Product Review: 1st Endurance Products, UCI Legal Jet Fuel

I was thinking on a recovery ride this week back to when I started riding again in 2006. It was a warm day and I was comfortably cruising at a speed greater than my max speed three years ago. Some of this is due to training and good advice, but some of it has to be due using 1st Endurance products.

I was stuck at how I could cruise at greater than 20 mph on flats with what I considered a medium level effort. Since I started taking Optygen again (I took a break in the off season) along with using Pre-Race and EFS sport drink I noticed I couldn't hit my max heart rate. I decided to see what exactly I had to do to hit my max heart rate on a ride last weekend.

Riding hard over rolling hills in downtown Raleigh and over by NC State didn't do it. Then I road to a hill my Garmin measured as a 14% grade for right at 1/2 a mile. I rolled hard toward the monster and attacked hard up the hill. I was surprised at how I climbed the hill with more strength faster than ever before. Just as I was having fantasies about keeping up with Alberto Contador on a climb or two, I blew up about 10% from the top. I looked down, and yeah, I finally hit my max heart rate, but I also set a personal best on the hill. I'm sure I can continue to expect to ride up that hill with less effort than before. I might not attack like a wild man every time though.

This week I had a chance to speak with Robert Kunz one of the 1st Endurance founders about my experience with his products and also learned about the company's approach to serving the needs of endurance athletes. It should get your attention that Team Columbia and Astana are sponsored by 1st Endurance. Any race fan is aware of how members of both of those teams including Levi Leipheimer, Alberto Contador, and Mark Cavendish have dominated early races.

My discussions with Robert involved how physiologically I felt when I hit my lactic threshold or how I felt as I exercised harder and longer. I was surprised to learn from Robert each athletes body reacts to those challenges differently. What I feel when I get to those points could be quite different than what you feel.

1st Endurance products are designed to increase VO2Max increase aerobic threshold and reduce lactic acid production. Robert put it in a slightly expanded way, which was 1st Endurance products increase an athlete’s ability to handle stress put on it by keeping stress hormone production within a healthy range. This is what translates into increased performance. He said one of the theories about top level endurance athlete is they process and use physical and environmental stressors significantly better than average athletes.

This made sense because I could ride harder faster and with greater comfort than before using their products. The company, in my opinion as a marketer, uses little to no spin or hype in their materials and product descriptions, which is quite rare. They obviously prefer to let their products impress athletes rather than spin them.

Robert also pointed out chronically elevated cortisol suppresses your VO2 and lactate thresholds while also suppressing your immune system. Your body is smart, so you can push it to a point where it shuts down due to too much stress. This manifests through illness and lack of motivation among other things. Your body is telling you to rest and it will force you to rest if you won’t on your own.

This is one of the reasons it makes sense to do some exercises that don't put a tremendous load on it in terms of physical stress. It also makes sense to rest well and not train every day. Coaches, like those I talked with at the HPL, will tell you that rest is important and resting properly will make you faster, stronger or perform at higher levels.

Optygen allows you to handle stress as if you were well rested so your performance improves. However, months of training are required for peak performance so you still have to train since there are no short-cuts.

1st Endurance products are designed to work interdependently. Optygen is designed to be taken every morning. Pre-Race is taken prior to working out-I drink it in a bottle of EFS drink. EFS drink, Liquid Shot and Bars (all are EFS named products) are for use during a race or ride. Robert has even blogged about mixing Pre-Race with EFS Liquid Shot as a powerful race fuel combination.

1st Endurance is also quite unique in the nutrition supplement industry, because the company continually works with endurance athletes while upgrading and adjusting their formulations for improved product performance. Robert noted nearly all of their products have been upgraded multiple times. I recently read a blog post written by a triathlete who tested the company’s new formulation of Optygen. He gave it high marks and noted a distinct difference from previous generations of products.

It's also very important to note 1st Endurance products are totally UCI legal. The company works collaboratively with UCI to ensure there are no problems with the regulatory body's rules. 1st Endurance has no desire to be on the shelves of your local grocery or drug store. You can't find it in some bike shops or GNC or The Vitamin Shope. The company knows who their customers are and who they are not.

The company's products are not inexpensive and not for every athlete who gets on a bike, jumps in a pool or laces up running shoes. However, the products are an excellent fit for athletes that want to train longer and harder to produce better race results.

I'll issue one warning to you about the products. You will be hard pressed to stop if you begin using all of the products. This produces one more reasonably expensive cycling habit, but most of us are already well down that road anyway.