Today we break down how to improve your HRV through better sleep, most athletes' first gel experience, what we picked for the kiddos, and more.
1. FIX YOUR HRV IN YOUR SLEEP
If there’s one thing I wish I’d known years ago, it’s how important managing your cortisol is to your overall wellness, and how directly it shows up in your HRV. Sure, HRV isn’t meant to be compared to anyone else’s. That doesn’t mean you can’t raise yours.
The real secret to both is sleep. Not just more sleep, better sleep. And the product that’s worked better than everything else out there is Dream Shot: a drink shot you take before bed, with 6 key ingredients to help you fall asleep, stay asleep, and get deeper, more restorative sleep. Those last two are where cortisol control and HRV gains show up.
Two versions: Original (with Michigan tart cherry juice, so some natural sugar) and No Sugar (same tart cherry, concentrated into a sugar-free powder).
Prefer a capsule? Dream Caps carry the same sleep peptide from Dream Shot (the one that’s 100% focused on cortisol) in one small cap before bed.
2. EVERYONE’S FIRST GEL
I was at the Nike After Dark Tour this weekend, an incredible event to witness, and so many runners were carrying Science in Sport gels. I talked to as many as I could, and I kept hearing the same thing: it was their first time ever running with gels.
That tracks. For years, Science in Sport has been the first gel most athletes try. Easy on the stomach, tons of options. Not a gel person? One of the best chews we sell: SiS Beta Fuel Chews.
3. THE MINI GEL (FOR KIDS, AND FOR KICKOFF)
The past few months we’ve been working on what fueling works best for kids, ages 8 to 18, and we’ve built a collection just for parents. The secret with youth sports: fewer carbs, more often, timed to the sideline breaks, shifts, and rotations that youth sports are built around.
For the rest of us, the newest data I shared a few weeks ago says a small hit of carbs right as you start your workout is key to raising blood sugar when you need it.
The magic tool for both: a mini gel. The perfect one right now is the Enervit E.Sport Gel, exactly 20g of carbs. Lemon and Cola have no caffeine, perfect for kids. Raspberry has caffeine, perfect for you. I keep them in my gym bag for HIIT days, and my friend’s kids’ hockey teams (the 9-year-olds and the 13-year-olds) now use them at every practice. The coaches say they can see the difference.
4. BICARB FOR LE$$
Training and racing with bicarb is here to stay, the performance gains are too good to ignore. Here’s the open secret: bicarb (sodium bicarbonate) is the same stuff sitting in your fridge. What you’re paying for is how brands encapsulate it so it doesn’t wreck your stomach, and the prices vary wildly.
Fly Carb was already the price leader at about half the cost of the others. The caffeine is a smart addition: the cardio benefits kick in at about 300mg, and Fly Carb only has 120mg, so you can still have your coffee and your caffeinated gel before you go.
My recommendation if you’re bicarb-curious: use it for one hard training session a week. If you’re already a believer, this is the deal to stock up on.
5. THE OG NITRIC OXIDE
When I think about training, I think in steps: Prime, Hydrate, Fuel, Perform, Recover. In the Perform step, you’ve got bicarb, caffeine, and the most popular performance product we’ve sold for four straight years: SwissRX Nitric Oxide.
You can take it daily, but I take mine about an hour before a workout. Every time, I feel like I’m breathing easier, holding threshold pace longer, and recovering faster between hard intervals.
If you’re on the Pro version, the two work in different ways and complement each other, so yes, you can stack them.
