Energy gels for running, trail and cycling, also called sports gels: single-use sachets to take on the move, no chewing, no stopping. There are gels with caffeine, gels without caffeine, an isotonic gel with sea water, and creatine gels.
They go with you on the long run, the marathon, the bike ride, and the padel court: wherever solid food isn't an option and you want your carbs within reach.
If it's your first gel, start with a caffeine-free one. The caffeine one only if you already tolerate it, counting its milligrams alongside the day's coffee. Prefer to drink your fuel? Go to isotonic drinks. More into chewing? Try energy bars. Our own brand, with the full composition on every product page.
An energy gel is a concentrated dose of carbohydrate in a single-use sachet, made to take on the move without chewing. What decides how many you carry isn't the flavor: it's the grams of carbohydrate per sachet and the hours you'll be out.
Shop energy gelsWith and without caffeine, isotonic, creatine, padel and honey
In the energy gels, per their label
A rough guide for long sessions
Full composition on every gel's product page
Duration decides: under an hour you don't need a gel; over that, what counts is the grams per hour.
About 30g of carbs per hour is enough: one gel per hour, the first around the half-hour mark. The first time, go caffeine-free; if you use the caffeine one, count its 65.9mg alongside the day's coffee.
From 2 to 2.5 hours, up to 60g of carbs per hour; past 2.5 hours, up to 90g combining glucose and fructose, alternating gels with energy bars whenever there's a break to chew.
A gel during the break or between sets, without that overfull feeling, including in multi-match tournaments. The gel made for the court is in padel.
Under an hour at moderate intensity you don't need a gel: water, and salts if it's hot. A gel makes sense once the effort stretches out or the intensity climbs.
The caffeine-free gel, the caffeine gel and the isotonic one differ in caffeine and in concentration.
A caffeine-free gel delivers only carbohydrate: 21-22g per sachet, from maltodextrin, dextrose, fructose, or honey. It's the gel for testing your tolerance, and the one that works for a night training session.
The caffeine gel declares 65.9mg of caffeine and 27g of carbohydrate per sachet, plus arginine and taurine. Its label carries the caffeine warning: not recommended for children or pregnant women.
The isotonic gel carries sea water and vitamin C: 21g of carbohydrate and just 1.6g of sugars in a 60-gram sachet. It's the most diluted one: it goes down with almost no water.
Four facts from the pack that decide your fueling plan.
It's the number that sets the plan. The position of the American College of Sports Medicine and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics sets 30-60g of carbohydrate per hour: divide by the grams in the gel.
With a single type of sugar, you oxidize around 60g per hour; to go past that you need glucose and fructose together. If the label just says "sugars", you're missing the detail.
Caffeine has no authorized claim in the EU, so all you'll see about it is milligrams. EFSA sets safe doses at 200mg per intake and 400mg a day for a healthy adult.
A carbohydrate gel adds barely any sodium. The isotonic one with sea water declares 0.07g of salt per sachet, and the honey one, 0.25g: fluid gets replaced by drinking, and that base is in isotonic drinks.
Formulations in this category that go beyond carbohydrate alone.
Creatine gels deliver 3g of creatine monohydrate per sachet, the usual daily serving, and go down without water. The other formats are in creatine.
The refreshing padel gel adds beta-alanine, L-tyrosine, and vitamin B6 to dextrose and fructose. Of its ingredients, only vitamin B6 has an authorized claim: it contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism.
The honey-and-peanut gel delivers its carbohydrate as honey and dextrose, 22g per sachet, and adds sea water. It contains peanut: ruled out if you have that allergy.
Tip: a concentrated gel calls for one or two sips of water; the isotonic one, being more diluted, needs less. What you lose through sweat is explained in why we need to replenish electrolytes; the rest of your fueling options are in supplements to take during training.
Go caffeine-free if you're unsure: you test the format without adding caffeine. Both deliver between 21 and 27g of carbs per sachet. The caffeine one if you already tolerate it, counting its milligrams alongside your coffee; at night, or with coffee already in you, stick with the caffeine-free one.
EFSA considers up to 200mg of caffeine in a single intake and 400mg a day safe for a healthy adult. At 65.9mg per gel, two in a row already add up to 132mg, and a third pushes close to the per-intake limit, before even counting the day's coffee.
Think in grams per hour, not per gel: the reference is 30-60g of carbohydrate per hour in efforts over 60 minutes, and up to 90g combining glucose and fructose in events over 2.5 hours. The energy gels in this category declare between 21 and 27g per sachet.
The first one, between 30 and 45 minutes into the effort; after that, one every 30-45 minutes depending on the grams in each gel and your target per hour. Don't try it for the first time on race day: the plan gets tested in training.
The gel starts to be absorbed within minutes, but your use of that carbohydrate as fuel builds up gradually over the effort. That's why the first one goes in early, around minute 30-45, and not once the bonk has already hit.
At 45-60g of carbohydrate per hour over four hours, and with 21-27g per sachet, that's seven to eleven gels: two or three per hour, the first around minute 30-45. If you use the caffeine gel, don't take it at every feed: it has 65.9mg per sachet, and EFSA puts the ceiling at 200mg per dose and 400mg a day, coffee included.
It depends on your time. Under two hours, about 30g of carbs per hour is enough: one or two gels, the first around minute 30-40. If you'll be out longer than two hours, move toward 60g per hour, which is two or three gels per hour. Rehearse it on your long runs.
It's the concentration, not the carbohydrate. The isotonic one spreads 21g across a 60-gram sachet, so it goes down with almost no water; the concentrated one packs 27g into 40 grams and calls for a couple of sips. In a race with sparse aid stations, that difference shows.
Three warnings, and all three are on the label. The caffeine gel isn't recommended for children or for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. The honey-and-peanut one contains an allergen. And going past around 60g of carbohydrate per hour with a single sugar type tends to end in digestive discomfort.
For closing out your daily creatine dose on the days when there's no tub or scoop around: a trip, a competition away from home, or a long outing. The EU-authorized claim states that creatine increases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity exercise, with 3g a day.
