Clearing up the Confusion
BY BRIAN FRANK
The variety of fuels that Hammer offers and how we explain their best use has inadvertently caused much confusion. Hopefully, this article and accompanying video will clarify this for you and everyone else.
Back in 1992, when I introduced Sustained Energy, it was intended for our Clients engaging in long-distance, mega-endurance efforts. In the late 80s and early 90s, ultra, distance events were increasing, and there were no products designed or intended for long periods. The only available fuels were the usual sugar, citric acid, and salt combo, and they did not work for ultra distances.
However, shortly after introducing Sustained Energy, giving athletes a real ultra fuel, I realized there was a lack of carb fuels for higher intensity, shorter duration exercise. It turns out the products of the day were not working for many athletes even in these shorter durations. This led me to develop Hammer Gel and then HEED.
The introduction of Hammer Gel in 1995 and HEED in 2004 created the need to differentiate the products and their best uses. To help facilitate this, we started talking about exercise periods lasting less than or more than three hours so you would know which fuel is best based on the duration of your exercise. The introduction of Perpetuem in 2002 increased this need.
Since then, we've been suggesting that athletes think about fueling for their exercise bouts with a hard dividing line of under three hours or over three hours. If you exercise for 1-3 hours, use Hammer Gel if you are a water drinker, and HEED if you are a drink drinker (see my other article/video on this subject): Both are complex carb-only fuels that provide a quick boost for these durations.
However, if you plan to exercise for longer than 3 hours, Perpetuem or possibly Sustained Energy should be your primary source of calories. They contain protein, and Perpetuem even has some fat in it.
The above instructions confused many clients and even some of our staff. No one is confused about exercise lasting less than 3 hours – use Hammer Gel or HEED, and you'll be golden. It's the 3 + hours fueling where things get confusing. Even today, I regularly hear clients asking:
“Does that mean for my long events, I start with HEED or Gel for the first three hours, THEN switch to Perpetuem or Sustained Energy?”
NOPE. This is absolutely not what I am trying to convey.
The big idea here is that when you exercise for 3 + hours, you forego the Gel/Heed and start immediately with your protein-fortified fuel. This is super key and the big takeaway here.
After many hours, to avoid flavor fatigue, to change things up, or for more energy towards the end.
Sustained Energy and Perpetuem
Either or both, this magical combo is for the long days.
We’re talking about 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 hours, and beyond.
The difference is both Sustained Energy and Perpetuem contain protein. Heed and Gel do not.
This is especially important because, after about 1.5 hours, your body will begin burning some protein in the gluconeogenesis process.
In fact, roughly 10% of calories converted to glycogen will come from protein.
That said, if you're not consuming a steady protein source during these long activities, it has to come from somewhere.
By using a carb-only fuel source, after a while, your body will have to start robbing protein from… you guessed it - your hard-earned muscle mass.
This will cannibalize your precious muscle and accelerate fatigue – both of which we want to avoid.
Sustained Energy and Perpetuem are here to fill the void and help offset what you are burning.
Furthermore, Perpetuem has the Bonus advantage of having some fat to help with fat metabolism. (Read more here on ENW, all about the many benefits of some Good Fat!)
Cheat Sheet
Jot this down…
Under 3 hours: HEED and/or Hammer Gel alone is fine.
3 hours or more: Use Sustained Energy and/or Perpetuem from the start.
Start sipping away 10-15 in and continuously throughout your activity.
After 6-12 hours or more, to break up the flavor fatigue, go ahead and have a little HEED or Gel for a palette perk and to get up that next hill.
26 comments
Thanks for the video and clarification. One remaining question – if we are on a run from say, 1 – 2 hours, is it OK to use Perpetuem on those runs? Or is that sub-optimal compared to HEED?
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Hammer Nutrition replied:
Hi Gary, thank you for the kudos and great question! I probably should have covered that more in my article/vid, but was trying to avoid further confusion. You can absolutely use Perpetuem with great results for efforts lasting much less than 3 hours. I’ve seen a lot of athletes, myself included occasionally, just use Perpetuem for all of their exercise from one hour or longer. Give it a go and let us know if you like it better. BDF
Thanks Brian, Good stuff!!!
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Hammer Nutrition replied:
Hi John, Thank you for the Kudos! Nathan says hi! BDF
I was introduced to Hammer products at an Adventure race academy. Since 2008 I have used HEED, Perpeteum, E-caps and gels for every race I have done. Distances from road and mountain 10k’s, 50k, 72 hr and longer. Most recently I completed the Badwater Salton Sea Race, a 83 mile foot race from Salton Sea to Palomar mountain.
While my teammate chose a liquid based nutrition regimen the entire race, I opted for Perpetuem in my hydration bladder, real food (sub sandwich and liquor store instant chow mein, E-caps and occasional gels. At mile 55 ish he began to have GI issues. I on the other hand was well enough to tow him 10 of the last 11.5 miles and drive the entire crew home some 27 hrs later.
I share your products to many as they consistently prove to be far superior then any others on the market.
Thank you for continuing to make a great product that provides all the necessary components to sustain my racing adventures.
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Hammer Nutrition replied:
Hi Chris, thank you so much for your comment and your creative integration of Hammer products and real food. As long as it works for you, I love it. Keep in mind, Ray Sanchez just finished his 15th Badwater 135 drinking Perpetuem and a piece of pizza. So, if you choose the correct liquid fueling plan (ours), it can work well. Trying to do a sugar/salt/citric acid liquid fueling for an event like this leads to misery. Thank you for the encouragement, I plan to do just that and helping as many athletes as we can along the way! BDF
I HUGELY appreciate this information. When I was a young long-distance runner in the 1960s and ‘70s, I just winged it on fueling and hydration. It’s amazing how much ignorance you can get away with when you’re young! Later (1977) when I was 37 (my peak year), I won the JFK 50-mile (America’s largest ultra, then) in 6:04, over ten minutes ahead of the next runner (in a field of 483), and the only thing I can recall consuming in that race was a big homemade cookie at about 42 miles. As I grew older, though, the importance of nutrition grew vastly larger. Over the decades, I returned to the JFK 50 and won my age group competition for over-50, over-60, and over-70, each time making up for the slowing effect of ageing by paying closer attention to what I needed to consume. This November, I’m going back to the JFK to try for a finish at age 82. I’m training with Perpetuem and Endurolytes and intend to take Hammer bars along on the run. I’d love it if the JFK 50 would provide Perpetuem at aid stations!
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Hammer Nutrition replied:
Hello Ed, thank you so much for your comment and sharing our amazing accomplishments with us! You are legend! Good luck with the event in November and be sure to let me know if you’d like me to review your fueling plan. I too would love to see Hammer at JFK and so many other marquee events! Having Perp on course would be even more awesome. Unfortunately, the former requires checks I can’t write and the later would need agitated, chilled tubs – not really feasible. In the alternative, I’ve suggest mixing Perpetuem into a paste, filling a couple of flasks and using that for as long as you can and then just drink what’s on course for the past part. Please be sure to let us know how the event goes for you! BDF
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Hammer Nutrition replied:
Hey Ed,
Once your event is done we would love to talk about this story on our socials and Endurance news and if you have any copyright free pics you could share, unless you have written permission from the photographers along with the original files that state we can use on social and in print. Of course we would give proper credits.
If you are interested, please fill out the below when the event is all said and done, and we will use this info for the writeup!
Who (name) :
What (event) :
Where :
When (date) :
Hammer Fuels Used :
Stats if applicable…
- Total Distance : – Total Time, with or without splits : – AG Finish : – Overall Finish :Best of luck with the event and training leading up to it and look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
-CamrynCamryn Lingle
Motorsport Athlete Manager / Sponsorship Coordinator
800.336.1977
www.hammernutrition.com
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Thank you Brian, I ride 3-4 hrs training using EC new version from Perpeteum as it seems less stomach issues; really need to do a side by side analysis to be sure. But my question is in your recent Motocross 6 hr racing in Endurance magazine you did not use either EC or Perpeteum as you recommended for >3hrs rides—why? Also how do you actually take the antifatigue, electrolyte tabs when riding, I mostly have to stop for this??
RRGRACE
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Hammer Nutrition replied:
Hello Mr. Grace, thank you for your comment and question. Unfortunately, I’m not understanding what EC is and which product may be causing you stomach issues? Please feel free to reach out directly to discuss further. I’ll address your other questions as succinctly as possible. My competitions are not 6 hours of continuous effort at elevated HR, so the protein metabolism I was referencing is interrupted and no so much of a concern here. Over the course 6 hours, I have 36 max hr/anaerobic efforts lasting 30-90 seconds. Then, I have anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes to recover before the next spike. For these max efforts, I like to have a shot of Hammer Gel and Fully Charged a few minutes before I ender each section to make sure that my blood sugar and mental acuity are at their peak. On the transits and waiting to enter the next section, my HR drops to active/resting and I can burn fat for most of my calorie needs. I’ve used Perpetuem and it works fine, in fact Josh Roper, the #2 pro trials rider in the US does just that – he just sips Perpetuem and water all day with Endurolytes added as needed. With this kind of cadence, taking capsules of Endurolytes, Anti Fatigue, Fully Charged, Race Caps Supreme and the like are no problem. If you are doing longer duration moto events such as GNCC, hard enduro, etc. that may last for 3-6 hours, an all in one mixture (Hammer Gel, Endurolytes Extreme Powder, Fully Charged powder- recommended) in your hydration pack and then take things like Anti Fatigue Caps at gas/pit stops. As always, please let me know if you have additional questions. BDF