If you’re planning to go mountain biking, you’ll need plenty of training, the right equipment (like getting a good mountain bike), and tons of energy!
If you’re looking for an energy drink that can supply you with energy for mountain climbing, I recommend Bing, Zipfizz, and REIZE Energy!
There’s plenty of evidence showing that energy drinks are beneficial in improving physical and mental performance. You’ll have to be physically fit and mentally strong to ensure you’re fit to do mountain biking.
Energy drinks can help, but that’s not it!
However, let’s focus on how energy drinks can help a mountain biker like you gain a good boost of energy.
Let’s get into it…
How to Choose Energy Drinks for Mountain Biking
To choose the best energy drink for mountain climbing, some things to consider are caffeine, sugar, and price.
I’ve discussed them briefly below…
Caffeine
Caffeine is what gives energy drinks their name, and its main purpose is to act as an energy booster. It can provide your body and mind with loads of great benefits when consumed in moderation.
Excessive consumption can lead to some nasty side effects like increased heart rate, frequent urination, and stomach problems.
To be safe, you must follow the recommended intake of caffeine which is 400mg per day. According to the FDA, this amount is considered harmless for most adults.
However, if you experience negative effects like heart palpitations or feelings of anxiousness, you need to reduce the amount of caffeine you consume or stop consuming anything caffeinated.
You should look at energy drinks with low caffeine as your go-to drink before or during mountain climbing. You definitely don’t want something too strong that’ll make you sick while biking up and down the mountain!
Sugar
It’s true that sugar can supply your body with energy, but the effects only last for a short period of time.
After that, your energy levels will dip immensely and you’ll start to feel drowsy and sluggish. This is a sugar crash. You definitely don’t want that to happen during the middle of your mountain biking.
The majority of energy drinks contain high amounts of sugar, which can be harmful to you if you plan to drink one or two cans of energy drinks during your ride.
Here are some brands of the best energy drinks with less sugar.
For reference, the AHA recommends:
| Men | 150 calories / 36g of sugar per day |
| Women | 100 calories / 25g of sugar per day |
It is wise to choose an energy drink that is sugar-free to stabilise your energy while mountain biking. You can complement energy drinks with fruits like watermelon, oranges, and strawberries to help with rehydration.
Price
If you’re like me, you probably love a great deal so long as whatever you’re buying is still good quality.
Nowadays, it’s not that hard to find amazing bargains for energy drinks that don’t compromise effectiveness or quality. Many of these good-value deals are available if you know where to find them.
My favorite energy drink, REIZE, is only around $1. I think that’s the best deal that you can ever find!
I have written a short guide on how to find the best deals on energy drinks in this article.
Can energy drinks improve endurance for mountain biking?
Energy drinks can help enhance your endurance.
Caffeine is an ingredient responsible for giving your body an energy boost as well as improving your endurance.
Stamina is important as your ride could last anywhere from two hours to all day depending on the terrain. You’ll want enough energy to ride effectively for a long period of time.
A study performed on 15 trained athletes showed that having an energy drink could improve cycling time-trial performance by 3% in comparison to using a placebo.
Consuming energy drinks can help to maintain your stamina whether you’re going up hills or down rocky grounds.
You’ll feel more awake and alert, and your body will also be more energized after consuming caffeine.
Caffeine has glycogen-sparing properties. Glycogen is essential to fuel your muscles. When you engage in heavy or high-intensity exercises, your muscles will use the stored glycogen in your body to help you carry out those exercises.
You can replenish glycogen by consuming carbohydrates. If you don’t, your body will start eating away at your muscles for energy and your muscles could get damaged in the process.
Consuming caffeine apparently increases your body’s ability to break down fat, which means that your body will depend on fat as energy instead.
Your muscle glycogen will not be depleted as quickly, and you can continue to bike longer before fatigue sets in.
One study conducted on 15 adults found that energy drinks improved upper-body muscle endurance after consumption.
To get the most benefits out of energy drinks, you should consume them at least an hour before starting your mountain biking.
That’s because peak caffeine absorption into your bloodstream takes around 30 – 60 minutes. You’ll start to feel the ‘stronger’ effects of caffeine at that time before the effects slowly begin to fade away.
As to how long caffeine stays in your system, caffeine has a half-life of about 5 hours. This means that after 5 hours, you’ll have half of the amount of caffeine you consumed.
This isn’t a reason for you to drink large amounts of caffeine to enhance your stamina though. You always need to consume caffeine in moderation.
Other than energy drinks, you can also maintain your stamina by consuming other liquids like sports drinks, energy gels, and plain water.
Can caffeine help increase strength for mountain biking?
Caffeine is known to have ergogenic effects on physical performance, including strength and power. A 2006 study showed that caffeine could increase upper body endurance and strength.
Strength is another critical quality you need to have when you’re going mountain biking as the ride can take a toll on your body.
In fact, having a strong upper body, especially in your core muscles, helps in bike handling and prevents injuries from accidents.
It won’t only be your legs doing all the work as you navigate through challenging terrain, your hands and arms will also be put through a ton of strain as you control your bike and ride for a long time.
It isn’t surprising that your body ends up with many injuries, particularly muscle soreness. Some of the common injuries you might experience from mountain biking are skin abrasions, lower back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome (pain in your wrists), joint pain, and broken collarbones.
Consuming caffeine could decrease the risk of such injuries and reduces symptoms of tiredness, allowing you to ride harder and longer over challenging terrain.
A 2010 review discovered that the consumption of caffeine could enhance muscle leg power by 7%.
Another review comparing past studies on the effects of caffeine on strength proved that caffeine was beneficial in providing small to medium increases in muscle strength and power.
Even though the improvements aren’t tremendous, small boosts in your biking performance can have a huge impact on the end result.
Make sure to stick to no more than 400mg of caffeine during your ride, as recommended by the FDA. Moderate doses of caffeine are great for your physical performance, but too much can disrupt your momentum.
Can energy drinks help with mental concentration?
Energy drinks can improve brain functions and increase mental focus. Drinking energy drinks during your ride can help keep you focused throughout the ride.
Besides physical endurance and strength, mountain biking also requires tremendous mental concentration. You often need to maintain your focus and attention while biking through a narrow track with many challenges along the way.
One of the benefits of energy drinks is increasing cognitive abilities.
A 2001 study reported that the combination of ingredients in energy drinks could significantly improve reaction time, concentration, memory, and mental alertness.
A 2004 paper showed that energy drinks could reduce mental fatigue and the risk of cognitive performance deterioration during mentally-demanding tasks.
But energy drinks aren’t the only way to keep your head in the game for many hours.
Consuming energy-boosting foods like bananas and jelly beans as nutrition for your brain can also improve your mental performance and help to keep you focused during your ride.
Can I drink sports drinks while mountain biking?
Sports drinks are beneficial in rehydrating your body and replenishing your glycogen stores during strenuous exercise. Thus, it’s completely alright to drink sports drinks while mountain biking.
When you sweat, your body loses water and electrolytes. Sports drinks are mainly made up of water, carbs, and electrolytes, which make them great for preventing dehydration, maintaining electrolyte balance, and supplying your body with fuel.
Similar to energy drinks, sports drinks are great alternatives for providing your body with energy and decreasing muscle breakdown by refilling your muscle glycogen supplies while you ride.
In fact, sports drinks seem to have the most impact on prolonged exercise.
How to strengthen my legs for uphill cycling?
Energy drinks can definitely help you get stronger for mountain biking. However, it is important to train yourself on how to bike or cycle uphill properly.
You can try the following exercises to strengthen your legs for uphill biking:
- leg squat rotation
- one-legged squat jump
- alternate leg bounds
- power skipping
- planks
What other drinks can you drink for mountain biking?
Cherry Juice
Cherry juice has plenty of great benefits, including increasing metabolism and improving your immune system.
Since cherry juice is rich in potassium, it can help you with your recovery after exercise. It might also be beneficial for endurance exercises.
A 2019 review found that tart cherry, whether in juice or powdered form, enhanced endurance performance due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties.
Water
It’s an undeniable fact that water is extremely important to our bodies and plays a role in many crucial bodily functions.
Water is great for maintaining endurance and energy as it helps to replace what you lost through your sweat, decreases the risk of dehydration, and helps your muscles to keep up with the strenuous exercises you’re doing.
Yerba Mate
Yerba mate tea can also help maintain your performance during your ride.
Yerba mate contains plenty of antioxidants and nutrients, which are beneficial for your health. Since Yerba mate contains caffeine, it can increase your energy levels and improve your mental focus and alertness.
Yerba mate seems to have a moderate caffeine content of 85mg and isn’t known to cause many adverse side effects like other caffeinated drinks, like coffee.
Is Gatorade good for cycling?
Yes, Gatorade is good for cycling.
Gatorade offers benefits in the aspects of hydration, carbohydrates, and electrolytes which deplete while doing a strenuous activity such as mountain biking.
Mountain biking is such a strenuous activity that may lead to a condition called hyponatremia or overconsuming water or excessive salty sweating. It is reckoned Gatorade can help reduce the risk of developing such a condition.
What to eat while mountain biking?
There are many light snacks that are rich in carbs that you can consume during your rides. It’s recommended to consume 30-60g of carbohydrates per hour of riding to decrease fatigue and maintain performance.
Some foods you can eat along your mountain biking adventure are:
- sports bars
- fruit cake
- savory muffins
- jam sandwiches
- dates
- baked potatoes
- cheese and crackers
Energy Drinks for Mountain Biking
Bing Energy Drink
Bing Energy contains 120mg of caffeine and 9g of sugar, along with natural flavors and colors including cherry and grape juice.
In my opinion, the caffeine content in Bing is a touch on the high side. Whether you experience side effects or not, will depend on your tolerance.
Bing Energy has very little sugar in it, thus you won’t have to worry too much about sugar crashes afterward.
The downside is that one can of Bing costs around $4 to $5 for a single can, which is expensive in my opinion.
Zipfizz
The perks of Zipfizz aren’t limited to the brand’s wide selection of flavors. What’s more, is that a tube of Zipfizz contains a nice 100mg of caffeine and is completely sugar-free.
A tube of Zipfizz costs around $2. The prices may vary slightly depending on where you buy it. Again, not the most affordable option, but certainly cheaper than Bing.
If you’d like to learn more about Zipfizz and whether it’s good for you, feel free to check out this article I’ve written where I cover everything you need to know.
REIZE Energy Drink (10 out of 10)
REIZE is my number one drink when it comes to staying energized.
Even though REIZE only has 50mg of caffeine, it’s enough to help me stay awake and mentally focused throughout the day with minimal risks of side effects.
You can also have a few drinks of REIZE during your mountain biking rides to maintain your performance without worrying about maxing out your daily caffeine or sugar limits.
REIZE is rich in taurine, ginseng, and B vitamins, which are all healthy for your body and can be beneficial in enhancing endurance and strength during a long day of mountain biking.
Plus, REIZE is sugar-free so definitely no sugar crashes.
The best part is that REIZE only costs around $1 per drink, including shipping right to your door.
That’s amazing value for money.
Give REIZE a try and you might find that it’s the perfect energy-boosting partner for your next day out mountain biking.