E-motion Energy gel

When you are pounding the pavement or busting ass on the treadmill, it is hard to tote along with you an energy bar or snack to help you with that last part of your workout.  No matter how hard you try, an energy drink will not stay taped to your body, and it is not like gym shorts or marathon outfits have terribly deep pockets, if at all.  This is why long distance running and other physical events that last longer than an hour usually have their race path littered in little gel packs.  These are little shots of syrup that contain sugary syrupy caffeinated goo, and the athletes tape these onto their body and when they need a boost, just rip off the top, slug down some thick slime and get a dose of energy and stamina and other good stuff to continue on.

The whole idea is that you take one of these gel shots about fifteen minutes before you go out and exercise.   This give you the initial power source to get you moving.  Then after half an hour after you are into your routine you squeeze another gel pack in your mouth, and that should help you either recover if you are done working out, or help keep you going if you are not done yet.

I have had the chance to review a couple of these gel packs before, namely the Clif Shot gel and Powerbar Gummies, although there are quite a few of these products on the market I have had the pleasure adding to my workout routine, like GU, Hammer and Stinger.  My goal has been to get myself back to the shape where I can do a 10k less than an hour - and 20miles on my bike. These are pretty reachable goals, but both require more than a half an hour working out.

Packaging:10
One of the most important things for a product like this to work well is ease of opening and durability.  You don't want to have to quit in the middle of your routine to pull off a hard to open package, nor so you want this blopping down your workout gear.  Fortunately, e-motion does great in all respects.

First, it looks like business.  You feel more serious with this than a pack of marathon or CARBoom or any of those other gels.  That might not make much of a difference, but this looks like serious work gear and like nothing your average Joes can find in the energy bar section of their local Safeway.  There is a real cleanness and intensity with the black pack, and I really enjoyed having this as part of my workout gear.

Also, it functions perfectly too.  The top rips off easily with one hand or with your teeth in a pinch.  It is easy enough to squish in your mouth and knock back.  There is a listing of everything on the package, including caffeine content and instructions!  Overall, e-motion did a flawless job with making a great gel container.

Taste:6
Some people like their gels thick and sticky, and some like them watery and easy to suck down.  Advocare's version is definitely not easy to slug down.  It has the consistency of cold honey - and scraping  it out of the pack with your teeth is the only way to pull all of this heavy glop out of the foil pack.  To each their own, but I find it almost impossible to get my mouth un-sticky without water.  It is also very sweet - almost to the point of being too much.  This is very much the consistency and sweetness of an extra large honey stick - one that you get in straws in natural food health stores.

However, the flavor is quite yummy once you can pry your mouth open again.  It tasted lust like the honey filled center of those hard candies you had when you were young.  It is very natural tasting, and somehow tastes good for you, but the thickness ad sweetness can be overpowering.

Buzz: 10
The important thing to look at when checking out energy gels are simple sugar content, electrolyte content, calorie content, and of course for me, caffeine!  Sugar and calories are great for fast acting energy and fuel replacement, as you are working on your 400th burned calorie and need more fuel for your fire.  Electrolytes are needed to help with your salt and potassium loss you get from sweating.

E-motion gel is packed with the usual Vitamin B complex mix that you find in every energy drink known to beveragekind, but something I have not seen in other energy gels.  There are the electrolytes packed in here, sugar (glucose and fructose syrup) and maltodextrin, which is a chemical sweetener made from corn or potatoes.  Then has more unique ingredients, like a helping of vitamin D.   Topping it all off they add 4mg protein, which on the face does not seem that much.  But, since you are supposed to tae two of these when you workout, you are actually getting 8mg protein, which is a very decent amount to get absorbed into your body quickly and easily.

In terms of energy, there is 50mg caffeine per gel pack, but that amounts to 100mg per workout.    I found this to be an improvement over most of the other energy gels out there, and really helped ut in the gym.  There is no doubt I noticed marked improvement in my long distance workout days - being able to power through the last of my workout a whole lot easier than without.  All the times I tried e-motion, I went from thinking that I just could not continue another minute to powering myself through it.  For those who are serious about their endurance cardio, I would definitely consider adding this to their workout routine.