Victus: Simplicity Meets Performance
By The Feed.
Victus is one of the newest brands to hit The Feed and we're thrilled. Why? Because they have a unique lineup of three products with simple, specific purposes:Before, During, and After your training.
Victus might just be the simplicity you have been looking for when it comes to your nutrition regimen. They like to keep it simple, so simple they have named their drink mixes with the time you should consume them… 01 Before, 02 During, and 03 After. However, don’t be deceived by their simple nomenclature. Their team has done over 6,000 hours of research with graduate students at the University of Wageningen over a 6-month period to perfect their products!
Whether it is a hard training session or you are going for a PR in a race, this may be just what you have been looking for.
Enough of that chatter, let's dive into what makes Victus different and how you can utilize their products with ease and efficiency.
Victus Drink Mix 01 Before
Victus 01 Before comes in 2 refreshing flavors: lemon and pear or orange and apple with one serving containing, 110mg caffeine anhydrous and 900mg guarana extract (seed) which provides an additional 90mg of caffeine. That is 200mg of caffeine to give you a nice jump start before your training session even begins!
They have also added several different amino acids that may help to reduce fatigue, increase speed and lengthen the time to exhaustion (TTE). Outside of the possible performance boosting ingredients it also contains a moderate amount of sodium at 240mg per serving.
For best results, you should take Victus 01 Before 30-45 minutes before your training session with 400-620ml of water. This will give your body time to begin digesting and absorbing the nutrients and allow caffeine to hit its peak in that 60-120min range. Then, you can attack whatever might lie ahead!
Victus Drink Mix 02 During
With 3 tasty and easy-to-drink flavors (apple and lemon, strawberry, and lemon, or pineapple and citrus), Victus 02 During has everything you need to fuel your training sessions! It has 45 grams of multiple transportable carbohydrates (MTC) per serving and this helps maximizes your body's ability to absorb the fuel you are providing it. Their balanced mix of clean carbohydrates (45g) from multiple sources utilizes an effective ratio of 2:1:1.5 carbohydrates that limit any GI distress. There is also 343mg of sodium per serving to help make sure you are staying fully hydrated during all your training sessions!
The best way to achieve this smooth consistency is by adding one serving into 620 mL of water. This ratio will create an isotonic solution, which means your body doesn’t need additional fluids to aid in the absorption of the carbohydrates once it reaches your small intestine.
Victus Gel 02 During
New to the Victus lineup is the 02 During Gel – an exciting sidekick to the 02 During Drink Mix. In fact, it's essentially interchangeable.
02 During Gel is a response to the current call for an increase in carbs per hour by top athletes. They built a gel alternative to the popular drink mix. Most products are on a seesaw of either too little carbs or too little sodium at the expense of the other, but they hit the nail on the head.
With 45g of carbohydrates and 343 mg of sodium, it's the perfect choice for those looking to optimize their carbohydrate intake and train with race-quality products. It has a balanced mix of clean carbohydrates (45g) from multiple sources with an effective ratio of 2:1:1.5 carbohydrates that limit any GI distress.
The simplicity of needing only 2 units per hour to get in 90 grams of carbs per hour is amazingly easy to gauge –whether it's coming from the drink mix or the gel– and is quite cost-efficient.
Use these to fuel your training sessions and events as you would the 02 During Mix. Given the high amount of carbs and sodium, you could actually take this alongside regular hydration needs.
Victus Drink Mix 03 After
Often times a recovery drink can be hard to drink right after your training session due to the immense sweet rich flavor, but we force it down the hatch in order to get the benefits of the additional protein and carbohydrates. If you can relate to this than we may have the perfect solution for you… Victus 03 After.
Unlike other recovery supplements, 03 After is tailored toward a “whole” body recovery – that means not just dumping sugar and protein in. It targets recovery on a variety of levels through the unique amino acid profile, which combines collagen's benefits (repairing tendons, ligaments, hard tissue, joints, etc.) with the benefits of whey (muscle building, lean mass and repair). This is possible through the addition of a complex mix of both macro- and micro-nutrients. Things like Collagen, L-Leucine, and more. Again, not just sugar and protein!
They have orange and mandarin, apple and lemon, strawberry and raspberry all of which have been third party tested for purity and quality by NZVT (Dutch Safeguards System for Dietary Supplements in Elite Sport).
So, how do I use this Victus stuff?
Well you are in luck because all of the Victus products come in a single serve options making it easier than ever to try. Here are a few scenarios to consider before adding a some of their products to your cart!
Daily ride or run (1-2 hours)
- 30 minutes before, consume 1 serving of Victus 01 Before
- During your session consume 2-3 servings of Victus 02 During
- Within an hour after Victus 03 After
Long ride or run, low intensity (2+ hours)
- Consume breakfast with a focus on carbohydrates roughly 2-3 hours ahead of the session
- Victus 01 Before 30 minutes prior to your session
- Every 30-45 minutes during Victus 02 During
- Within an hour after Victus 03 After
With the above, you’ll get anywhere from 60-90 grams of carbohydrates per hour, depending on if you choose to consume every 30 or every 45 minutes. This hits right within our recommendations for fueling, depending on intensity, experience, and duration.
Short Ride or Run, High Intensity (<1 hour)
- Victus 01 Before .
- Water + Victus 02 During as needed.
- Within an hour after, Victus 03 After
Short Ride or Run, Low Intensity (<1 hour)
- Sips of water during
- Within an hour after Victus 03 After
If you are still a bit confused or need more help navigating your fueling plan don’t hesitate to reach out to our team of expert coaches at coaching@thefeed.com! They are here to help answer all your nutrition questions and help develop a fueling plan for your race with the most up-to-date research.