For years you've been told that all you need to drink during exercise is water. I remember lining up with the other guys on the basketball team, waiting for my one turn at the water fountain. Fortunately, coaches and fitness experts agree that fluid replacement drinks are an essential part of any athletic competition.

We now know that fluid replacement drinks with a 7% carbohydrate solution (about 130-140 kcalories per 16 oz.) are optimum for rehydrating and extending performance during longer exercise sessions. What some people still don't know is that, even more important, is replacing carbohydrates with a 21% carbohydrate solution (400 kcalories per 16 oz.) immediately after exercise. There is a window of increased uptake of carbs converted into glycogen (glucose + oxygen) by the liver and muscles of up to two hours after exercise. During this window, muscles are still super-sensitive to insulin, and will convert carbs into glycogen faster.

The formula for calculating post-exercise carbohydrate recovery drinks is to use 1/2 gram, or 2 kcalories (remember; one gram of carbs = four calories) per pound of body weight. For example; if you weigh 150 lbs., you would use 75 grams, which would yield 300 kcalories.

Don't think that you can use fruit juice or cheap sports drinks to rehydrate or replace carbs, though. Most of these have simple sugars that can wreak havoc with your blood sugar, and worse, dehydrate you. Make sure that the label on the drink you choose lists maltodextrin or glucose polymers as the first ingredient, followed by fructose. The ideal ratio is about 4:1 of complex to simple carbs.

And for those of you trying to watch your weight and think that this is too many carbs to add to their daily intake- you may have used 500+ calories in your last hour of workout; do you really think that adding 400 calories back in to replace what you used will make you fat? Not a chance. Test me on this one. Hundreds of people have successfully tried this method to increase energy and speed recovery. Often, even injury and illness have been reduced.

Carbs are the least expensive and most effective piece of training equipment you'll ever buy.

Find out more about SNS Fluid Replacements and Carbohydrate Recovery Drinks now !