"The truth about sports products"

Unless you are elite, in which case you do have to study micro nutrition etc.

For the rest of us, I can't believe the teddy/comfort blanket culture in the mass running community now. You HAVE to have all the gear and your gels, and throw your cash away.

It's not necessary, the body will adapt to how you train it regarding eating and drinking, irrespective of latent ability. So will your psyche.

Go figure.

Muttley wrote (see)

I've got an Iceland super cheapie Doner Kebab pizza in the oven and I plan to consume it during this programme. Am I a bad person?

No, please share.

not sure i agree with the shows findings on pronation controll shoes, perhaps it was coincidence but ive been injured from wearing shoes for an over when i supinate, 

I think it also suggest that protein shakes after gym workouts are not worth bothering with which flies in the face of most of the advertising and opinion I see

Happy to accept tht Lucozade doesn't do much for you but panning everything en-masse is a bit much

Its a typical Hatchet Job by Panarama.

They did the same thing about Racism in Poland before the Euros. There were no problems at all.

They make their mind up before they do the research.

Tabloid TV.

Just seen this. Although a lot of what was said in the Panorma programme I can actually agree with, a note of caution - many non-runners might get the impression that there is no place at all for the various products (although personally I don't bother with supplements myself). In turn:

Sports drinks - no need for them unless you are doing at least 1 and a half or two hours running - they just top up and maintain carb levels for long runs. I see the point about the cyclist with the bread and jam but do you want to take a picnic out with you on a 17 mile run!? They don't make you run faster - training does that.

Hydration - drink to thirst which seems to be the current thinking anyway.

Shoes - no need to spend a ton on them - my last pair for general running only cost £68 and are simply comfortable to run in. Barefoot running - love the idea on a sandy beach - but do you fancy it on pavements with dog poo and broken glass?

Supplements - as I said above, I get all I need from food.

Interesting programme anyway...

Didn't really tell much I couldn't figure out for myself, ie that energy drinks and protein supplements are lifestyle choices rather than sporting ones.

Not convinced by the bit about shoes though. The first predictor of injury is distance, eh? Ok, but if your shoes are all over the place you're going to get injured once you go over a certain distance, yes? Just choose a pair of shoes that feel comfortable - what's good for 10 paces outside the running shop may not be good for 12 miles.

I wish they'd looked at compression clothing.

All I can say is that when I first started running, I did what a lot of newcomers do and headed on out with my usual pair of trainers.  Kept hurting myself all the time.  Upon getting my gait tested and buying a proper pair of (stability) shoes, the problems went away - although I did have some knee issues a while back (which is still hanging around a bit), I was fine for a good year after buying my first proper running shoes.

Might knock my protein supplement on the head as well - I mean, I can't say I've noticed any difference personally - at least not any extra difference compared to when I was lifting without the protein supplement.  £37.99 a tub is a lot of money!

I was shocked to hear people had died during marathons by drinking too much!!

RoadRunner76 wrote (see)

All I can say is that when I first started running, I did what a lot of newcomers do and headed on out with my usual pair of trainers.  Kept hurting myself all the time.  Upon getting my gait tested and buying a proper pair of (stability) shoes, the problems went away - although I did have some knee issues a while back (which is still hanging around a bit), I was fine for a good year after buying my first proper running shoes.

Might knock my protein supplement on the head as well - I mean, I can't say I've noticed any difference personally - at least not any extra difference compared to when I was lifting without the protein supplement.  £37.99 a tub is a lot of money!

I was shocked to hear people had died during marathons by drinking too much!!

The business with people dying/suffering from too much water I understand is known as hyponatremia - which I understand is caused by the over-dilution of sodium, potassium and chlorides in the body and affects neural transmission, kidneys and some other functions - but it is extremely rare.

Now I don't know what to believe.

Didn't watch the program but I am pretty sure what the content was....

All I can say is I choose my brand of ASICS - new pair every year from a lot of use - because they support my feet, make them comfortable but most of all make me feel good when I'm running.  I like Lucozade Sport - because it tastes good especially after an hour plus working out and it makes me feel good. 

I make no apologies for spending my money on my running habit.  I don't smoke.  I eat well.  I don't binge drink.  I do it because I like it. 

I will watch the program though on iplayer, it'll be interesting either way....

it is very interesting, but its very biased and considering they bash people like puma for not backing up their claims, they really are quite hypocritical in not really backing up their own with much more than oppinion and very diluted facts, 

its all good information but its just a little too biased and half information, well worth a watch though.

http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/4/e001702.full?ga=w_bmjj_bmj-com

A useful link to a/the supporting article in the BMJ. 

Won't stop me buying sports drinks though - I buy for the placebo effect! 

Actually that's not totally a joke - I noticed when I started running that I felt better when I ran with water+a small amount of Robinsons rather than just water in my bottle. The amount of Robinsons wasn't enough to make any difference and I wasn't running that far then anyway but it just helped me grit out those tough bits when 10k was a struggle.

Sheeyut wrote (see)

 

Actually that's not totally a joke - I noticed when I started running that I felt better when I ran with water+a small amount of Robinsons rather than just water in my bottle. The amount of Robinsons wasn't enough to make any difference and I wasn't running that far then anyway but it just helped me grit out those tough bits when 10k was a struggle.

There have been studies into the effects of merely rinsing the mouth with carb-rich liquids, the idea being (I think??) that you're tricking the body into thinking it's receiving the energy it needs.  I'm not sure whether this goes beyond the placebo effect but I'm sure it's tied in there somewhere.  I know that when I'm flagging towards the end of a long bike ride, a quick swig of Lucozade* really does hit the spot instantaneously even though it clearly can't have done anything to stock up/spare my glycogen stores yet.

*Other sugary drinks are available.

I thought the programme was pretty good. The point is not that it was biased (maybe it was), but that the companies that make all these claims for their products rarely have much scienctific evidence to back them up - and they should. The fairest point the programme made was that you should search out running shoes that feel comfortable when you run. That's always been my feeling. I've never particularly believed in sports drinks, and the point about simply having a decent diet has always been my opinion. Ok, so it matched my opinions, which is why I thought it fair, I guess!! True enough, Graham Obree could probably take more food out on his bike than a runner can carry, but his point about refuelling after training or racing carried a lot of weight.

Panther Hunter wrote (see)

Its a typical Hatchet Job by Panarama.

They did the same thing about Racism in Poland before the Euros. There were no problems at all.

They make their mind up before they do the research.

Tabloid TV.

But at least the reporter got a few jollies to exotic places.  Which was nice.

What worried me more was that parents are giving their kids these drinks!

Poison yourselves fine but really?

Not sure I agree with the panning of sports drinks- I see that they aren't necessary for most of the public that will do 20 minutes on the treadmill in the gym, but they are shown to have benefits for runs of over an hour, where some sort of refuelling is necessary.

As for the downer on stability shoes, that's a bit irish- most runners have shoes fitted to their gaits and this helps- I know when I started in the wrong shoes I was in a whole world of knee pain, but since being fitted for shoes to control my over-pronation I've not had a whisper from my knee!