Testing & Ranking (SURPRISE!) The Best Energy Gels for Runners - HOW TO FUEL A MARATHON & LONG RUN!

Hello everybody and welcome back to the channel. Today we're gonna be reviewing and testing all of these, a load of running energy gels as we are now entering marathon training fever at the moment. It really can be the difference between having an amazing race going out there and smashing your PB, hitting your goals, or hitting the wall and having a shocker. So I wanna give you loads of information to go out there and get the right gels for your running. Let's just have a quick run through what we've got in for tests. So first one is the Goo Energy Gels coming at £2. Next one, the Mountain Fuel, £1.60 a go. Puma Energy Gels, £2. Stripped one out, bought all of these 100% with my own money. Got them from Exmars here in the UK, which is a really good website where you can buy individual gels. We'll link to them down below. Next up, the Cis Isotonic, £1.70. Pi 5 coming at £1.49. Spring Energy Gels, £3.55 a gel here. Even more expensive than the Mortons, coming in around about £2.90. And last but not least, Precision Fuel, coming in at £2.25. Now obviously, we couldn't get every single gel on the market. We've just bought the ones that we think kind of are the most popular and have a nice range of different sorts of stuff. But if this video gets 1,000 likes, so smash that like button, and let us know down in the comments some other different types of gels you want us to get into tests. And then if it gets 1,000 likes, we'll make that video for you. Let's get into this. I'm feeling quite hungry, so looking forward to this quite a lot. So yeah, basically, we've given each one a score of either one, two, or three points for the price, the weight, the calories, the carbs, and the flavours. We're gonna put all that information up on the screen, otherwise we'll be here all day. And I'm gonna score them based on ease of use, texture, and taste, which is just, yeah, sort of my opinion on what they're like. So you'll see all the scores appearing up on the screen as we go through. First up, Morton, the big hitter in the gel industry. Big hitter in terms of they sponsor Kipchoge and Killian Journet, maybe the two biggest figures in the male side of running anyway. Let's get stuck into this. So Sarah's gonna record what this is like coming out of the gel. I'm gonna open all of these with my mouth, because that's what you kind of would do. So yeah, first thing, little thing annoying, you always get this thing that tears off that then people normally sort of drop on the floor. It's just a little bit annoying. So this is what the Morton looks like. Get in there nice and close up, Sarah. So it's this sort of jelly type figure. I'm gonna have a little of that. This is the gel that I use in all of my racing as well. Maybe I'll find something new today. While I like this, you don't need to have it with water. It doesn't really taste of much. It's just a bit of a very sort of bland flavor. It's pretty sweet though. And most importantly, it just goes down quite well. Mark down for ease of use, because I hate it when these gel packs, these tabs fall over. I'll put up on the screen a guy after Edinburgh Marathon that went out and collected these. Ease of use, we're gonna give that a two out of three. Texture, I really like it, so definitely three. And taste, there isn't really a taste, so yeah, three out of three. So in terms of calories and carbs, yeah, 25 grams of carbs, 100 calories in this, in just that 40 grams. But slightly marked down, because they only have the one flavor, which is all it comes in as well. They do the caffeinated version, and they do a solid bar as well. We'll be touching on that next week in our alternative to gels video. Right, moving on, we've got the goo. Now these come in about 18 different flavors. Each one is different levels of the amount of salt and caffeine in them. I'm having a no-caffeine one. All of these gels today, I think, are no-caffeine as well. But yeah, I just don't really have much caffeine in my life. So again, one mark down, because the poor tab rip off there. Let's squeeze this out, see what this looks like. Oh, it's a very thick paste. That is not going to go down well without some water. That is like something you'd ice a cake with. And it is birthday cake flavor, this one. Have a look at that. Right, let's see what this tastes like. Oh, I don't like that very much. There's just not the kind of gel. Sarah, can you get me a tray? I just like gels that you can kind of have without water. Very, very sweet, quite sickly. I don't think it's bad, it's gone down fine. And I could have that in a race. It's really, I'm probably overdramatic. Dramatic, dramatic, dramatic. What am I, thanks very much. But the facts, 32 grams, 100 calories, 23 grams of carbs. Ease of use, two mark down. Texture, it wasn't great for me, but I'll give it a two. And taste, it's hard, but that was birthday cake, two. It started out as a one, but it actually got better. It improved as time went on. Now, a lot of ultra runners really like the goo gels because there are so many flavors. You don't get sick and tired of eating the same flavor over and over again because they're so light and so small. You can carry that off. Right, next on the list, Mountain Fuel. Should be very similar to the Morton in how this is. So let's take that off. Again, mark down, annoying tab. Let's squeeze this. Wait, wait, wait. Go. Squeeze that out. It's very liquid, very loose. And with a lot of these things, it almost smells quite chemically. With a lot of these things, especially these sickly sweet ones, when you're in a race and you're absolutely going for it, you can get this on your hands and down your face. It just sticks to you and you can't like wash it off, which again is why I quite like the Morton one because it's quite sort of water-based. You just chuck a bit of water in your face. If you do spill some, it just goes straight off. But anyway, let's see what this tastes like. No. They do have a chia version and an ultra-chia gel and a caffeine version as well. So lots of different things. Scores on the door. 60 grams, so double the weight of the goose. 82 calories, bit down on that, and 20 grams of carbs. But, me being overdramatic and all, yeah. So yeah, ease of use. To texture, I think it's just so liquid. Not much viscosity in this one. But that's, yeah, it's quite nice actually. It goes down very easily. Three marks for that. Taste, I'm gonna give it two. A little bit too sort of chemical tasting for my liking. But, I keep picking it up to try and finish it off. That's really quite nice. And some electrolytes in there. Particularly good on hot days. Not too bad there from Mountain Fuel. Better than expected. A lot of people often come and ask us and say, how many gels do I need for my race? How often do you take them? And I'm not a nutritionist, but I just wanna say roughly, people can take on board about 60 grams of carbs an hour. So for me, when I do my races, hopefully around about two and a half hours, 2.45 for a marathon, I'm taking about five gels during that. Around about every 30, 35 minutes during the race. And that's from the start. So sometimes I do take one about five minutes ago on the start line. And then, yeah, around about 30, 35 minutes, I'm taking another gel. Just have these in my band around my waist. Or, if it's a shorter race, a half marathon, I'd be just carrying probably a couple in my hand like that. So if you're about a four-hour marathoner, you're probably gonna be thinking around about eight or nine gels. So a lot of planning goes into this. And when you're going out for your training runs, you wanna be practising taking out those eight or nine gels. Plan it out so on race day, we're not trying anything new. Testing the gels, testing how you're gonna carry them. Right, next up is the Huma gel. Something a little bit different. These are all natural, sort of made from real food. Fruits and rice and things. Let's cut that off and squeeze some of this out. That is very dark. And this flavour is mango, I think. Yeah, mangoes, love mangoes. And how many flavours have they got? Eight different flavours, so that's pretty good. 42 grammes, not too bad on there. 100 calories, carbs, 21 grammes. Let's see what this tastes like. That is absolutely lovely. Yeah, it's really nice. It just feels like mango sorbet. I wonder if you could freeze one of those on a nice hot day. So again, I'm marking that down ease of use because of the stupid full tab thing. Texture, that's really nice. Now I don't know, I probably wouldn't use this in a road race. It's just a little bit too natural. I don't know why, it's just not quite going down in the same sort of way. But in ultras and things, where you can just sort of stop and chill and maybe just walk up a hill or something, you could get a lot of those down. So that's really nice, especially with the amount of flavours. So yeah, texture is okay. Taste, yeah, that is lovely, three. I don't know what it is. I just think it just wouldn't work for me. So I'm gonna give it a hunch. It just wouldn't work for me in a road race. But yeah, really nice. Right, moving on, very similar. We have got, if it's gonna focus, the Spring Energy Gel here. So this has got basmati rice, banana, strawberry, maple syrup, coconut water, all sort of very natural ingredients. 100 calories. This is called the Cannaberry. A lot of you guys on YouTube would know Sage Cannaday. This is named after him. So yeah, really like that. The tab is not falling off. That's always a favourite. Right, let's see what this is like. Squeeze some of that out. Quite sort of yoghurt type texture there. And no dropping at all. It will just stick on the spoon. So very, very thick. Let's see what this tastes like. No, I did buy, no, Sarah does not like this one. But yeah, I did get some of this for my road racing a couple of years ago and you'd use it in a race. And I think a lot of these sort of more natural ones, they're just not very downable, but with a lot of the more sort of chemically ones do just go down very quickly. But yeah, I don't know. I'm not loving that. It's a bit sour. So scores on the doors, 355. I think these are gonna be a lot cheaper directly in America by the time they get to the UK with import taxes and everything is a little bit expensive. 46 grams, 100 calories. That's nice. 17 grams of carbs, which is the lowest one here in terms of the amount of carbs you're getting out of this. And only one flavor. They do slightly different ones with, what is it, Sarah? Caffeine ones and some hill surge one. I mean, check out their website. They're an interesting company. So what do I think? Ease of use, well, definite three out of that because I love that pull tab. Texture, it's all right. A two and taste for me has gotta be a one. Yeah, I don't know. It's definitely worth a try, but I think that's really an ultra only thing. Strawberry smoothie. Nice design on the packaging though. I do, must say, come on camera. There we go. Quickly guys, if you are a fan of this visual, please smash that like button. It really helps us out. Let us know down in the comments what your take on gels is. Love, hate, and your favorite ones out there help out the running community. If you're not already, subscribe to the channel. Now, if you are looking for somewhere to pick up all of your gels, this video is not sponsored in any way. We have no affiliation with any manufacturer or shops, but our favorite place is X-Miles where you can go and buy individual gel sashes, which is where we bought all of these from. We'll link to those guys down below. Obviously, directly from the manufacturer's website. Amazon, Runner's Need, supermarkets are particularly good for the high five and the cyst gels. Wiggle, Decathlon, or yeah, maybe go into some other running shows as well and Expos, but if it's Expos, don't buy them at Expos and use them at the race. Make sure you've tested them out. Right, anyway, back to the video. Let's have a go with the two big hitters here. So we'll start with Cyss Science and Sport, probably the most, I don't know, you say popular gel, they sell this in every single supermarket, every sports shop, a lot of people. The first gel that I've ever used, me included. Right, pull tab rubbish. Let's see what this texture is like. These packets are particularly huge. So in terms of the weight on the Cyss, you are talking 68 grams. Is that the heaviest? Yeah, that is by far the heaviest here. So quite a jelly-like substance there as well, coming off the spoon. I've had so many of these over the years, so you don't need to take this with water, so it can go down very easily, which is really nice during races. Sorry, speaking with my mouth full. Really nice during races because you can take these whenever you want. So you don't have to wait for the next water stop or aid station. So 87 calories, a little bit on the low side there. 22 grams of carbs, nine flavours, in form of sport, vegan, gluten-free. This is lemon and lime. I could sit here and have this all day long. Not a powerful flavour with this one at all. It's very subtle, so I don't think you're gonna have any issues getting this type of thing down. They do do sort of specific electrolyte and caffeine versions. Right, ease of use, kind of ripped open quite easily. Texture, really like that sort of texture. Slid down really well, so full marks for that. And taste, very, yeah, it was fine. Three out of three, like not too powerful, just really quite nice. Right, next one is the Hi5. Now these Hi5 guys sponsor, guys and girls, sponsor a lot of races, especially here in the UK. So you quite often see this stuff out on the course. And that's another big tip. Check what races are giving out. But please don't turn up to a race and take the girls out on the course if you don't know what they are and you haven't practised with them in training. Ask the race, they should always put on their website what they're giving out. So yeah, Hi5, pretty big company. I'm sure lots of you guys have used this. Favourite of Sarah's as well. Yeah. Very liquid, look, that would just roll all over the plate. That is, I imagine that is gonna go all over people's hands and face and get all sticky, what a right mess. Right, let's taste this one. In the present, what officially is this, orange juice? So let's have a look at the scores for the Hi5. So 40 grammes in weight, yeah, nice and quite light. 91 calories, 23 grammes of carbs, seven different flavours as well. Ease of use, well, we'll give that two. Texture, that was really quite nice. And as long as you're getting that in the mouth, that is, it's going down very quickly, very nice. And taste, yeah, absolutely fine. Three out of three for that. Better than expected. Drop Udranum. Right, last on the list is this from Precision Hydration. Precision Fuel and Hydration is their now official term. It used to be just Precision Hydration. Tended to make a lot of electrolyte-type products and now they're branded out into gels as well. So they do a lot of work in sweat loss. You can actually go to them and have an analysis. If you're someone that suffers with cramping, that sort of thing, it can be well worth doing. They're saying, Sarah is a very salty sweater, for example. Fun fact, and I'm not. So that's why. You sweat a lot of volume. I sweat a lot of volume, but not much salt. So I'm quite good at running in the heat and Sarah, not so much. So anyway, pointless facts for that. Anyway, let's get stuck in to this gel. So let's get this one open. Nice to have that. I've been talking about that in every one today. People are sick of that by now. Let's squirt some of this out and see what it is gonna be like. Very similar to the Morton. Not coming off the spoon so much. This figures that they're putting out for this are quite impressive. So a little bit expensive, 225. 51 grams, quite a heavy sort of ish packet. 120 calories this thing is packing, which is the highest one here on the list. 30 grams of carbs, also the highest one. So this might be a little bit harder to digest. So make sure you're testing this type of thing out. But at the moment, just the one flavor. And because they sponsor so many elite athletes and everything, it's all Informa Sport tested. There's this, the Morton gel here, which is Informa Sport. And also the Cis gel, which is Informa Sport as well. I don't know if you'll be able to see on my little camera there. Will that focus on that? That little logo just about there. That says Informa Sport, which means these are sort of batch tested by Informa Sport for any sort of banned substances. So if you are a professional athlete, then that's the kind of thing you need to be looking out for. For the regular runner, please don't take banned substances anyway. But it's a good thing to look out for. Let's see what this tastes like. Quite sweet and quite thick compared to the Morton. But it's going down really quite nicely. I think you're probably gonna want a little bit of water with that. It's kind of like sort of peach, slight hint of peach in there. Yeah, that's really quite nice. A lot nicer than expected. So ease of use, definitely three. Texture, I think I'd decide it'd be a little bit bigger volume and slightly more viscosity type thing. So two for that. And taste, yeah, that is really quite nice. So three points for that. Going down absolutely fine. And really quite like the design on that packet as well. They're cool colours. If you're ever in any doubt how many carbs there are, just look at the front. Right, that's that all down. Let's have a chat. Me and Sarah are gonna total up the scores and get back to you in a minute with how everything fared. So in third, we had four gels, all joint in third place. The Cis, which is what I started my running journey with. The Morton, the Precision Fuel and the Goo Hydration. I would say road runners, probably Morton Fuel and the Cis are pretty good. Precision Hydration, it's new. I wanna test this out a little bit more because those stats look good. So I'm gonna be using that properly in a big session at the weekend. I have been using these all over the past few weeks and years and they'll work pretty well. But that's a bit too new on the block at the moment. And then the Goo, yeah, probably more of a trail-y sort of thing. I wouldn't wanna be trying to get that down during a race. But the second place goes to Huma. I'm kind of putting this as a joint first because again, I wouldn't be using that in a road race. But in a trail, just when I'm out chilling out, that is gonna go down really well. And that was, yeah, quite surprising just how good. Great stats. But anyway, the winner today, the best stats, the best taste, the best everything was this, the Hi-5 Energy Gel. Really surprised with that. I haven't used this in like a race or anything but certainly gonna be looking for an alternative to the Morton because it's costing so much money at the moment. So may well be going out in it's crucible marathon with this gel in my pocket. Stay tuned with all of my training for that. That's it guys. Hope you enjoyed the video. As always, let us know down in the comments what your favourite gels are, what you want us to see get in. We've got a slightly alternative to this next week of eight or nine different things which aren't gels that you can fuel your race with. So if you're not a gel fan, then stay tuned for that, that's coming up. Hope you guys are well, enjoying your runs and we will see you very soon out on the roads and the trails in the next one.