Isotonic drinks
There was a time when having a drink after a workout meant a beer at the club bar. Not any more. Even the humble glass of water from the gym cooler has fallen out of favour with fitness enthusiasts. These days, we are encouraged to down a bewildering array of products, from energy-replacing isotonic drink to zero-calorie flavoured water loaded with electrolytes (mineral salts) that help keep the body’s fluid levels in balance.
But does the average keep-fitter need to drink unnaturally coloured bottled drinks or mix their own potions from powder during and after their thrice-weekly turn in the gym? Last month, experts warned that thousands of gym-goers were not only wasting their money on energy sports drinks, they were expanding their waistlines, too: as many of these drinks are full of calories, the report concluded that you would actually have to train even longer or harder to prevent the excess energy from the drink itself being stored as fat.
