If we walk into any gym, it is quite often to see people drink sports supplements, including sports drinks. This is especially true for business professionals and employees who want to get a physical boost during their gym session, especially after a tiresome day at work. Many people drink a bottle of high-energy drink after a full meal, about 90 minutes before a physical exercise to make sure that they get the necessary energy boost.

In reality, supplements are essential for people with high physical intensity, if they want to achieve peak performance. This will allow them to get enough extra nutrients, without eating too much. However, there are many people who actually consume too much supplements for their own good.

In general, sports drinks are based on pure carbohydrate, specifically in the form of simple glucose, or more complex ones, such as maltodextrin and fructose. Many of the sport drinks also contain some amino acids. A bottle of 750ml sports drink could contain about 1200kJ of pure energy. This is equal to the amount of energy we spend when riding the bicycle at 30km/h for 30 minutes. We should know the amount of physical activity and the energy requirement.

As an example, some athletes could require a few bottles of energy drinks for specific sports session. However, before the competition, we should also factor in our meal, smoothies, cereal, fruits and toasts. It is quite likely that we don’t too many bottles of energy drinks, because we may consume a high-calorie meal just an hour ago. It should be noted that physical exercises will stimulate our appetite, causing us to eat more after the sports session and we could eventually have a positive energy balance.

So, we shouldn’t be too surprised if we start to gain weight, even after the physical exercise. Sports drinks can be consumed if it has direct effects on our performance during an event and based on calculation, we actually have energy deficiency. However, if we have a more than decent meal an hour ago, we should consider whether sports drinks are really necessary. The added sugar coursing our veins won’t do any good to our performance. However, for endurance sports, these drinks can be essential. However, if we are not a pro, then energy drinks may not be necessary.

In general, if we have standard-sized meal at 500kcal just an hour ago, we may need to an energy drink, if we exercise at moderate intensity for less than 75 minutes. This is especially true if we have a rather sedentary lifestyle and we spend much of the day sitting in front of the computer. In order to ensure slower release of energy, we should consume high fiber food with complex carbohydrate. This can help us get some extra energy during an exercise session. A glass of fruit juice with no sugar added can be a better alternative than sports drinks. In this case, we should choose particularly sweet fruits to get the extra energy.