HEED vs. Fizz

What makes them different and how to use them both effectively

By Steve Born

I'm writing this while working at the Hammer Nutrition expo booth at the U.S. Masters Swimming Summer National Championships, an event that we sponsor. As is the case with this and previous events I've worked at in the past few months, I have a couple of coolers of HEED on one of the tables, mixed up and ready for the athletes to consume (and boy, are we going through a lot of HEED today!). Next to the 5-gallon HEED coolers are plastic Tupperware containers, each one holding several dozen single-serving sample packets of various flavors of Endurolytes Fizz, which we're providing to the athletes at no charge so they can try them.

Several times throughout the day - and I've noted that this has occurred at not only this event, but at every one of them that I've attended over the past several months - someone will take a drink of HEED (usually sampling both of the flavors I have available), saying how much they like the taste, that it's really refreshing but not too sweet, etc. Then they'll look at the plastic containers holding the Endurolytes Fizz, examine the product's single-serving packaging, and ask, "Is this what's in the coolers?" or "Is this the same thing as what I'm drinking?" thinking that the two products are the same. That's when I politely tell them that these are two different products, which then leads to an explanation as to what the two products are, what makes them different, and what they're designed for.

If you've been wondering the same thing, this article will be helpful to you.

HEED is a powdered sports drink that contains calories and a full-spectrum electrolyte profile. Endurolytes Fizz is a nearlycalorie- free, full-spectrum electrolyte replenishment product in effervescent tablet form.

Every scoop of HEED contains 100 calories and about the same amount of electrolytes as one-half tablet of Endurolytes Fizz. While taking into account the many variables that determine how much electrolytic mineral support you need, our general recommendation is one-half tablet of Endurolytes Fizz (or one Endurolytes capsule) for every 50-60 pounds of body weight per hour. Using that gauge, lighter-weight athletes will oftentimes find that one to two scoops of HEED in a water bottle will cover their entire fueling requirements - fluids, calories, and electrolytes - for an hour or so. The same is true for most athletes who are doing short-duration workouts and require only minimal amounts of calories and electrolytes.

During longer bouts of exercise, when Sustained Energy or Perpetuem is the primary fuel (and especially when concentrated, multi-hour bottles of either product are being used), Endurolytes Fizz is an ideal alternative to Endurolytes capsules, primarily for athletes who are either unable to swallow capsules during exercise, or who prefer to fulfill their electrolytic mineral needs via lightly flavored, effervescent ("fizzy") electrolyte water.

A key point to remember is that if you put "X" amount of scoops of HEED or "X" number of Endurolytes Fizz is your water bottle, your dose is preset . . . you've basically put a ceiling on it, which can become an issue if what you've put in your bottle is proving to be insufficient (such as if the weather gets hotter). Therefore, we highly recommend that you carry extra Endurolytes Fizz tablets or Endurolytes capsules. You may end up not needing them, but you'll feel better knowing that you have them within easy reach, should the conditions require more electrolytic mineral support than what you're obtaining from however many scoops of HEED or Endurolytes Fizz tablets you've put in your bottle.

Lastly, you can most definitely add Endurolytes Fizz tablets to your bottle(s) of HEED to bolster the electrolyte content. If you're adventurous, you can create a new flavor by, for example, adding Grape Endurolytes Fizz to Melon HEED, or numerous other creative combinations.