By Cid Cardoso Jr.
Hammer Nutrition has been in the forefront of nutritional supplements geared toward endurance events for years and has been a popular choice among athletes. With its origins in 1987, with the introduction of E-Caps, Hammer Nutrition Endurance Fuels was formally launched in 1995. The company now offers a wide variety of energy drinks and fuels, recovery products, racing and diet supplements as well as other accessories and body care.
Besides sponsoring many endurance events around the country, including the Inside-Out Sports North Carolina Triathlon Series and Beach2Battleship Triathlon, Hammer Nutrition provides extensive nutrition information (on their website, brochures and weekly newsletters). This ranges from basic concepts to quite advanced information, written by experts who have years of theoretical knowledge as well as practical experience in the endurance world.
Some of Hammer Nutrition’s most popular products are Hammer Gel, Endurolyte Capsules and Perpetuem Powder. Recently, Hammer Nutrition introduced Perpetuem Solids, a product aimed at providing the same benefits as the powder but in more convenient chewable tablets.
According to Hammer Nutrition, “Perpetuem delivers stable long-term energy hour after hour, with no stomach distress or GI issues, and is specifically formulated for use during training and competition lasting longer than two hours.” The powder is designed to be mixed with water according to a table based on one’s weight. The powder version has been in the market for years and has been the preferred choice of many endurance athletes.
My experience with Perpetuem was that it delivered what it promised, a convenient and efficient way to take in calories during long events, although the consistency was a little grainy and it had a strong aftertaste. I found the citrus to be quite unpalatable but the caffe latte was drinkable and the strawberry-vanilla was almost tasty.
The main issue with Perpetuem is that it is not recommended to be mixed more than three hours before consumption, especially in hot environments, thus presenting a logistical problem at events like Ironman races, where bottles have to be turned in early in the morning and may only be consumed around midday.
The Perpetuem Solids, on the other hand, will stay fresh even in the heat. They offer the same fuel source and proven formula of the Perpetuem powder but in a gluten-free and vegan-friendly chewable table. Available in the same three flavors, it comes in containers of six tablets and 90 tablets. One serving consisting of three tablets has 100 calories (12 grams of carbs and 2 grams of protein). Their recommended intake quantity during exercise is one to four tablets per hour.
I found the solids to be fairly convenient to carry but not very easy to eat, especially the first time. The tablets are very big – approximately the size of a quarter but a half-inch thick. They feel even bigger inside the mouth.
The consistency is very chalky and as I tried to chew, my tablet broke up into large chunks. I had to struggle quite a bit to get it to somewhat dissolve in my mouth as I continued to try to break up the chunks into smaller pieces. My immediate reaction was to try to wash it all down with large quantities of water, which helped.
I picked the strawberry-vanilla flavor, since that was my favorite in the powder. The taste was not great but not bad either. I’ve been racing endurance events for more than 25 years and have eaten much worse tasting things during training and racing. They had a lingering chalky aftertaste but were palatable, and I even seemed to get used to their size and consistency as I continued to experiment with them in training.
In a race, though, it was a different story. I took a tube consisting of six tablets to an Ironman event, planning to use them during the run. The first one I tried was practically impossible to swallow. The chewing required this time around seemed to take twice as long and twice the effort. I think I managed to swallow about half of it before I had to spit the rest of it out.
The issue was not the taste. I believe the combination of the size and dryness of the tablet – along with the fact that during the marathon of an Ironman race, my stomach is on edge and my body is working so hard – contributed to the difficulty in swallowing it. At that point, if something doesn’t go down easy, it won’t go down at all. I tried it again a few miles later and had the same experience, so I switched to plan B, which consisted of Coke, oranges and potato chips.
The weather was very hot and that often does affect what an athlete can stomach during such event. Most of my experimenting with the Perpetuem Solids was done during training in cooler temperatures.
The Perpetuem Solids is a good concept. The formula is proven, and the fact that it can be transported easily and taken anytime is definitely an advantage over the powder version. I can even get over the chalky taste. My only complaint is the difficulty chewing and swallowing them. With only approximately 33 calories per tablet, it takes a lot of effort for little caloric gain (when a packet of gel will provide 100 calories). Taking three or four per hour is too ambitious – or at least it was for me in a racing scenario.
I like most of the Hammer Nutrition products and consistently use Hammer Gel, Endurolytes and Heed. I appreciate the company’s focus on educating the customers and supporting local events. I hope an easier-to-consume version of Perpetuem Solids will come out in the near future.
# # #
Cid Cardoso Jr., owner of Inside Out Sports, has been doing triathlons for over 20 years. This October, he competed in his 26th Ironman – his eighth appearance at Kona. A veteran of ultramarathons, he has competed in Team RAAM twice. He has seen equipment evolve with the sport and continues to test new products to assess their impact on performance. He trains, works and resides in Cary, N.C., with his wife, two daughters and son. You can reach him at cidjr@insideoutsports.com.
