Playing a round of golf is not as easy as it seems. It’s a strenuous exercise that engages your physical muscles and brain, leaving you exhausted and dehydrated. Any avid golf fan will have noticed that golfers enjoy walking around with bottles and sipping drinks regularly.
Although every golfer has their custom diet formula that works for them, sports drinks are widely used by most golfers, owing to their ability to replenish the body from lost nutrients and offer an instant energy dose to the golfer.
Sports drinks are usually a mix of water, sugar, and electrolytes. They may also contain vitamins, coloring, and flavoring to make them more appealing. The sole purpose of sports drinks is to boost athletic performance.
Types of Sports Drinks
Isotonic
Isotonic sports drinks contain electrolytes, fluid, and carbohydrate levels of 6 to 8%. Most athletes participating in team sports or middle and long-distance running prefer isotonic drinks, since they supply a carbohydrate boost while quickly replacing fluids lost through sweating. Some popular isotonic sports drinks include Lucozade Sport, Boots Isotonic, and High Five.
Hypotonic
Hypotonic drinks consist of electrolytes, fluids, and low carbohydrate levels. They replace lost fluids quickly and are ideal for athletes that require only fluid replenishment without much carbohydrates, such as gymnasts and jockeys.
Hypertonic
Hypertonic drinks comprise high carbohydrate levels and are ideal for supplementing daily carbohydrate intake after exercise to boost the glycogen stores in the muscles. They are also suitable for ultra-distance events requiring high energy levels, but one should combine them with isotonic drinks to replace fluids.