Having been an endurance athlete for a few years now I have tried nearly all of the nutrition products on the market, and although some have proved decent, a lot are either sickly tasting or don't really provide the required energy boosts.
I will start by saying I am not a huge fan of gels, their consistency in general is not pleasant and although I have used gels in races, I avoid them like the plague when it comes to training.
My winning pack from Secret Training consisted of various flavours of Super Hydration Drink Mix, which is basically their energy drink with electrolytes to keep you fuelled and optimally hydrated. There was also some gels, and like I have said above although I don't normally use them in training I did try a few for the review. The last things in the package was the Whey Protein Drink Mix, which is used as a recovery product.
The Super Hydration Drink Mix came in pre measured sachets, that are designed for 500ml bottles. This was good for the bottle between my tribars, but I generally use a 750ml bottle on the frame so I would be interested to taste the difference between the two solution strengths. When mixed with the 500ml of water the taste is very pleasant, it isn't sweet or sickly at all and it did provide a nice source of energy. Even when mixed with 750ml of water the taste was still pleasant, though as you would expect with a weaker solution each mouthful was as energy laden. You can actually buy in bulk as well so make the correct solution strength for any bottle size. Each 500ml provides 10gms of carbohydrate.
I also tested the drink in a race scenario, I like to carry as much as my own fuel as possible in drink form. This is to avoid taking on drinks from aid stations that may vary in their strength and as such energy intake. To do this I make up a strong solution in a 500ml bottle and take on water at aid stations to wash this down with. For Challenge Weymouth I used 4 Super Hydration Drink sachets in the one bottle, making it 4 times stronger than it should be used. Now you might expect the taste to be overpowering and real sweet and sickly, but it wasn't. It was a stronger taste but it still felt very palatable, I was actually sorry when it ran out as even this strong it tasted nicer than the official race supplied energy drink.
I would say if you like your drink with a mild refreshing taste you can't go much wrong with this, my favourite flavour is the Mango and Passionfruit, but they all were very tasty and refreshing. As for the fuelling I never felt underfuelled in any of my training or racing using the Super Hydration Mix, and even though I sweated a fair amount at Challenge Weymouth I suffered no signs of cramping or electrolyte balance issues. I also suffered no GI issues throughout the day which is always pleasing when doing a long distance triathlon.
The gels were 3 different types, I had some advanced isotonic gels, some real fruit gels and a caffeine and betaine gel. The consistency of the gels was OK, it seemed to be a good consistency to eat on go, not too runny (that gets everywhere), or too solid (difficult to actually get down your throat). The banana flavour was really nice, and although not being a fan of gels it was one of the better tasting ones I have come across. The other one I tried was an isotonic one, these are ideal as you don't need to take on water as well as the gel. Again the consistency was nice and it went down very easily and the citrus flavour again was a very pleasant taste. Packaging isn't too big and fits easily in jersey pockets, and even the small pockets that some trisuits come with. Each 60ml gel provides 22gms of carbohydrate.
The last thing to try was the Whey Protein Mix, I was a bit sceptical about the Cherry flavour I had received, I am more of a chocolate person, but I thought I would see what it was like. I mixed it up as per the instructions and the first thing I noticed is that it was very runny. I am more used to a thicker solution, but that is personal preference I guess. The taste was actually very nice, still not as nice as chocolate but very palatable. Being a more runny solution it drank very easily and it did seem to help after a 6 hour ride with recovery.
Would I recommend Secret Training nutrition products, then that is a big YES, they really did surprise me and it certainly will be used by me again, especially the Super Hydration Mix, it simply is one of the better tasting energy drinks I have tried.
One thing I would like Secret Training to develop though is some little energy shots, similar to what Powerbar and Clif do. For me these are easier to stomach and eat when training and racing, they are far easier on the stomach compared with a gel. Something to think about guys ;)
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