Gels vs. Chews

Remember how I said that I was going to do a gels vs. chews comparison post? Well this is it. I’ve thought about this for a while, especially when I was looking into what nutrition I would need during a long run. What I’ll do is list the pros and cons for each and then commonalities at the end.

Gels

-Easy to take while on a run, (you can just kind of slurp it back and go)

-The consistency of some can be a little thick, so it might make things a little tricky

-Like eating different kinds of jam

-More calories in one gel relative to one chew

Chews

-The size of some of them can be massive…read my post on the Clif Bloks as a good example

-The packaging can be a bit of a challenge while on the run

-Kind of like chewing on a gummy candy

-Don’t fit in those little loops on a fuel belt

Common Ground

-No difference in flavour (generally)

-Both can be taken just as often as the other, so it’s not like you cut out some time by taking a gel vs. a chew (for example)

-Both can have caffeine

-Price wise there generally isn’t a huge difference between one singular gel and one singular pack of chews

What are your favourite gels/chews? Any other perks to either that you can think of?

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy

 

 

Product Review: Clif Shot Energy Gel

Price: $1.50 (at mec.ca)

The decision to run long distances comes with a host of new elements: hydration packs, electrolytes, gels/chews, the list goes on. I felt like my hydration game was pretty on point, but I needed to figure out something on the chew/gel front. Since I work at a running store, I’ve tried a fair bit of running nutrition, however I’ve never been able to try them during a run. I had put a fair amount of research into this, since messing up nutrition during a run can really make or break you. When trying to find a brand and type of running nutrition, I took into account the following:

-Chew vs. Gel: (chews can be a little tricky to navigate since you have to chew them mid run, whereas gels can just be slurped down). That being said, gels sometimes are a little on the thicker side and make it harder to swallow.

-Accessible Packing: I don’t want to fight with the package mid-run.

-Certified Organic: I tend to get headaches and digestive issues sometimes post-run, so I wanted to make sure the ingredients were something that could be easily digested with no issues.

-Caffeine: An immediate burst of energy is nice, but a non-caffeine gel/chew wasn’t a write-off.

-Good Flavour: This one is pretty self-explanatory.

After reading some blogs on here and doing my own research, (and trying some stuff at work), I settled on the Clif Shot Energy Gel. I also bought the chews, but I haven’t used those on a run yet so I’ll save those for another review. In the mean time, here’s what I thought of the gel:

-I still haven’t mastered the running and eating thing, so it’s been a little challenging running and swallowing the gel. This isn’t anything to do with the brand, (in fact, I find Clif’s gels pretty easy to swallow), but more so with my lack of experience.

-Tastes like raspberry jam, (I bought the razz flavour, also a huge win).

-Caffeine delivers immediate energy with no crash

I should probably note that when I use the Clif Shot Energy Gel, I only use on half a gel every 45 minutes. When I first tried running and gels, I didn’t want to take an aggressive approach in fear that I would mess with my digestive system. So far, that seems to be an effective method, so I think I’m going to stick to it.

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy