Silly question but, which is more effective Gatorade or Powerade? I'm a sophmore in Highschool. I can't drink energy drinks cuz I heard it'll cause heart attacks for teenagers.
Okay. Seeing your age, whiskey and ginger ale is not the right answer. Drink water! seriously. You get more than enough nutients from a good diet (just trust your mom). There is far too much sugar in the "energy" drinks. If you want to drink any of them, cut them 50% with water. Simple water loss is the biggest issue with student athletes.
I don't know about Powerade, but Gatorade makes me thirsthy. Water is what I have in the teams water jug.
I found that hummingbird feeder liquid works great and seemed to make me run faster. It had the side effect of making my tongue go in and out real fast so I got a few yellow cards as the refs always thought I was taunting the other players but it did make me a little more popular with the ladies after the matches.
Exactly what I was going to say. A peanut butter and banana sandwich along with a couple bottles of water a few hrs before practice is all you really need.
There's a new Powerade "T.X.L." It has 50% less carbs/sugars...i would drink some Powerade and a lot of water.
Normally I'd say Red Bull or something, but my coach just gave me a can of this stuff called XLR8. It's the same as Red Bull, but without sugar...making the energy "kick" longer.
The only time I've had a player get sick in a game, is when one of my u14 players had a pop just before the game.
Sports drinks are very important, especially in hot weather. You have to replace the electrolytes that are lost. If you simply drink water you can fall victim to hyponatremia. Granted that would be extreme but it is a possibility. To the person who posted this thread you have no bigger risk of having a heart attack from a simple energy drink (powerade, gatorade, etc.). I have seen studies on this. In college I would mix half a cup of powerade and half water. I also had a bottle of water on my side of the field. Use both water and energy drink.
Energy drinks like Red Bull and Amped or even Bawls have a stimulant in them. If you have a heart ailment then you could have a heart attack but it's unlikely. It's more likely that these drinks cause dehydration since caffeine is the last thing you should drink before or after a match. I have heard of people having a heart attack on the dance floor after drinking the Red Bull + Vodka cocktail and dehydration also played a part in that. One cocktail you can use is to mix 50% water + 50% apple juice in your water bottle. Gatorade and Powerade are completely safe but the sugars in them retard the body's ability to rehydrate which is why you need to cut them with 50% water.
stimulants are banned in some leagues, if you get drug tested following a game you could get in a bit of trouble...or will the stimulant have left your body already (doubtful)
Caffiene is a banned substance is some leagues/sports. But to get back on topic... Both Gatorade and Powerade are great drinks. When I played a lot, I preferred Powerade because it game me more "energy". However, I must say that Gatorade is probably the better product. There is no more well researched hydration product on earth than Gatorade. The work they do down at the GSS (Gatorade Sports Science) lab is truly incredible. One poster here mentioned that Gatorade makes them "thirsty". It's designed to do that, which is why it includes Sodium. The problem with water, is that it shuts down the bodies thirst mechanism almost immediately. Most athletes unless VERY well trained, will stop drinking when they are not thirsty. Thus, when drinking water, they stop drinknig far too early, and de-hydrate. Pre-Game, Post-Game, and half time, I recommend Gatorade or Powerade. During the match, I recommend water. The average athlete in a soccer match depletes as much as 3-5 pounds of water from their body. That is upwards of half a gallon. This is among athletes who DO attempt to hydrate during games. If you have time, I'd suggest trying to run down some of the research done at Gatorade, and then combining that with information from the USSF and the NSCAA (written by Dr. Don Kirkendall) about soccer specific hydration requirements. Good luck and stay healthy!
Ever cross your mind to hydrate the day before a match. A lot of water the day before the match can help you during the match on the next day
Caffeine This is not a post to condone or condemn the use of Cafeine. just to give out information. It is a no no at the profession level. You will fail a doping test if you have too much caffeine. There was a 31 yr old Belgium player just recently was suspending from play for 3 months for having high amount of caffeine in the blood. The US played a friendly against Honduras on a cold day here. Those Honduran players were all drinking coffee like nobodies business before the match. Incidentally, Honduras lost that game. So it did not work well for them Now we come to this, check out this site. Before you get to it this is a comment from an English coach from a coaching list that I am on. "there is considerable confusion over the use of caffeine as a performance enhancing drug, and the lay-persons' conception that it will act as a strong diuretic, therefore depleting all efforts. Take a look at Performance Plus at www.pponline.co.uk, and read their articles under the "drugs" link regarding caffeine. There is evidence of caffeine being an aid to sprinters and short distance events. There is also evidence of diluted unfizzed (flat) Coca-Cola working fairly well as a mid-contest sport drink! And I've heard several European managers favoring players drinking tea both prior to and at the half as part stimulant, part herbal therapeutic for aches and pains." In this site I seem to remember it saying that it is a diuretic but later. So if you take it just before a match the neg effects will effect the player after the match is over. Something like that. When I was a kid, and had an upset stomach or pain in the stomach Ma would give me coke stirred to take the fizz out to help with my upset stomach. So you might try "diluted unfizzed (flat) caffeine Coca-Cola " Will it be enough caffeine to do the job who knows? It is better mentally not to think you are dependent on anthing but yourself for your performances in games. Have a will of a winner and you will win. Richie
Definitely cut them 50/50. Powerade and Gatorade are exactly the same. I drink Powerade when I do drink anything like that simply b/c I'm morally opposed to anything to do with the Gators.
Wrong answer kid, wrong answer. Too much of that sodium will dehhydrate you a hell of a lot faster than water. My advice to everyone: Carry a water bottle with you at all times and everytime you stop doing something else drink water. Don't get a glass of water and take a couple sips, drink it all. Teach yourself to be a camel and to like water a lot. DO NOT OVERDO THE SPORTS DRINKS. Drink a gallon a day AT THE MOST if you're drinking A LOT of water. PS: A gallon or two a day of water is nowhere near enough to get water poisoning. PSS: The Olympics will ban you for caffeine. It takes somewhere b/t 5-8 cups of coffee to fail, depending on your metabolism.
you need sodium though, you need it to maintain electrolyte balance. sodium and athletes it is not so much the amount of water you drink, it's the period in which you consume. The times when I'm "water drunk" are when i'm sick and pound back like 2 L's of water before i go to sleep.
Yes which is why you dilute the Powerade or whatever. Taking in too much sodium is a lot easier than not getting enough. There is a lot in the food you eat too so you have to be careful about how much more sodium you ingesting, both in food and in drinks. Basically half and half, no more than a gallon of straight Gatorade (two gallons halved with water total) per game. The rest should be water. Edit: DO NOT TAKE SALT TABLETS UNLESS A DOCTOR OR SOMEONE QUALIFIED TELLS YOU TO DO SO. YOUR COACH DOES NOT COUNT AS SOMEONE QUALIFIED TO DO SO.
Try an energy gel. Basically its like a powerbar or other similar items. They work real fast, last for about 45-50 minutes, and wont make you feel bad at all. I never really notice when they start working, but when it runs out, notice. I just take one before and at half. http://www.gusports.com/ I use 'GU', but I dont think it really matters which kind is used. Some have caffeine, and some dont. I try to stay away from it. Drink plenty of water afterwards also, at least 3-4 mouthfuls. They also have a hydration drink but I've never tried it.