Review; NeoCell Move Matrix & Collagen Sport

Recovery is important. Getting those calories into you asap after a big workout or race is important. You know that so I am not going to bore you with all the reasons why. For the far the past few months I have been using a different regimen for recovery and injury prevention. A combination of two products provided by NeoCell for review; Collagen Sport and Move Matrix.

Both products contain and focus on the fact that they contain Collagen. From the web;

NeoCell - Move Matrix Advanced Joint Hydrator;

NeoCell Move Matrix Advanced Joint Hydrator provides scientifically advanced ingredients that work synergistically in the body to promote healthy joints. This premium formula supports joint flexibility, range of motion, and a healthy inflammatory response. Like all NeoCell products, Move Matrix is standardized to be bioactive for potent absorption and efficacy.

• Bioactive neocell collagen type 2 - The key structural protein of joint cartilage. 60% of joint cartilage is made of collagen type 2.
• Hyaluronic Acid - A water loving molecule that provides joint cushioning and lubrication, due to its ability to hold 1,000 times its weight in water.
• Glucosamine, Chondrotin & MSM - A combination of building block nutrients that contribute to the formation of healthy connective tissue.
• Move Matric Blend - A blend of antioxidants and herbal extracts that support a healthy inflammatory response in the joints.

NeoCell Collagen Sport;

The Rundown:

• 15 grams Pure Ion-Exchange Whey Protein Isolate
• 15 grams Super Collagen™ Bioavailable Peptides
• Rich in BCAAs
• Good source of L-Glutamine
• Enhanced with Exogenous Amino Acids
• Multi-vitamin Fortification

Doctor Formulated, What’s NOT in Collagen Sport™

• Gluten, Wheat, Sugar & Lactose Free
• No Artificial Sweeteners or Flavors
• No Fillers or Synthetic Ingredients

For obvious reasons I can’t comment on the contents or ingredients and only really on my perception of the efficacy.

The Move Matrix tablets require that you have 5 a day, there is enough in the jar for 30 days. They not massive or particularly small. Easily washed down with a morning cup of coffee which is when I have been taken them. I found them easier to take with breakfast rather than on an empty stomach. Given that my training all year has been on the bike it has been very low impact, pretty much zero impact in fact. However it has been super repetitive. I am no spring chicken and anything I can do to be preventative in terms of avoiding injury is a good idea. My knees ache at time as do various other parts. I took these in the run up to my September Everesting and I have found that with the higher mileage weeks I could get train through them without any issues other than the general fatigue you would expect. I was definitely without niggling issues that I experienced last year during the height of my training.

The Recovery Sport drink was taken post ride. I was warned not to take everything at the same time as it probably wouldn’t sit very well. Mixed with a ½ and ½ or water and milk the chocolate mix is smooth and not overly sweet. Without wanting to sound like an advertisement for Swiss chocolate there was a rich silkiness to it that made it very drinkable. On very big days I added a scope of vanilla ice cream to it and that turned it into melted chocolate ice cream drink. Again from an efficacy standpoint having a recovery drink (or something) with 30 minutes of finishing a big workout is crucial in being able to recover and continue training and taking the Collagen Sport certainly allowed me to do that. I rarely take a rest day as from experience having an easy spin on the rest day allows me to come back at it pretty hard and taking the Collagen Sport certainly assisted me in doing this.

So overall both of these products were easy to take and I found them to work. There is no silver bullet when it comes to recovery or injury prevention and it’s usually a combination of several factors that combined allow you to avoid injury and consistently training at a higher amplitude. Taking both of these products certainly allowed me to do that.

Available online Recovery Sport retails for $30 for 15 servings so enough to last a month or so of heavy training. The Move Matrix is $20 for a 30 day supply.

This Product was free of charge by the good folks at NeoCell See previous gear reviews on the tab above. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com.

Skratch Labs Taste Agent

As you may have read Becca and I are both experimenting with using real food for our longer runs at the weekend. This is moving us away from gels and blocks, the usual things that we have been using for years. So far it’s going well, we have been using bread, PB&J and boiled potatoes. Some of these are portable others less so!

It was when I was cruising he internet before Christmas that I found myself on the Skratch Labs website. I wondered if they had a Brand Ambassador program (or something similar) and to my surprise they did. So of course I applied!

I have used both of Allen Lim’s Books Feedzone and Portables a fair bit in the past, the Feedzone more than the other book. Both have produced some really good meals, wholesome, tasty and healthy! Here is some proof…although two of these are portables!

(l – r) Bread Pudding, Quick Crusts, Coconut Macroons

Anyway I had kinda forgotten that I had applied, with all the Christmas and New Year hoopla it went out of my mind until…

…until I got this email from them!

So there you go I am an official Skratch Labs Taste Agent! So what does that mean? Well more pictures of food and more fueling with real food. I am going to try to get at least one recipe from either book reviewed on a weekly basis too as well as give you some (and them) some feedback on their products! I hope to have some contests and giveaways throughout the year so stay tuned!

In the meantime check them out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and of course their website!

In case you can’t tell…I am super stoked about this!

Clif Bar; Berry Pomegranate Chia and Nuts & Seeds.

Clif Bars are ubiquitous, what started as a sports nutrition product (and still is) has become a healthy snack that you can pick up anywhere from your local running store, grocery store, gas station and all points in between! Ideal for most activities it’s also just a great snack to have in your desk drawer at the office! Clif are always looking to keep moving forward and stay ahead of the competition. They have a seasonal flavor set that comes out in the fall and a few years ago they ran a limited edition Paneforte bar which was amazing! Let’s face it in a sea of bars they have be imaginative with new flavors. Allow me to introduce their two newest kids on the block; Berry Pomegranate Chia and Nuts & Seeds.

Berry Pomegranate Chia. this had a slightly unusual flavor, the berry wasn’t quite tart enough for me. The pomegranate didn’t quite come through. I have added chia to homemade granola before and it’s not something that you can really taste. The texture was something that all Clif Bars have, that moist pliable feeling that just rolls around your mouth. Overall totally edible but not something that makes you go crazy.

Nuts & Seeds; this was on the other end of the spectrum altogether. Off the charts yummy. The flavor was earthy, nutty and very edible. Was it me or my imagination that each bit tasted of a different nut variety? I am not sure but this was just like eating a piece of soft nut brittle. Perfect for enjoying with a coffee or for having on the side of a trail! It’s that perfect blend of sweet, salty, crunch and chewy! It was just…Really. Really. Good!

So there you go two new additions that you can add to your pantry or running pack or desk drawer…as I say they are everywhere so they shouldn’t be too hard to find!

Talking of stores, something I found out is that if you buy bars at Whole Foods by the box you get a 10% discount…I didn’t know that, that’s actually a better deal than at Trader Joes!

This product was provided by Clif Bar If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com

Review; ENERGYbits

On the whole my diet is pretty healthy, I slip off the bandwagon from time to time but usually right the ship fairly easily. For racing and training I use a pretty vanilla mix of chews, gels and electrolyte solutions usually supplemented with real food although 9/10 I don’t start take fuel on unless the session is 90 minutes or longer. Hawaiian PB&J and Portables are usual real food go-tos. So when I was contacted by EnergyBits to see if I wanted to try their product a I was game. From their website “ENERGYbits® have just ONE ingredient - organically grown NON GMO spirulina algae – a super food endorsed by the United Nations and NASA as the most nutritionally dense food in the world..”

Cutting a long story short Energy Bit are tabletized Spirulena. Spiru what the what, essentially it is a fresh water blue green algae. It’s been around for a long time and was used by Aztecs and Meso (Central) America until the 1500s, until the Europeans arrived with a flag and messed it all up!

I have actually used it in the past as a supplement for Green Smoothies using a 2010 recipe from Brett over at Zen and the Art of Triathlon. I even mentioned it here! What a trendsetter I am! As you can tell I wasn’t that impressed then…the question is would I be now?

Well put simply I wasn’t. I took them before a brick workout. 3 hours or so of swim/bike. The first thing was I had to take 30 tablets. I have no problem taking tablets, none of this bend this way or stand on one foot or hold your nose so nom nom nom washed down and they were gone. Smelly? Yes a bit, but no big deal.

Here is where I ran into problems;

• According to their packaging an Athlete should take 30-100 tablets. 30 is a few a 100 is a lot more!
• I couldn’t find how often you were supposed to take them, every hour, once a workout, once a day?
• Also what defines Athlete, my 3 hour brick, is that a lot or normal?
• 30 calories is really not a lot, even 100 Bits is only 93 calories for 3 hours of working out?

So that being said I jumped into the pool and swam, I had a bottle of High 5 on deck, it’s a UK version of Nuun, just less gassy. I drink it, when I remember, as sometimes I cramp in the pool. After this I jumped on my bike and rode for a couple of hours. Not wanting to bonk, trust me I have; it sucks, I had a Gu gel, some PowerBar chews which I took through ride. I took these not because I was hungry but really just to drip feed the tank, you know like your supposed to.

According to EnergyBits website by taking the Bits I should have more energy, more mental vitality, boosted (my) athletic performance, supercharged (my) run or cranked up (my) endurance while working or working out. Sorry not happening! I felt the same. There was no boost or crank, just good old fashioned hard-work ride.

I did a bit more research on Spirulena and accordingly to National Library of Medicine “blue-green algae is no better than meat or milk as a protein source and costs about 30 times as much per gram.”

So there’s that. Here’s the other thing it’s sold in bags of 1000 bits, assuming 100 bits per workout (for the Athlete) that’s enough for a 10 workouts or 12 days (assuming 2 rest days) it costs $115 a bag. Let’s compare it to milk;

• Cost of milk per gram 3785 grams per gallon of milk is 3.75/3785 is $0.001 per gram
• Cost of Bits per Gram (4 bits = 1 gram) 115/1000 $0.115 per.25gram ($0.460 per gram) put another way that’s about 1.1% of a gram of gold (currently as of 6/26/14) selling today at $42 per gram

So its not quiet 30 times the price it’s 460 times! I actually found this staggering and used two lives to get it checked I phoned a friend and then posted in on FaceBook for someone to check and I was correct!

It’s a real shame that they didn’t work or at least they didn’t work for me…maybe they did for you? If you google “Energy Bits review” there is a lot of people who have reviewed them, I clicked on a few and most people seemed to like them although there is a fair bit of “meh, nothing happened” too! I haven’t seen anyone do the math like this post though.

So what’s the lesson here, well they didn’t do what they said they would and they are really expensive.

I have another post in mind on blogging and product reviews and using social media to promote your product in the pipeline.

This Product was provided by EnergyBits. See previous gear reviews in the Reviews tab above. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com.

Review; Racing Weight Cookbook by Matt Fitzgerald

If you follow my Instagram account it probably is no surprise that I like food, well to be honest I like to cook. I grew up hanging off my Mom’s apron-strings so I am a bit of a dab hand in the kitchen. One thing my Mum told me though which has stuck with me is “the only thing you need to be able to cook, is to read”. What this means really means is just follow the recipe and typically that’s all I do. I have a few cook books at home, nothing too fancy as Trader Joes and Fresh & Easy do a pretty good job of putting food on the table! But it’s nice to actually get to the source of your food and there are sometimes just too many things that you can’t pronounce in that long list of ingredients on that package of premade meatloaf!

So with that all said I pre-ordered a Racing Weight, which hit the shelves at the end of January, from Amazon. I’ll be honest and say that this review is in lieu of one of FeedZone which was sent to me by the Publishers ages ago but around the time I was moving house and it sat in a box for a while and then it was too late to do a new book review so hopefully this will put me in good graces at VeloPress! I do have several shelves of their books at home!

 Gratuitous VeloPress “Shelfie”!

Anyway on with the review. Racing Weight Cookbook: Lean, Light Recipes for Athletes is the fourth book in the Racing Weight  Series, by Matt Fitzgerald and Georgie Fear. I own the first one (2009) which goes into how to identify your optimum weight and body composition and how to get there, the second book (2011) is a Quick Start guide, the third (2012) a revised version of the 2009 book and now the fourth is the Cook Book.  

The book is divided into two main sections; Technical Info and Recipes, the Recipes section is them subdivided into sections depending on your level of comfort in the kitchen; Doesn’t Cook, Can Cook, Loves to Cook!

The Technical Info covers topics such as; The Six Point Racing Weight System, What to eat before a workout, Recovery foods, Food Quality, How to Shop and The Gift of Leftovers! There is some repetition from the preceding books but there is a lot of quality information that was either new to me or forgotten by me! It’s all good stuff and find myself referring back to it even though when I got the book I jumped straight into the recipes. All points lead to the bottom line which is that every extra pound you are carrying impacts your performance!

So now for the recipes and food, I cooked the following;

pg75 Homemade Minestrone Soup

pg78 Turkey (sub for Pork but also cooked with Pork at later date) and Peppers Pasta Sauce

pg 138 Marinated Flank Steak w/ Charred Corn Salsa

pg149 Flaxseed & Herb Crusted Chicken w/ Spaghetti Squash

pg151 Grilled Cashew Crusted Salmon w/ Corn

pg179 Veggie Frittata 

Well six out of six…these really tasted as good as they looked and the kids love the Turkey and Peppers Pasta Sauce! The also tucked into the Steak and the Chicken, they were a bit meh on the Salmon mostly because of the nuts but it tasted good to me.

These seem to be going down pretty well with Matt himself as he was favoriting my Tweets with the pictures

As mention the Recipes are laid out in sections and they are really easy to follow, yup just follow the recipes. In my opinion a cook book that doesn’t have a picture of the end result and has pages of text is a bad thing and this book has easy to follow instructions and nicely taken but not overly staged pictures. Check out the page image below, I don’t think that picture looks much better than my own above. What is nice is that no special tools are needed, just your regular old pots, pans, oven, grill etc. I found that 99% of all the ingredients were available locally I had to hunt for a couple of things in a couple of different stores but I found everything that I needed. There is noting more annoying than discovering that you need an can of “Handpicked Tuscan olive oil and rosemary infused cannellini beans” which is only available at one store 50 miles away! Some of the recipes call for a bit of planning, as an example of the above I cooked the steak needed marinating overnight. It’s best to check the first few steps of the recipe to not fall foul of that.

All in all I found this book to be informative, the technical info allows you to get a good understanding of what your optimal weight should be and provides you a good structure to get there. This book takes you further along that journey than the others with actual recipes that you can use on a day to day basis. As noted above the kids in the house (4 of them ranging from 6-11 y/o) also enjoyed them, there is not much pandering to kids diets in the house ands the fact that they were happy to chow down on these meals makes life a lot easier in the kitchen! I had hoped to make some of the bars listed but I need with over a 100+ recipes getting the review out took priority over cooking “just one more thing”!

Should you buy this book, well in my opinion yes, here’s why;

• It provides information on why and how you can reach the optimal weight to facilitate your best performance
• The information is well written and structured, there are many books on sports nutrition that zig-zag all over the page
• The recipes are easy to follow with easy to locate ingredients
• The food is tasty and healthy
• If you are nervous in the kitchen there are some basic recipes that will allow you to build up your confidence
• Cooking is fun!
• Impress your partner!
• You get to drink beer with every meal…ok  I made that one up!
• It’s less that $20, that’s three fancy Venti Starbucks…well maybe four but I always add an extra shot or two in mine!

For the record if I apply the the Racing Weight formula to myself I get the following;

Step 1. Calculate your body fat mass – multiple your current weight (177lb) by your body fat (20%), I use my Tanita BC1000 to derive the body fat percentage

• 177 x 20% = 33.63 (rounded to 34)

Step 2. Calculate you lean body mass – subtract you fat mass from your current weight

• 177 – 34 = 143lb

Step 3. Calculate you goal weight – find you goal lean body mass percentage (86% or .86. this is 14% body fat, a reduction of 6% and well with a healthy range for my age and gender). To find your goal weight divide your current lean body mass by your goal lean body mass percentage

• 143 / .86 = 166.28lb

So as you can see my goal of sub 170lb is realistic and in line with the my expectations, now I have to temper this with my own knowledge that when I get to the mid 160’s it’s a knife edge to walk along so I dial it back up to the 168-169LB range and that’s just better for me…hey we are all an experiment of one!

There you go, the kitchen is that way!

This product was purchased by me. See previous gear reviews in the Reviews tab above. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com.

Review; Clif Bars (Apricot, Peanut Toffee, Coconut Choc Chip)

As is the usual way I am behind the curve, in other words late these have been in the stores for a while but you may have missed them and if so let this be the prompt you need. And so on with the review.

So we have all heard of Clif Bars right, chewy, yummy goodness, great for on the go, road, trail, good for pre run, post run, day time, night time, any time! OK enough of that.

So apparently the flavor distilling techno weenie geeks in at Clif have been distilling flavor goodness down (I said distilling twice didn't I), sealing it in little bars, putting the bars in little bags and then sending them out to lazy ass bloggers like me! (oops sorry guys)!

So this was what was sent to me:

Apricot; has that late summer flavor and always reminds me of some time spent relaxing and vacationing in Greece and Turkey but you can use them for crushing it on the bike or run! Moist, yummy and tart!

Peanut Toffee; Friday night at the movies or walking through the County Fair, this one is mildly crunchy with that caramel (not "carmel" which is a small town in California!?!) flavor, almost like nutty buttery popcorn but much much nicer

Coconut Choc Chip; OMG last year I went mad for the Iced Gingerbread which is also available right now and was reviewed here, well this is as good as that, Coconut, chocolate need I go on!!!

So here is the upside I have a sample box of two of each of these to pass on , if you are reading this you stand a pretty good chance of winning. Usual rules apply.

Mention this competition on your blog gets you 1 entry

Tweet “I just entered the @Quadrathon giveaway for some @ClifBar yumminess you can too at http://tinyurl.com/7ol29u3” will get you another, tweet it once a day for up to 4 entries between today and Sunday

Leave a comment here telling me what you have done and you’ll get another 1 entry, so there you go, up to 6 entries to win and if you’re lucky I “might” throw in one of my prized Iced Ginger bars which are in stores now!

I will draw the winner on Sunday!

Talking of stores, something I found out if you buy bars at Whole Foods by the box you get a 10% discount… I didn’t know that, that’s actually a better deal than at Trader Joes!

This product was provided by Clif Bar If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com

Review; Clif Bars – Seasonal variety

As is the usual way I am behind the curve, in other words late but I really need to do this and so much as I dislike back-to-back reviews I need to put this out there before it’s too late…truth is it almost is but not quite!

Anyway let’s get on with the review. So we have all heard of Clif Bars right, chewy, yummy goodness, great for on the go, road, trail, good for pre run, post run, day time night time any time! OK enough of that.

So apparently this time each year Clif releases it’s seasonal flavors, I say apparently because I am living under a rock and had totally missed this until my special mailing list kicked in and they arrived on my doorstep…and whoosh they were gone!

In a nutshell this was what was sent to me:

Spiced Pumpkin Pie; A little late for Halloween in a pack, even so it’s not too sweet, not too tart, and luckily for me not too pumpkin either but very yummy and not scary either!

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread; Thanksgiving all over, a cross between an artesian bread and an energy bar, zesty, tart and chewy, my least favorite but the others are so good that’s not saying much

Iced Gingerbread; OMG, put simply this is the best energy bar I have ever had period! I love the taste of ginger and this delivers! So much so that I have just about bought up every bar that I have seen in my local area!

Ok now as I mentioned in my other Clif giveaway I have another giveaway for 6 bars, 2 of each…and giving away the ginger flavor was a close thing, this is a consolation giveaway for the folks who did not win the monster Clif box, and so after plugging in all the names thanks to random.org the winner is Scatman, send me your mailing address and I will send them on their way…and do it fast so I don’t eat the ginger ones!