Snacks for Endurance
Preparation is key. Especially when it comes to spending a day enjoying your favourite extreme sport. Whether it is Climbing, Motocross, Surfing or White Water Rafting it’s essential that your body is conditioned for a day of action.
Most people’s first thought is to pack in high-sugar snacks before a day on the track or at sea to boost energy levels, but these can have negative effects on your sporting abilities throughout the day. We have heard it a hundred times before, that we should cut down on sugar but when our sporting performance and endurance is threatened it’s time to listen!
It’s best to avoid fatty foods on the day because fat leaves the stomach slowly which can result in a sluggish feeling. Whereas eating sugar can cause you to crash and will not keep your performance sustained throughout the day. Ingredients such as oats, banana and nuts will ensure your energy levels are kept at a consistent level and you aren’t craving for any more food mid-sport – who’s got time for that!
Alternatives such as matcha to replace caffeine and natural energy bars to replace sugar packed snacks are hitting the market, so we picked out some of our favourites to inspire your pre-sport snack collection!
TREK Cranberry Kick Protein Energy Chunks
Trek bars were one of the first energy packed bars targeted at climbers and other extreme sport enthusiasts. They have recently launched a new range of handy ‘energy chunks’ as an alternative to the bar. Packed with oats, natural fruit and a whopping 12g of protein, these tasty little chunks are going to keep you satisfied for a good few hours. Hannah from the XtremeGo team tried the new ‘Cranberry Kick’ flavour before a triathlon and found these chunks to be the perfect way to fuel an hour before the race. Plus they fit perfectly into your climbing belt to pop during a climb.
Find out more and buy yours at Natural Balance Foods.
Squirrel Sisters Snack Bars
These are slightly more indulgent than the Trek Chunks. Available in a range of exciting flavours, these handy little snack bars add some excitement to your pre-sport snack. We tried out all the flavours which included – Cocoa Orange, Cacoa Brownie, Coconut Cashew and Raspberry Ripple. All of the bars were delicious and felt like they had much more bulk to them than a standard chocolate bar – we could almost taste the sustainability! Created from a range of natural, non refined sugar ingredients such as dates, organic cacoa and nuts, this the the perfect treat to have as an energy top up half way through the day.
Discover more about the Squirrel Sisters.
Beet It Beetroot Flapjack
You may have seen news about Beetroot being the perfect energy boosting snack to have before sport, and our friends at Beet It Sport have made it tasty and simple to get your fix. The secret is ‘dietary nitrate’ which occurs naturally in beets and vegetables. It is recommended to have 400mg of nitrate to fuel your body enough before a workout but it is hard to consume this without eating or drinking unreasonably large amounts of vegetables. The Beet It flapjack has 200mg of nitrate in so eating two bars before a day of extreme sports will be a sufficient way to give your body the energy it needs, and with 53% of the bars made up of oats the bar will not only give you an energy supercharge but also sustain you throughout the day.
We just had to give the science a go! James from the XtremeGo team had two bars before a day of motocross and said it was a tasty flapjack which was easy to consume on the journey to the track leaving him feeling satisfied and ready to go. He reported a good day at the track, so maybe this is our new must-have kit essential.
