If you’ve ever felt suddenly drained of energy on a long run or bike ride, you’ve likely hit the wall — a phrase that endurance athletes use to refer to what happens when your muscles use up all of their glycogen stores. Speaking from personal experience, it feels as if your batteries have lost their juice — and then your body powers down. That’s why runners and cyclists rely on carbohydrate-packed fuel like energy gels to stay topped off throughout their workout or race.
If your run or endurance workout is longer than an hour, you could benefit from an energy gel. As I mentioned in my roundup of the best energy gels, you could get the same nutrients from other foods, but when you’re running, it’s harder to chew and digest the extra fiber and protein in real food. Energy gels, with their gooey, easy-to-down consistencies, are designed to provide the quick sugar you need in one slurp.
That said, Maddie Alm, a registered dietitian and professional runner, told me a lot of her clients who are new to fueling feel more comfortable starting with a carbohydrate sports drink mix instead, which can be easier to consume than a gel. The one trade-off, though, is that it can be a logistical challenge to drink a lot of fluids when you’re running. Alm says it’s also more difficult to get the volume of fluid required to get the same amount of carbs that you’d get in a gel, which is more concentrated. Plus drinking too much fluid can cause it to slosh around in your stomach. But Alm says you can bridge the gap between drink mixes and gels by taking sips from a small handheld bottle, like this one that I use for longer runs.
How you use these gels is just as important as what’s in them. You don’t want to take them all at once, but you also don’t want to wait too long. To break down the basics of fueling with energy gels, I spoke to registered dietitians and runners Alm and Kristy Baumann, who shared helpful tips about timing, race-day strategy, and hydration.
You’ll need to train your stomach first
Baumann recommends trying a handful of different types of gels to see what you like. “I recommend trying them on an easy, shorter run, so it doesn’t feel like your long run gets ruined because you took a gel and it didn’t sit well,” she says, referring to indigestion.
When you start taking gels, you have to train your stomach to be able to digest them while you’re running. “That means that you might not necessarily start with taking in a whole gel all at one time,” Baumann says. “You might take half of a gel 30 minutes into your run, and then see how that sits, and then 30 minutes later take the second half of the gel. So we work on training our stomachs to get used to it. Your stomach is a muscle.”
At what point in your workout should you eat an energy gel?
Baumann says after 70 to 90 minutes of exercise is when you’d want to consume carbohydrates. “I find, generally, that people will notice a decrease in their energy level around that time,” she says. If your runs are shorter than 75 minutes, Alm recommends having a gel about halfway through your run. And if you’re training for a race, it’s a good idea to practice taking gels during hard workouts to simulate what it will be like on race day. “At a higher effort, you do tend to experience more GI issues just generally because the harder you’re working, the less blood flow you’re getting to your GI tract,” Alm explains. “So if you’re not used to getting in nutrition when you’re running at a higher effort, it can cause GI issues that you may not experience when you’re running at a lower intensity.”
How many gels should you bring along with you?
A helpful way to think about gel intake is carbohydrates per hour. “A lot of people will still try to think about it in terms of calories per hour, which isn’t super-helpful,” Alm explains. “The carbs are our main source of calories, so that tends to be a more helpful window.” Aim for at least 20 grams of carbs per hour, and as your runs get longer and you get more used to fueling, Alm recommends getting between 30 to 60 grams of carbs per hour, though that number depends on each athlete, their experience, and their goals.
You still need to hydrate
Energy gels can’t replace water or electrolytes, which your body needs to function. Even though some gels are less viscous and can be consumed by themselves, it’s always a good idea to take gels with water or a sports drink. “I see people mistake gels for hydration, and they are more dehydrating than anything. We require fluids to move that glucose from our gut to our bloodstream,” Alm explains.
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