't take them in life because heart palpitations, increased blood pressure, gastrointestinal distress etc. If you want to use fuel use a powder that you mix yourself. I haven't used them all so I couldn't say which is best. Personally I use Maximuscle Viper (or Viper performance, don't use Viper extreme it has caffeine in it). From personal experience it stops me from "crashing" after training - I can carry on with my day without feeling totally exhausted. Great for rapid recovery. I've seen a few people using P2P, no idea what it's like though. I'm about to run out of Viper anyway so I'll ask my coach what he recommends this afternoon. If you aren't going to be bothered with a poweder and want to grab something quick I would take powerade over lucozade any day. Edit: I'm a rower, most of my training is CV aerobic training at UT1 and UT2. This is called "Sudden death syndrome" and isn't unheard of. Many people do. Just add a teaspoon of salt to ribena. Not sure it's the right kind of salt but I've seen it done.
My quick little 2cents after reading the thread. (Unfortunately nutrition is one of those minefields where everyone is fed different information...) Best thing to drink during workouts? Water or Water + Whey + 5g creatine monohydrate. (this in the morning + during / post workout) depending on your activity and goals. (powerlifting / body building / strongman / rugby) Drink at intervals slowly throughout your workout and after. You don't (should not) need a sugar drink to get through your workout. You only need to hydrate yourself. Rely on the good food you put in before (& after) the gym, not the caffeine / taurine etc from these drinks. Banana, oats, steak, (naturally occurring carb or natural fats NOT sugar) As far as Vitamin supplements? Might as well take a multivit and good fish oil daily. Will i OD on a vitamin? LOL no. Taking the said dose is fine. You can absorb a ridiculous amount of C (1000+ mg) before adverse effects in a healthy male. The RDA is relatively low in terms of our "thresholds" Eating well and taking a vitamin will have no adverse effects. The bioavailability of said tablets chop and change dependent on binders and brands. Nothing concrete could be said on this to be applied throughout. I would like to stress this one point. People like to calculate such little details, yet miss the fundamentals. the energy drinks, the supplements, the bizarre gimmick assistance exercises and special shoes mean NOTHING unless you employ the fundamentals of healthy training. Unless you put down the basic building blocks, there is no point in asking advice on little nuances. Get your diet in check. Get your programme sorted. Get 8 hours sleep a night. Please do share you routine, diet and progress. There are some amongst us that could really help you.
Drink water. If you get used to drinking energy drinks, your caffeine tolerance will increase anyway, so they will affect you less the more you drink them. They're an expensive fad, just drink water.
thats because there's a restriction on the amount of caffeine your allowed in your system when competing and taking them will put you well over
I used to be big into tea- just boiled orange pekoe with sugar before a workout after a good steak / rice / mixed vegetable dinner, take creatine sometimes but mainly just a weight gain shake.. it works great if your doing heavy sets back to back- a full size heavy bag is just about invaluable between sets too you can build a hangman for the bag if you don't have any place for it.. pull ups are the best for your inner back.. curls, skull crushers reverse curls are good for your arms.. I did everything free weights with pretty good results- nowdays I doubt I could bench as much as I used to curl xD running is of course great for keeping you from atrophy on off days
Actually caffeine is not a restricted drug. The reason he doesn't take it because his coach told him not to. Research shows that caffeine can enable you to work harder for longer but only if you don't regularly take caffeine (you quickly build up tolerance and addiction to caffeine). 300mg caffeine will cause your body to release fat stores to use as energy which means your muscles will have more available energy with which to work.
I like to drink lots of water throughout my exercise and then have a glass of milk or coconut water when I finish - the coconut is probably more of a treat
Steve Reeves, an old time bodybuider, used to mix up honey, lemon juice and water for his 'energy' drinks