Test and Review of Hammer Nutrition – Jez Willis

Nutrition by a midpacker – Jez Willis

This is the 2^nd part in the series of articles for Ultrarunner Magazine , where I plan to highlight to you the runner, what a number of sports nutrition brands produce for us ultra-runners.

“I understand nutrition is a very personal thing and involves a lot of trial and error at times but hopefully I can highlight a few things out there that you may not know a lot about and remind you of a few favourites you may have forgotten about.”

In each article I will look at:

• Who the brand are and what their philosophy is?
• The line of products they produce.
• A real review of how I found them after being in my pack for a few miles!

This month it’s the turn of a well-known company in the USA, Hammer Nutrition.

“Hammer was founded in the USA in 1987 by Brian Frank with his vision being “To grow a family business creating the highest quality, natural, most effective products ever developed, while adhering to our principles, philosophies and core values for generations to come.”

Hammer produce a vast array of products covering pre-workout, during activity, hydration, post-exercise and supplements.  Hammer currently support Dean Karnazes and John Kelly in the ultra-field.”

The UK importer is based in Hull and they are active on social media and are very responsive to your questions and queries.

The Products

Hammer cover all your requirements from pre to post activity and supplements, for this review Hammer very kindly provided bars, gels, electrolytes, carbohydrate drink and recovery drink.

Over a couple of long trail runs I tried the following:

Hammer Gel

Endurolytes Fizz

Heed High energy electrolyte drink

Raw energy Hammer Bar

Perpetuem Ultra endurance fuel

Recoverite

Hammer Gel – these are small sachets very like Gu gels in size, short and stumpy unlike the long thin tubes used by Hi5, SiS etc.

They are a 33g serving and provide 90 calories and 22g of carbohydrate per sachet.

“I tried the orange and the peanut butter and chocolate; the consistency of the gel is quite thick and you could have spread the peanut butter and chocolate one on toast!

I found them to be great tasting and really easy on the stomach, the orange was not too strong and the peanut butter one was an absolute treat.”

I think I would use the peanut butter one as a treat during a race or during a long event.  I don’t think I could eat many of them without a little lie down.

These gels are also available in 26 serving jugs.

Endurolytes Fizz

These are small hydration tabs like Hi-5, they are available in single tabs or in a tube and come in the following flavours:

Lemon & lime, grapefruit, mango, grape, cola.

Each tab gives you 10 calories and contains a list of electrolytes.

I tried the grape, lemon and lime and cola, they dissolved well, were easy to drink and caused no discomfort.

The taste seemed quite weak, but I am sure this would be a benefit when you are a few hours into an ultra and don’t want anything too strong.

Heed High energy electrolyte drink

This comes in either a single serve sachet (29g) or a multi-serve tub and in the following flavours, lemon & lime, mandarin orange, strawberry, melon, cherry bomb.

I tried the mandarin orange and strawberry on a couple of different runs.

“I had an issue with mixing the sachets and I really had to shake the bottle for a long time to ensure it all dissolved.  Whilst I understand the need for a shake this was more like a scene from cocktail!

I think this could lead to problems if you are at an aid station and are adding to a bottle of water as I am sure you would leave a lot of good stuff behind in the bottle.”

I was a bit unsure about a strawberry flavoured drink for energy but again I think this would offer a good change of flavour in a long challenge.

The orange however was not for me, I could only drink about half and this was due to necessity whilst out, the taste to me was very un-natural and sour.

Raw energy Hammer Bar

These are 50g bars and provide between 180 and 230 calories dependant on flavour.

“These bars are soft, very easy to eat and absolutely delicious.

I tried the apple (taste a bit like a nutri-grain bar), cranberry and almond raisin and all 3 were the same, easy on my stomach and delicious, just a shame they only sent 3!!!! ;)”

Perpetuem Ultra Endurance Fuel

Perpetuem is classed as Hammers Ultra endurance fuel and each 69g serving contains 270 calories, 54g of cabs and 7g of protein.

“I tried the strawberry vanilla on a short birthday run and liked the flavour and the ease to drink, I will also give this a better testing on a long day I have planned on Helvellyn very soon but initial thoughts are as per the strawberry heed, this flavour would make a really good change to the usual fruity energy flavours during long events.”

Recoverite

Those that read the first article on Mountain Fuel will realise that I do love a recovery shake and particularly a chocolate one, so I was looking forward to this one.

It has all the good stuff in it, tasted good and was easily drinkable, however, it seemed a little watery.

I followed the mixing instructions, but I am sure you could add this to some milk or if you bought it by the tub you could just add a little more powder.

Overall Verdict

“My stand-out find of this test were the Hammer raw energy bars.  They are simply delicious, another great product was the peanut butter and chocolate gel.”

The products are well packaged, clearly labelled and for you elite guys are all batch tested.

If you head over to the Hammer UK website www.hammernutrition.co.uk  there is a wealth of info about their products, nutrition guides, alongside athlete interviews.

“The team at Hammer UK are very approachable and will do their level best to advise you on the best products for your needs.  Special thanks to Sean Bowler for his support with the products.”

On a personal note, I will be ordering more of the raw energy bars and maybe a few of the peanut butter gels as a treat!!

Thanks again for reading and I will be back soon with more test and reviews for those who love an outdoor adventure.

Keep safe.

Test and Review by Jez Willis