Based on my good luck with Voler bib shorts (I loved the Voler Elite bibs,) I picked up a pair of the Voler Campione bib shorts. The Campione line had just launched (January 2009,) so VeloWear did a 30% off sale to support it!

So I got a sweet pair of white bib shorts for $55.97! Normally I wouldn’t buy white shorts, but hey, the price was right!

Here are my thoughts on these bibs:

Price

Like I said, the price was right. $55 for nice bibs is a steal, even in the case of white bibs that I probably won’t wear very often.

Comfort

These shorts are certainly comfortable. They are nicer than the average Voler shorts, but quite a ways behind the Voler Elite DX bib level (only because the Voler Elite bibs were so good to me though.)

If you’re looking at comfort in relation to the price, comfort is excellent.

Looks and Style

One word: White! If you’re looking for white bibs, then I bet you’ll like the looks and style here.

White is flashy and attracts attention from everyone, in good and bad ways. If you have the right body and confidence to wear white, it could attract the ladies, and it could improve visibility in traffic. (Hopefully that means drivers won’t hit you.)

To be stylish with these white bibs, remember…

When Not To Wear White

Much like wearing white after Labor Day or wearing a white dress to a wedding, there is a similar limitation to wearing white bibs. And this has to do with current weather conditions.

The question is, how do they look when soaking wet from rain or saturated with sweat?

My answer is, I don’t know! That’s because I don’t wear these in inclement weather. Furthermore, I have no plans to wear these unless the weather is stunningly perfect.

White gets dirty easily, so one ride in the rain and you could lose that bright white shine. And the only thing worse than stained, off-white bibs is completely see-through bibs (think “wet t-shirt contest” and apply it to bib shorts.)

Durability

While I’ve had these bibs a couple years now, I’ve only worn them on special occasions (see “When Not to Wear White”.) So I can’t say how long they will last under heavy use. But if they are anything like the other Voler shorts I’ve worn, they’ll last plenty long for the price.

My final verdict is…

These are nice, comfy bibs, that are also stylish. Just remember – you’ll stand out if you wear them. So make sure you don’t wear them unless you have a nice tan and ripped muscles, as well as serious speed to back them up.

Official website: www.Voler.com

At first, I really wasn’t sure what to get. There are cool shoes out there, but I didn’t want to risk buying a new brand without trying them on first (without an actual local bike shop at the time, my chances of trying on shoes were slim to none.)

So, naturally, I decided to stick with Sidi, because I knew their size 46 road shoes fit me very well. Not to mention how comfortable and durable their road shoes are! So that eased my mind about picking up a pair of $295 shoes that would be submerged in mud and scraped against rocks the first day I used them!

The Break-In Period

As soon as I tried on the shoes in May 2009, I knew they were a perfect fit! The 46 was just right, like my Sidi Genius road shoes. A tad roomier, but I think that is because the material was still new and extra stiff.

The big difference is that the Dominators were nowhere near as soft and supple! This meant they didn’t conform to my foot like I was used to, so, I had to break them in…

After just a few rides and getting my cleat placement dialed in, the shoes were great. Not quite as comfortable as my Sidi Genius 3 road shoes, and not as familiar as my old Northwaves or Shimanos, but they held their own as far as comfort goes.

After 5-6 years I’m sure they’ll be broken in nicely!

Weight

Being mountain bike shoes, it was no surprise these were heavier than my Sidi road shoes.

The claimed weight was 720g. The actual weight was 829g though (weighed on my home scale.)

That’s a size 46 without cleats or toe spikes. Definitely not a lightweight, but typical for MTB shoes. (They must weigh their size 39 to give you the listed weight!)

On the brighter side, they “felt” light, which is always nice.

The Plastic Tread

The only complaint I’ve heard from friends with Sidi MTB shoes is that the plastic lugs on the sole provide little to no traction when walking on rocks and other slippery surfaces. But there was only one instance where I remember that slowing anyone down (it was stream crossing where you walked across large, wet rocks,) and that was not during a race, just a fun ride.

Considering these shoes are for XC racing, I wasn’t too concerned. After all, I don’t make it a habit to walk during races. And I don’t like to walk in any cycling shoes, so why miss out on good shoes over such a tiny concern?

In reality, the plastic tread on the sole doesn’t seem much different than other XC racing shoes. Some other shoes do have bits of softer rubber on the sole, aiding in grip on hard surfaces, but you can re-create that yourself if you want. All you have to do it put a few small beads of Shoe Goo in key locations (i.e. on the areas that touch the ground when walking.)

Compatibility with EggBeaters

The only problem with the Dominators was the hard time clipping into my Crank Bros Eggbeater pedals. But after some testing, I realized that was entirely due to the Crank Bros Shoe Shields.

See, I wanted to use the Shoe Shields to protect my brand new soles, but that turned out to be a waste of effort. After a few rides, I found plenty of scrapes and gouges all around the sole that are much worse than what the Eggbeaters would do over the course of a year or two!

Once I removed the shields, I found no compatibility issues between the Dominators and Eggbeaters.

Clipping In

However, clipping in did take some getting used to. Clipping in when using a shoe with a bunch of hard plastic bits for the tread is more difficult than when you have a more open, rubberized sole.

With a softer sole, you can stomp down on the pedal and finagle your cleats into place with a little pressure. With hard soles, you have to be a lot more precise. If you don’t get the cleats lined up perfectly, they’ll slip out of place, and you’ll have to try again.

I found it more intuitive to continue racing in my Northwave shoes, but eventually I did get used to the Sidi Dominators.

Durability

As mentioned, the sole is getting a little scratched up, but that’s normal. The shoe isn’t falling apart by any means.

I’ve only used these for two years though, so I can’t speak too much about durability yet.

My final verdict is…

The Sidi Dominator 5 is a pretty cool shoe. I’m not as happy with these as I am with my old Sidi Genius road shoes, but they’re still great shoes.

Hopefully in 5-10 years when I need to replace these, I can find something lighter and even more comfortable, but for now, these will do just fine!

Official website: www.SidiSport.com

Buy online: www.REI.com | www.PerformanceBike.com | www.Zappos.com

This is the old standby with a proven track record. People either don’t like it or, like me, they take it for granted. If I need an energy bar, I know that the Powerbar is going to do the job, and I know I can find it just about anywhere. (Remember the days when the Powerbar was the only bar on the shelves?)

Continue reading to find out just what it is that makes the PowerBar Performance Bar shine…

Health & Nutrition

Let’s start out by examining the ingredients and nutrition facts for one of the common flavors, Vanilla Crisp.

Ingredients:

C2 MAX CARBOHYDRATE BLEND (ORGANIC EVAPORATED CANE JUICE SYRUP, MALTODEXTRIN, FRUCTOSE, DEXTROSE), OAT BRAN, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, RICE CRISPS (MILLED RICE, RICE BRAN, ROSEMARY EXTRACT), BROWN RICE FLOUR, CANOLA OIL, 2% OR LESS OF NATURAL FLAVOR, VEGETABLE GLYCERIN, SOY LECITHIN, SALT, ALMOND BUTTER, NONFAT MILK, PEANUT FLOUR. MINERALS: CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, FERROUS FUMARATE (IRON). VITAMINS: ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), VITAMIN B6 HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMINE MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1). CONTAINS ALMOND, MILK, PEANUT AND SOY INGREDIENTS. MADE ON EQUIPMENT THAT ALSO PROCESSES WHEAT.

What really stands out to me is the vast array of carbohydrate sources in this bar. There are simple and complex carbs, then different types of sugars. If you do any research into how the human body can absorb different types of sugar through different pathways, you see the importance of taking in more than one type of carbohydrate. I’m going to assume that the team at Powerbar has a good grasp on the research and is doing its best to provide endurance athletes with as many carbs as possible.

Other than that, this is a pretty normal energy bar. Lots of carbs, a little protein and fat, and some added vitamins and minerals (i.e. electrolytes.) It won’t be winning any “healthiest food in the world” awards, but it is right for the task at hand.

Nutrition Facts:

Calories 240
Fat 3.5g
Sodium 200mg
Potassium 105mg
Total Carbs 45g
Fiber 1g
Sugars 25g
Protein 8g

Now this is what I call an energy bar! No matter how many people come out and talk about the Paleo diet being good and carbs being bad, carbs are still going to be the #1 source of energy for endurance athletes around the globe. And this Powerbar packs 45g of carbs into a 240 calorie package.

Just as important is how they keep the fat, protein, and fiber in check. Protein won’t energize you as fast as carbs will, and fat and fiber slow your digestion and can cause some stomach distress during hard racing.

As far as I’m concerned, the Powerbar Performance Bar does the best job at maximizing what you want and minimizing what you don’t. It’s not as extravagant as some of the newer bars, but when I’m in the middle of a race, I don’t care about extravagance! I just want something that works.

PowerBar Taste Test

Here are my thoughts on the flavors…

Peanut Butter – I really like this one. It is really sweet, but still has a nice peanut butter flavor. It reminds me of the peanut butter Rice Krispy squares my Grandma made me when I was a kid.

It won’t taste like natural or homemade peanut butter, but I like bars and stuff that taste like the sweetened peanut butter.

Chocolate Peanut Butter – I didn’t like this one at all. It tastes artificial and just plain crappy. While I love Reeses cups, other companies doing chocolate peanut butter flavors just don’t compare. Just skip this one.

Chocolate – N/A

Milk Chocolate Brownie – N/A

Cookies N Cream – N/A

Vanilla Crisp – This is a pretty good flavor that’s really sweet. You can taste some vanilla, though, which is nice.

Oatmeal Raisin – This is my overall favorite. I love oatmeal cookies and this bar gives me a similar taste that doesn’t get old.

Apple Cinnamon – This is a tasty bar that I like to have on occasion. It has a pleasant apple cinnamon flavor that isn’t overpowering.

Banana – N/A

Wild Berry – N/A

Honey Roasted Nut – N/A

Caramel Cookie – N/A

(If you want some more flavors with a twist, check out the Powerbar Energize Fruit Smoothie Bar.)

To finish up, I’ll mention the texture. The bar is so processed that there is really only one texture, so every bite is the same. It’s plain and it’s chewy. Imagine all the ingredients ground up and mixed into a paste, them formed into a bar.

Sure, it doesn’t sound appetizing, but like I mentioned before, it works.

The PowerBar, In Use

Now this is where the Powerbar really shines! It’s not perfect, but I still rate it an A+. Here’s why:

An energy bar needs to be easy to eat. The Powerbar must be the easiest bar to eat. It is soft, chewy, and easy to bite into. The size is just right, the wrapper peel back easily, and the bar isn’t going to crumble or break into pieces (which could end up on the trail, rather than in your mouth.)

An energy bar should not be messy. Some bars have a chocolate coating, or they have some icing on top. Both of those are terrible ideas, because that coating melts while you are racing, leaving a sticky mess all over your face, hands, and jersey pockets.

An energy bar should give you an energy boost. The Powerbar does this for me. Thanks to the nice mix of carbs, I notice a quick ‘pick me up’ followed by a good energy supply (~240 calories worth) with no crash.

So, knowing all that, why isn’t the Powerbar perfect?

Unfortunately, the Powerbar does not do well in extreme weather conditions. In normal racing temperatures, perhaps 50-90 degrees F, there’s no problem.

But if it’s 100+ degrees, these get soft and sticky, so they are a bit harder to separate from their wrapper. When it’s close to 30 degrees or lower, the bar is going to freeze solid. If you try to eat a Powerbar in the cold, you could literally break your teeth!

So what do you do? Simply switch to energy gels, energy gel blocks, and/or low-density bars (like those based on rice crisps and oats) in the winter months. Powerbars in the summer, Powerbar Gel Blasts in the winter. Simple.

My final verdict is…

Powerbar Performance Bars are cheap, easy to carry, easy to eat, easy to digest, full of carbs, not messy, and fairly good tasting. You can’t beat it.

It is still my #1 go-to bar for racing and hard training. If you’re looking for an energy bar, this is a great one to start with in almost every situation.

Official website: www.PowerBar.com

For something as simple and basic as a water bottle, we sure have had a lot of innovation the past few years! We had the BPA fiasco and all the new BPA-free bottles, bottles with new types of insulation, and bottles with new bite valves on the lids.

Well, now we have bottles that don’t need washed! OK, so that’s not exactly true, but these FLEXR Sports Water Bottles I’m testing out have some very new and interesting features.

Most obvious is how, rather than pour your drink directly into the bottle, you actually put a special liner in the bottle first. It’s a lot like putting a trash bag in a trash can… except more sanitary!

What’s the purpose for a bottle liner? Oh, only to prevent your bottle from becoming a foul-smelling, mold-infested, awful-tasting bacteria breeding ground!

The thing with us mountain bike racers is that we often spend the weekends at races, living out of our car and/or a tent. We don’t exactly have the greatest facilities to keep our water bottles clean and fresh for each race. Heck, we don’t have time to do such things – we’re too focused on racing.

Then when it’s all over, we’re too worn out to clean up our mess, so we toss our water bottles aside for later. It’s not uncommon for my bottles to spend a few days in the trunk of my car still partially full of some sugary, protein-enriched sports drink.

This means the bottle probably has some nasty bacteria growing in it, and even after cleaning, it could retain a hint of the flavor from said drink.

Sometimes, this means water bottles get thrown out, even though they’re still perfectly functional. With the Flexr system, you just toss the liner, and you’re left with a clean bottle.

How-To Video

This one minute video shows you how to use the liners in your bottle:

Sounds great, but does it work as advertised?

My Experience With the Flexr Bottles

I love innovative new products, but man, I had a hard time with these Flexr bottles!

To start with, I couldn’t even drink out of them the first week I had them. For whatever reason, the smell of their plastic was awful. It was so overpowering that putting the bottle near my nose literally made me feel sick. (The liner had no smell, but the plastic bottle and cap sure did.)

I spent close to five days washing the bottles, soaking them in Dawn dish soap, soaking them in bleach, washing again, soaking in baking soda + vinegar, and washing again. Finally the smell diminished to a tolerable level.

As if I wasn’t annoyed enough at that point, when I pulled the liner out of the 16oz bottle prior to washing, I found two dead spiders beneath it! Apparently they crawled in the vent hole on the bottle and got stuck in there!

Hold on – let’s talk about this vent hole…

Do NOT fill up a Flexr bottle without a liner in it! I probably wouldn’t have thought about this if I hadn’t gotten a 16oz Flexr run bottle, but each bottle has a hole in it! (On the 21oz bottle, the air escape hole is hidden behind the neoprene sleeve, so you don’t notice it.)

This means you can’t use these bottles without using the liners. Which does make sense if you think about it. If you put a liner in the bottle, the bottle is filled with air and the liner. When you fill the liner with liquid, the air between the liner and bottle needs a way to escape without blowing the liner off the top of the bottle! Hence the vent hole in the bottle.

Anyway, none of that would be a big deal if the bottles worked as promised. Just look at some of these purported benefits:

• You don’t have to tilt the bottle or your head to drink from it.
• The liners contract as you drink, preventing the liquid from sloshing up and down. (Very, very annoying when running!)
• Flexible bottle is easy to squeeze.
• Sleep well at night since the bottle is eco-friendly.

Unfortunately, I have no proof that any of those benefits exist. I’m extremely disappointed, because I would have loved the bottle if it did all that!!

Let’s talk about drinking out of the bottle.

The bottle is easy to squeeze, yes. But squeezing the bottle isn’t as simple as it sounds. For one thing, you have to put your finger over the vent hole whenever you drink, or else you’re just squeezing air out the side rather than water out of the top. Even then, it’s like clamping down on a puppy’s squishy chew toy.

To actually get water out, I ended up using both hands at once, squeezing the bottle like an old tube of toothpaste! And I most certainly had to tilt the bottle upside down as well!

And seriously, I have to put my finger over the vent hole when I drink?! If I’m racing, there’s no way I’m going to take the time to feel around the bottle for the vent hole. That’s just plain ridiculous, not to mention inefficient and dangerous.

Did I mention the cap is hard plastic, i.e. not comfortable whatsoever if it touches your lips?

What about those liners?

There’s nothing magical about these liners. They are one size the whole time – there is no expanding when filled up and contracting as the bottle empties out.

This means, you guessed it, that the water still sloshes around just like any other bottle!

I’m not really sold on the “eco-friendly” claims either. I must be in the minority, but even if my bottles get nasty inside, a good scrubbing with Dawn dish soap and a bottle brush does the trick 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time, a follow-up soak with baking soda and white vinegar is all that’s needed to remove any scent or taste.

These people throwing away perfectly good bottles all the time must never have learned to do the dishes!

So, I don’t go through bottles very often. For me, these bottle liners would be excess trash piling up beside my energy bar and gel wrappers. Even if they do biodegrade quickly in landfills, consider that the liners must be produced in a factory and once used, will require some sort of garbage truck to transport them to the landfill.

OK, I’ve made my point – I don’t like the bottles. But if you race time trials or triathlons, keep reading!

Flexr for Time Trials and Triathlons

For you time trialists and triathletes out there, Flexr makes a 28oz aerodynamic bottle that looks perfect for you. You can even turn it into a full-on aero hydration system with one of their kits (pictured.)

It’s almost funny, because this type of setup would negate most of my complaints!

• The bottle isn’t near your face, so you don’t smell it.
• You don’t have to squeeze it, keep your finger on the vent hole, or any of that nonsense.
• You have a soft bite valve, rather than a hard cap spout.
• If the water sloshes on your bike, you’ll hardly notice.

Plus, this is cheaper than most similar hydration set ups! If I was in charge of Flexr, I’d make this my flagship product!

I can’t give you a review on this bottle setup, but let me say this: Despite my disgust with the regular Flexr bottles, I’d still be willing to spend $50 on this remote hydration setup!

For what it’s worth, this bottle holder that Velcros to my hand in pretty nifty!

My final verdict is…

Flexr has an interesting idea, but by solving one small problem, they brought on many new problems. Since I’ve never had a serious problem with cleaning bottles, I’ll be sticking with my Specialized Big Mouth bottles and CamelBak Podium bottles.

However, the Flexr system looks awesome for a TT or triathlon remote hydration setup. If that’s what you’re looking for, I definitely suggest considering the Flexr products.

Official website: www.FlexrSports.com

It’s no secret I eat oatmeal. I have already written why oatmeal is the perfect breakfast for a long day, and in my opinion, it’s the #1 high-energy food for endurance athletes. But what I never had was oatmeal made from freshly milled, hand-blended oats.

That changed when I tried Sammz Oats, a product from a very small company out in Morro Bay, California.

“SammzOats is a one-of-a-kind specialty blend of organic, freshly-milled gourmet oatmeal, like no other oatmeal you’ve tried.”

Looking at them, they’re neither quick oats, rolled oats, steel cut oats, nor Irish oats. I can see at least three different shapes of flakes and chunks in the mix! These can only be classified as “Sammz Oats.”

And the paper bag they come in is pretty nice; it gives you that small town farm market feel.

Sammz Oats Ingredients and Nutrition Facts

The ingredients list:

Ingredients: 100% organic oat textures, including extra organic bran.

I notice two things here because of this sparse ingredients list:

• Sammz Oats contain only the good stuff.
• Sammz Oats aren’t full of junk like added salt and sugar.

OK, so that’s just the same thing put in different words, but I wanted to get the point across! These are probably the most natural, unprocessed oats you can get (if you don’t have your own farm.)

Nutrition Facts

Serving size 1/3 cup
Calories 120
Total Fat 2.5g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 0mg
Potassium 160mg
Total Carbs 23g
  Dietary Fiber 6g
    Soluble fiber 3g
    Insoluble fiber 3g
  Sugars 0g
Protein 8g

That’s 50% more fiber and 60% more protein than in a serving of Arrowhead Mills organic steel cut oats!!

Remember in my article where I compared rolled oats to steel cut oats and said they technically have the same nutritional value? Well right here is the case to best illustrate that!

At first glance, these Sammz Oats appear to be as processed as instant oats, but they are fresh and hand-processed, not sent through a factory. They aren’t steamed and rolled and left to sit and go stale like most rolled oats in the store. This means they retain their nutritional value, not to mention the true oat flavor most people have never tasted.

Sammz Oats Taste Test

Finally, time to cook this up and enjoy it!

What’s really awesome is that this cooks in 2-4 minutes. It still takes 5 minutes to get the water boiling beforehand, but overall, these are a lot easier to prepare than steel cut oats.

All I did to cook these was get 3 cups of liquid boiling (1 1/2 cups almond milk, 1 1/2 cups water) and added in 4 servings (1 1/3 cups) of oats. And sprinkled some cinnamon in, of course. Then I cooked the oats for 4 minutes. After that I removed them from the heat and added some raisins (the oats were still hot enough to “cook” the raisins.)

The oats were perfect fresh off the stove as well as reheated in the microwave the next morning. On my second batch I added a little Nature’s Way coconut oil for an ever more delicious taste!

Specifically about the oats, they have a very hearty taste and texture you wouldn’t expect. They taste fresh and real. They don’t taste exactly like steel cut oats, but I find they remind me more of steel cut than rolled oats.

They do soak up water and expand almost as much as the steel cut, yet they cook much faster!

Sammz Oatmeal Granola Supreme

Shifting gears now, I also got a bag of granola to try, so I’m going to talk about that for a moment!

Ingredients: Sammz organic oats, organic oat bran, organic honey, brown sugar, raw coconut chips, almonds, pecans, raw sunflower seeds, craisins, dried blueberries, spices, citrus.

Wow, dried blueberries!!!

I don’t think I’ve ever met a granola I didn’t like, but still, this bag from Sammz is superb. It blows me away that there are dried blueberries in it!

I like the ingredients overall. I wouldn’t call this a healthy meal, but it’s a good high-carb energy food that’s not full of too much extra sugar.

The first half of the bag, I just dug in and ate it with a spoon. The second half I mixed with plain yogurt.

This granola is very, very good for mixing with yogurt! Some granolas are too hard and need to sit in the yogurt for an hour to soften up, but the Sammz granola was a perfect complement to the yogurt right away.

This stuff is so good! Don’t tell any of my friends or family I had this fancy granola, because I ate it all myself and didn’t offer to share!

My final verdict is…

I give Sammz Oats an A+ on taste, texture, and nutritional value. I may even prefer them to steel cut oats! (I certainly like how fast they cook!)

The only problem is, being priced at about $5-9 per pound, coupled with the way I go through bags of oats, I’d go broke if I ate these everyday!

Official website: SammzOats.com

I’m focusing on their whey protein concentrate because that is probably the most popular protein supplement available. It’s also the most economical – around $6-7 per pound.

So let’s see what TrueProtein.com is all about…

First, you can get the protein in bulk in food grade bags:

You can get the protein in actual containers, but if you are ordering in bulk and really want to save money, the bags are the way to go.

Each bag is labeled:

I suggest transferring the powder into food containers as soon as you get it. The bags are held shut by cable ties, so they aren’t air tight. Plus, if you leave the bags sitting around, the bag openings can fill with dust and dead bugs that might later fall into your protein powder when you cut the cable tie off!

Just a word of warning there!

Health and Nutrition

Well, there’s not much to say about this. It is whey protein concentrate sold in bulk. Nothing more.

The protein is completely natural until they add flavors and sweeteners at your request. I think the Premium flavors are sweetened with sucralose, and the Natural Premium flavors are sweetened with stevia. But you don’t have to add flavors or sweeteners if you don’t want to.

So health-wise, this stuff should be on par with Optimum Nutrition 100% Natural Whey Gold powder. But you can customize this stuff to make it into whatever kind of supplement you want. (To learn more about that, see my TrueProtein.com review.)

True Protein Taste Test

There are so many flavors available I don’t know if I’ll ever get to try them all! Here are my thoughts on the flavors I tried…

Natural Premium Bananas ‘n Cream – Delicious! This one has a good banana and cream flavor, so it tastes like a dessert – think banana cream pie.

I’ve had banana flavored whey protein before, and I can’t remember the brand, but it definitely wasn’t this good.

Premium Coconut Cream Pie – A pretty good coconut flavor. Not very strong, but noticeable.

It’s more like a creamy vanilla flavor, and if you’re lucky, you’ll taste a hint of coconut at the end of each sip. But then sometimes I did notice a really strong coconut cream pie flavor, which was awesome!

Premium Dutch Chocolate Fudge – This one tastes like plain old chocolate. It also has a hint of artificial flavor which I didn’t care for. It really wasn’t as good as I had hoped, especially because this flavor is rumored to be the best.

Premium Java Mocha – This one smells good and tastes great! It’s a perfect mix of coffee and chocolate flavors. Tastes kind of like the bottles of Starbucks frappacino. I’m really liking this one!!

Natural Premium Strawberries n Cream – This one is bright pink! It looks, smells, and tastes just like the strawberry Nesquik powder I had when I was a kid. So it’s pretty good, but not the most “natural” flavor.

This one is great if you like typical strawberry milk, but if not, I’d stick with the other flavors.

Natural Premium Orange Cream – Well to start with, it has the scent of an orange creamsicle. So that’s awesome!

That’s what it tastes like, too! It’s like a dessert. That’s just plain awesome. No need to go into greater detail. If you like orange creamsicles, you have to try this flavor.

Premium Citrus Limeade – A fancy way of saying “lemon lime.” This has to be the weirdest protein flavor ever! Think of eating a lemon lime milkshake and that’s kind of what this is. Really, it’s a creamy drink with a lemon lime flavor.

The flavor is alright; nothing special, not too terrible. But it’s just so weird!! Taste-wise, I think it’s better than lemon lime Accelerade. And actually, the second week of taking it, I found it oddly refreshing! I guess the taste grows on you.

It got old really fast though! Right after I got used to it, I didn’t feel like drinking it anymore! And I realized the only reason I bought it was because I was thinking I was buying a “cherry limeade” flavor.

I’d avoid this one unless you really like weird flavors.

Your Own Flavor Combinations?

TrueProtein offers quite a few flavors. For example, I think they have coconut, chocolate, and chocolate coconut. Similarly, you could get chocolate, strawberry, and chocolate-covered strawberry.

I chose to buy plain flavors so I could mix and match my own. Like so:

Orange Banana: 1/2 scoop orange, 1/2 scoop banana

Chocolate Covered Strawberries: 2/3 scoop strawberry, 1/3 scoop chocolate

Banana Split: 1 scoop banana, 1/2 scoop chocolate, 1/2 scoop strawberry

This way you aren’t committed to any flavor combos that might not taste as good as they sound.

My final verdict is…

Most of the flavors I tried tasted awesome, and I love how you get to pick the sweeteners and flavorings that are added. True Protein is going to be my #1 source of protein powder from now on.

If you take your protein powder seriously, I highly recommend ordering custom protein powder in bulk from True Protein.

Official website: www.TrueNutrition.com

(Use discount code LEO100 to get 5-10% off your order.)

P90X has nothing to do with cycling or endurance sports, but it’s extremely popular (perhaps due to the Saturday morning infomercials?) and comes in a 13-DVD set, so I figured there must be something to glean from it. I mean, everywhere you look people are posting their before and after photos, so people are either getting into great shape or greatly improving their Photoshop skills!

I picked up a set of P90X DVDs on eBay (only about $80 that way, instead of $140) back in 2010 and got to work. Here’s what I think…

What is P90X?

P90X is a workout program aimed at the general fitness enthusiast. It’s meant for someone who wants to develop a good looking, lean, and toned body in a short amount of time (90 days.)

That means it’s not meant specifically for athletes who need to do sport-specific training. Sure, even athletes need to shed fat and increase strength, but sport-specific training is usually a better way to do that in the limited training time you have.

The package includes 13 DVDs, a workout chart, and a nutrition guide.

The DVDs are set up in a fitness studio and hosted by Tony Horton, a very charismatic trainer. The videos are a “follow along” style, making it feel like you are part of the class.

The program is based on the concept of “muscle confusion,” which basically means that you are always varying your workouts. The goal is to avoid plateaus (and boredom.)

Why P90X Works for Endurance Athletes

At first glance, P90X looks like a general fitness routine, perhaps with a bodybuilding focus. And it is! But if you actually look into the specifics, you can see there are some benefits for cyclists, triathletes, and other endurance athletes.

Big Focus on Core Strength

The best thing about P90X is that there is a big focus on core strength throughout the program. Core strength is of the utmost importance for all athletes, but endurance athletes seem to ignore this type of training all the time!

Having a core workout program like this laid out for you is a huge benefit, because it means it’s more likely you will actually do the training.

Improve Flexibility and Range of Motion

The better your flexibility and range of motion, the better bike fit you will be able to get. What I mean is, you’ll be able to get into a more aerodynamic position on the bike before noticing any loss of power from your pedaling. And you’ll be a lot more comfortable, even if you get into what looks like an “extreme” position.

That is all “free speed,” kind of like losing body fat.

So definitely check out the P90X Yoga X DVD and try to do it year-round, preferably once a week.

Develop Explosiveness

In cycling, you need explosive power to launch your attacks and put the hurt on the competition. You also need to be able to do this repeatedly over the course of a race. My favorite way to develop this type of power is through plyometrics, and P90X offers a killer plyometrics workout DVD called Plyo X.

You might hate this workout because it’s so tough, but you’ll love it once you see the benefits!

Improve Mental Toughness

Stepping out of your comfort zone is a great way to improve mental toughness, and P90X is probably waaaayy out of your comfort zone!

That yoga workout I mentioned? It’s not time to relax! That is 90 minutes of power yoga! You need serious stamina and mental toughness to complete it!

Same with plyometrics – the workout is probably going to break you down. Keep at it and your mental toughness will shoot through the roof.

Have Some Fun

Most likely, you’re not a pro rider making enough money to live on. So why subject yourself to constant on-bike workouts, never doing anything fun? Especially in the winter when it’s always cold and dark outside?

Face it, pretty much any P90X workout is going to be more fun than riding your trainer alone in the basement!

You Don’t Have to Follow The Program Exactly

This is the real secret to P90X for endurance athletes. You can take the 90 day plan and throw it out the window!

This allows you to get the type of workout you want in the amount of time you have. Skip the bodybuilding-type resistance workouts if you want, and you’re left with an excellent follow-along core training routine. And like I said, the yoga and plyometrics workouts are awesome.

Why P90X Sucks for Endurance Athletes

That all sounds great, but you have to be very careful if you try to add P90X into your current training plan. Here’s what to watch out for if you’re an endurance athlete.

High Volume Plans Require Lots of Time

P90X is a high-volume training plan. They have to pack a lot of training time into 90 days to make sure you’ll see results at the end.

If you follow their plan, it’s just too much to fit in with your cycling or running (not to mention work and family duties.) You won’t have time for it on top of your already scheduled cycling workouts.

You always have to ask yourself, “is this the most efficient way I could be spending my time?” If you want to win bike races, 90 days of off-bike training is probably not the way to go.

High Intensity Plans Require Extra Recovery

P90X is both a high-volume and a high-intensity program. Like I said, they promise results in 90 days, so they hit you with high volume, high intensity, and to top things off, a restricted diet.

These high intensity workouts require lots of extra recovery, which means more time between workouts, less stress in your life, more sleep, more supplements, and/or more professional massages.

Either make room for the added recovery or watch your cycling performance suffer.

My final verdict is…

P90X is not a cycling training program, and you should not buy it in hopes that it alone will improve your cycling performance.

But – it can be adapted into a great off-bike training program! You can use some of the DVDs (especially Yoga X and Plyo X) to supplement your cycling and improve your fitness, flexibility, explosiveness, and range of motion, which then improves your cycling indirectly.

It’s also an easy way to add variety to your off-season training – the follow-along format is a lot more fun and motivating than spending an hour alone in your basement lifting weights!

Official website: www.P90X.com

You probably won’t find a book called “The Female Cyclist’s Training Bible” anytime soon.

And no one really questions this.

But when it comes to getting in shape, losing weight, strength training, lifting weights, or whatever you want to call your off-season training, it’s a completely different story! 90% of what you find when it comes to women’s training is going to say either “women should never train like men” or “don’t train like a man or you’ll get big and bulky and ugly.”

This type of advice is so prevalent that most women are scared to lift anything heavier than a 5lb dumbbell (or worse, a can of soup.)

It makes no sense. Men and women are looking for the same results, but for some reason, their training is not based on the same principles. My only explanation for this is that the general fitness enthusiast is not as smart or determined as you, the endurance athlete.

This is why I was pleased to read the book Visual Impact for Women by Rusty Moore. This training program provides “a workout for the slim, feminine physique.” In other words, it’s about getting hot and toned, not bulky. (I’m pretty that’s what all women outside of bodybuilding competitions are aiming for!)

If you’re not familiar with Rusty, take a look at his website FitnessBlackBook.com, which is great for men and women who want to get a slim and toned physique. (In other words, it covers the stuff you don’t often see here on CoachLevi.com.)

You may remember the name Visual Impact – I reviewed the original Visual Impact course (for men) a few weeks ago. I really liked the program because it was well-written, easy to follow, and most importantly, was based on sound training principles. Naturally, I wanted to take a look at the women’s specific course to see what it was all about.

What Rusty did with the course was genius. The book is based on the same principles and theories behind the men’s version (which is how it should be since we’re all human,) but the actual training program is changed to better suit the specifics of a woman’s training goals.

This book also contains useful chapters addressing unique diet needs of women and other details not covered in the men’s program. I’d say the most important chapter is the first one, which dispels popular myths aimed at women, such as “women can’t get bulky from training.” There is A LOT of misinformation aimed at women going around and this book debunks it.

Let’s go ahead and take a closer look inside the book…

Visual Impact for Women

I can’t possibly talk about all 20 chapters right here, but I’ll review what I feel are the most important parts in the book.

Clueless Personal Trainers

The introduction is pretty funny – it is what Rusty has observed in public gyms with clueless personal trainers working with women, getting it all wrong. You’ve probably seen this yourself!

Myth Busting

Chapter 1 is all about myth busting. Rusty dispels myths like “women can’t get bulky from training” which is common, yet misguided thinking. That might be relatively correct if the women are being compared to guys gaining lots more muscle, but girls do put on muscle, especially in certain areas they might not want it.

Other myths cover topics like meal frequency, cardio workouts, and more. It’s good info, unlike most garbage you find in the mainstream media, and quite possibly the most useful chapter in the book because it will change your way of thinking.

Cardio

I have high standards when it comes to anything “cardio” related, considering that’s very similar to our endurance training, but Rusty has some cool insights on this topic. It’s nice to see a different perspective sometimes.

Rusty talks about how cardio has fallen out of favor to the more intense circuit training which doesn’t take as much time, but any endurance athlete will understand the value of cardio. It’s very important when used strategically, as Rusty points out.

There’s even a 12-week cardio plan included as a bonus. Experienced endurance athletes won’t need this, and would be better served by a sport-specific plan, but those are a lot more complex and can be intimidating if you’re new to the sport.

The Truth About High-Rep and Low-Rep Training

Chapters 3 and 4 cover everything you need to know about high vs low reps, and yes, this all goes against what you’ve heard in the maintream media.

For example, a lot of people equate low reps with getting bulky. But that’s not the whole story, as Rusty points out. He gives you the key to using low rep training to get toned, with virtually no chance of getting bulky. It’s simple and easy to follow advice.

The Importance of Exercise Equipment

Rusty covers your exercise equipment options and explains what you should actually be focusing on. Hint: the type of equipment you use isn’t a big deal.

Similarly, Rusty covers yoga, which he says is not the best way to get slim and lean, but it has other benefits. (And some of these benefits are very helpful to cyclists.)

Proper Diet for Women

The basics of dieting will be the same for men and women, but women do have some unique challenges that are discussed in here. Rusty lays out a formula for a base daily calorie intake and then goes into greater detail on the strategies.

It doesn’t get too detailed, but Rusty does throw in some more advanced concepts. It’s pretty easy to follow the advice, but you might not understand “why” if you aren’t already well-versed in diet and nutrition.

That said, the important concepts that you need to know and understand are well explained.

Determining Your Workout Plan

There are chapters dedicated to each part of your workout plan, including:

• Combining high and low-intensity cardio.
• “Fat-Burning Cardio”
• The Recommended “2 Day Split” Workout Routine
• Gym Routine for Time-Crunched Athletes
• How to Workout in a Home Gym
• Customizing Your Own Plan

By the way, a 229 page “how-to” exercise manual with photos is included to explain the exercises.

How to Lose Muscle Mass on Purpose

What?! I’ve never heard of a book about this before! But it does apply to endurance sports!

It’s not uncommon for men to come into cycling after spending years bulking up for sports like football, and then they want to lose some unneeded muscle mass from their upper body.

Women may have built up extra muscle on their butt, hips, and thighs (all common for some women,) so this strategy could be very useful info. It’s a better strategy than giving up training all together!

Then the book ends with a little summary, and it’s time for you to get started on your workouts. (Printable workout charts are included.)

My final verdict is…

If you’re an endurance athlete, you can pretty much ignore the cardio sections of this book, as you probably have that under control. But the other training advice could be very helpful with your off-season training.

Overall, Visual Impact for Women is filled with great info – stuff you rarely, if ever, see in print. If you are a woman looking to get in shape, do yourself a favor and quit reading Fitness magazine and get this book instead!

Official website: www.VisualImpactForWomen.com

I guess it was only a matter of time before FRS jumped onto the protein bandwagon! Earlier this year they released FRS Healthy Protein. It is virtually the same drink as the FRS Healthy Energy in bottles, but this one contains whey protein.

It’s not that a carb/protein drink is bad, but these days, everyone just has to offer one. I didn’t expect FRS to come out with one, but since they did, I had to see if it was any good. (And at $2.99 for a 12oz bottle, I sure hope it’s good!)

Continue reading to see what’s new and different with FRS Healthy Protein…

Health and Nutrition

The first thing I want to point out is that the FRS Healthy Energy in bottles is a new formula compared to the FRS in cans I reviewed back in 2008. This formula cuts down on the sugar content and uses stevia as a sweetener, replacing the sucralose of old. So that gets a thumbs up from me.

The Healthy Protein formula looks to be about the same basic formula as the Healthy Energy but with the addition of 25g whey protein. This means 190 calories instead of 90, but hey, if you want protein, you have to take in the extra calories.

The one thing that stood out was the carb and sugar content. In the Healthy Protein, there are only 11g carbs and 9g sugar. Yet in the Healthy Energy, you get about 23g carbs and 19g sugar! It makes sense though, because it’s called “energy” and you need carbs for energy.

So to sum that up, FRS Healthy Protein contains more protein and less sugar than FRS Healthy Energy.

Makes sense to me.

FRS Healthy Protein Taste Test

The new Healthy Protein is available in two flavors, Blackberry Acai and Orange Cream.

Here are my thoughts:

Blackberry Acai – This one starts off with a great smell, followed up with an alright taste. Don’t you just hate it when the taste doesn’t live up to the scent? (I’m used to the older FRS that always tasted better than it smelled!)

Taste-wise, I do think you can taste both blackberry and acai. It makes a good combo. Luckily it’s not sour like a lot of real blackberries are.

The thing is, the taste is overpowered by the texture. While it goes down smooth, it leaves a ‘thick’ aftertaste that seems to stick to your mouth and the back of your throat. I’m no stranger to starting my day with whey protein shakes, but I don’t have this texture problem with my Optimum Nutrition or True Protein powder and almond milk mix.

Orange Cream – Much like its Blackberry Acai counterpart, this Orange Cream flavor actually has a pleasant scent to it. It smells like orange juice rather than orange-colored energy drink!

The taste was also much like orange juice. It’s like your regular orange juice from concentrate, but thicker, thanks to the protein.

The texture was less obnoxious in this flavor, but I preferred the taste of the Blackberry Acai. I’ve had enough orange juice in my life and prefer something more exotic when given the chance!

The other comparison I wanted to make was to the “oranges and cream” flavor whey protein powder from True Protein. It turns out, it’s not much of a comparison – that flavor is amazing and totally blows this orange cream FRS out of the water!

Overall, neither of the two FRS flavors were pleasing to the palette.

The Energy Boost

Though “FRS Healthy Protein” makes no mention of “energy” in the name, it is still based on FRS’ energy blend with quercetin and whatnot.

True to its roots, this drink from FRS still provides a nice, all day energy boost. The difference for me is that I felt less of an initial boost. I mean, it’s still a good boost, but not a jittery boost. (I was never a huge caffeine drinker so even the ~38g caffeine in FRS was potent for me.)

I think some of the ‘energy’ is tempered by the protein so it doesn’t hit you as hard. Because even if you’re drinking it on an empty stomach, it’s a high calorie drink, like a small smoothie.

Either that or the reduced sugar content removes some of the initial rush.

My final verdict is…

The drink is OK, but it hasn’t convinced me to buy Healthy Protein rather than Healthy Energy. I can get my protein elsewhere, and I’d rather have the freedom to mix it how I want, rather than the convenience of having it premixed in a bottle. I still like FRS, but I’ll probably stick with the cans (or whatever costs less than $3 per serving) when I need it.

Official website: www.FRS.com

You know what energy bars really bother me? The ones that claim to taste like a candy bar, but when you try them, not only don’t they taste anything like a candy bar, they lack the few benefits that normal energy bars offer.

One such energy bar is the PowerBar Triple Threat. The fact that I found these at Big Lots for $1.50 for a 5-pack box should have clued me in, but I’m a sucker for trying something different, so I had to buy them.

Here’s what PowerBar says about them:

PowerBar Triple Threat Energy bar tastes like a candy bar, but is a great choice for use before or during moderate-intensity exercise and sports, like skating and snowboarding. The nuts, oat bran and 10–11g protein deliver nutritious, long lasting energy and muscle-building power.

That should have been my second clue. The fact they are marketed to skaters and snowboarders means they should not be taken seriously. No offense (because I love ice skating and snowboarding,) but when you hear “skating and snowboarding,” you don’t associate that with athletes serious about their diet and sports nutrition!

Which brings up the topics of health and nutrition…

PowerBar Triple Threat Health and Nutrition

First, peruse the ingredients list…

Ingredients
CHOCOLATEY COATING (SUGAR, FRACTIONATED PALM KERNEL OIL, COCOA, WHEY, NONFAT MILK, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOR), CORN SYRUP, CARAMEL (CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, CREAM, WATER, FRUCTOSE, PALM OIL, SOY LECITHIN, SALT, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, NATURAL FLAVOR, CARRAGEENAN), TRISOURCE™ PROTEIN BLEND (WHEY PROTEIN ISOLATE, CALCIUM CASEINATE, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE), MALTITOL SYRUP, VEGETABLE GLYCERIN, OAT FIBER, SOY CRISPS (SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, TAPIOCA STARCH, SALT), DRY ROASTED PEANUTS, HIGH OLEIC CANOLA OIL, ALKALIZED COCOA, AND LESS THAN 2% OF ALMOND BUTTER, NATURAL FLAVORS, SOY LECITHIN, SALT, PEANUT FLOUR, MINERALS: CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, FERROUS FUMARATE (IRON), VITAMINS: ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), VITAMIN B6 HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMINE MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1).

The first thing that stands out is “chocolatey.” Is that even a word? Perhaps they meant to say “chocolaty coating,” but even better, they could have stuck with the standard “chocolate coating.”

It doesn’t matter though. This bar is a giant slab of sugar and corn syrup with some protein powder and vitamins mixed in to make it sound healthy in the marketing materials. Nothing more needs to be said.

The Nutrition Facts:

Calories 230
Total Fat 9g
Saturated Fat 4.5g
Sodium 150mg
Potassium 140mg
Total Carbs 30g
Fiber 3g
Sugars 15g
Protein 10g

Going purely on the numbers, the bar doesn’t sound too bad for an energy bar designed for “moderate intensity.” But considering the ingredients, I’m hardly tempted to choose this over a Snickers bar. (Except that for $0.30 each, these might be cheaper than the equivalent size Snickers!)

PowerBar Triple Threat Taste Test

I don’t like to base an entire taste test around one flavor of a product, but when I’m already this disappointed in an energy bar, I don’t mind. Plus, it’s pretty hard to screw up a chocolate/caramel/peanut flavor.

So here are my thoughts:

Chocolate Caramel Fusion – This was kind of like a 3 Musketeers candy bar, but with caramel on top. So it’s a bit like a Milky Way candy bar, but it had that fluffy 3 Musketeers feel to it. I’d prefer it taste like a Snickers, but it’s not bad as is. It’s just not particularly good.

So yes, the bar had a candy bar texture and a moderate candy bar flavor. But it wasn’t as good as a candy bar. (Believe it or not, some energy bars do taste like candy bars for real!)

PowerBar Triple Threat In Use

Wanting to stay true the marketing material, I used these bars as snacks during and after ice “skating” sessions. PowerBar’s marketing team probably meant skateboarding, but these bars did the job of providing me calories without making me sick.

Is that something special? Nope. There are plenty of other energy bars out there that would have made just as good of a snack (tasty and filling) without making me sick.

It really doesn’t take much to launch a product that doesn’t upset stomachs during moderate intensity activity. It’s the bars that work during high intensity activity and the ones that still work during long (12+ hour) moderate to high intensity activities that are impressive.

My final verdict is…

Taking a step back and comparing this bar to other bars, it pretty much tasted like crap. I don’t think I’d buy it again, even on clearance at 30 cents each!

I will stick with PowerBar for their Performance Bar and Energize Bar, but for snacks, I’ll choose other brands like the Dr. Will Bar.

Official website: www.PowerBar.com

Buy online: www.Amazon.com