One of the key elements of summer training is keeping yourself hydrated and cool. Two things that make or break a good day. We've got some tricks to help you keep your bottles colder longer.
You know the moment. You're an hour into a steamy, humid session, you reach for your bottle, and the fluid is the temperature of bathwater. Warm electrolyte sludge. So you stop drinking it, which is exactly when the cramps and the bonk start circling.
Here's the thing: in this kind of heat, it's one thing to hydrate, but what if you could hydrate and cool yourself down at the same time?
I've been experimenting in the Feed Kitchen, freezing everything from gels to chews (more on those results later this week). But what's worked best by far is cold fluid in a metal, insulated bottle.
Here's my secret, and it worked way better than I expected:
Take any metal bottle — I picked out some insulated ones for you below
Fill it just 20% full with water (or hydration mix)
Freeze it overnight
In the morning, mix in a high-carb drink, anywhere from 30 to 90 grams
I shared some ideas on these recently, but for this I'd reach for:
The Feed High-Carb - neutral flavor, adjustable carbs at 30g per scoop
Tailwind All-In-One - 90g of carbs, plenty of sodium, and actual flavor
Precision 60 - neutral, 60g of carbs and 1,000mg of sodium (just know you'll need a big bottle)
One thing I'd skip for this: Maurten. Freezing it seemed to mess with the hydrogel forming in my tests.
Now your hydration is sitting on a block of ice frozen into the bottom of your bottle. My normal bottle is a hot mess after fifteen minutes. With this trick, mine stayed cold for two solid hours.
Here's how I'd think about the price. You're already spending good money on your hydration mix, your gels, and the two hours of training you pour into a single session. A warm bottle quietly degrades all of it — you don't drink, you cramp, the work suffers. So this isn't really a $40 bottle. It's the thing that protects everything else you've already paid for.
And here's the math that sold me: the cheap bottles are the expensive ones. You replace them every season, season after season. You buy this once and stop thinking about it. Last bottle you'll need.
I picked out a bunch of metal insulated bottles for you. They're a bit pricey, but they last forever — and for me, the clean, pure taste of a stainless bottle alone is worth it. I've picked my favorites for you.
You'll find:
The Feed Race Day Insulated (an insulated take on the beloved Race Day)
If you want a value play, my favorite Feed Race Day Insulated bottle works great too. It's plastic, but double-walled, so you'll still get a solid hour of cold drinks out of it.
What's New This Week
Are Your Bones Getting Brittle?
Here's something most endurance athletes never see coming: you can train for decades and still end up with the bones of someone twice your age. It hits cyclists especially hard - all those hours, zero weight bearing. Lifting heavy and adding some impact is step one, but the other half is what you've quietly drained out of your body over the years: calcium and vitamin K. If any of that sounds like you, check out the new SwissRX Bone Support, built specifically for endurance athletes.
Focus and Energy in a Pouch?
Bear with me on this one. Lewa comes out of Sweden, where everyone (and a lot of women especially) tucks a pouch in their cheek. I know half of you just stopped reading, because you're thinking nicotine. It's not. Lewa took that same delivery and pulled the nicotine out completely - no nico, none. What's in it instead: caffeine, taurine, magnesium, and zinc. One pouch is just 50mg of caffeine and I felt like I'd had two Red Bulls, dialed in for three hours, and zero crash after. I was dead skeptical and now they live on my desk. Grab the Lewa variety pack so you can find your flavor. Mine's Apple Sauce.
A Garmin Watch for Your Kids?
This one's legit cool. Your kids want a Garmin — somehow that's the thing right now. And you want to know where they are without handing them a phone they're not ready for. The Garmin Bounce is the answer: GPS and LTE built in, so you see where they are in real time and can two-way message them through contacts you've pre-approved. It's seriously slick.
State Brain Smoothie
I've mentioned this once already, but I'm fully hooked now. When you're running your brain hot, getting shit done all day, it burns out. I know mine does. State is packed with highly absorbable omegas and the other nutrients your brain actually runs on. Trust me, brain fueling is going to be the next big thing, because it works and you can feel it. Doesn't hurt that State is delicious.
Have a great week and keep your hydration cool.
