I was interested in trying out the product and comparing it to what I normally use for my training. I will try out most products at least once, but there are 2 different categories that I don't like to try something unless I have a real genuine interest in them.... one is shoes, and the other is any type of food/nutritional supplements. To me, these are the 2 most important areas not to mess with. Shoes for the obvious reason that your feet are your livelihood. Anything that happens to them, your training/racing is over. I don't want to try out a pair of shoes and have them cause some type of injury. As you know, I have been lucky to partner with Skora Running and I don't see this changing any time soon. Nutrition is equally as important. Everything can go right in your race, but if you don't have the proper nutrition, your race can go south quickly. Not having the right supplements or trying out one or two that don't work out can be detrimental to both your training and your racing. So I am very picky about what products that I partner with.
With that being said, I received a packet of the HoneyMaxx drink mix and was excited to try it out. Right now there are only 2 flavors, Lemon Lime and Orange. Luckily, they sent me the Lemon Lime mix. This is my go-to flavor while racing and training, so I'm happy they sent me this flavor.
First Impressions:
After putting in the first scoop into my water bottle and shaking it up, I saw that it takes a while for the mix to fully dissolve. After reading the back of the bag, it explains that this is possibly due to the honey being the primary ingredient. Since HoneyMaxx is made from real honey, it takes a while for it to fully dissolve. Even though I read it and expected it, I didn't expect to see this even after 30 minutes of mixing water and the powder.
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| about 30 minutes after mixing with water |
After taking my first sip of the mixture, I quickly noticed there wasn't a huge sugary flavor like other sports drinks. In fact, there was a very faint taste of any type of flavor. It mostly tasted like flavored water. Honey flavored water. I liked this a lot. Normally, you can taste all the sugar in sports drinks so I liked how you can't do that with HoneyMaxx.
What was even more impressive was how the flavor actually got significantly better as time went on. As expected, the honey based product started to dissolve more and more, so as it continues to dissolve the taste kept getting better and better. This is probably the opposite of what normally happens. Typically with a sports drink, as time goes on, it gets more watered down and loses flavor. Not with HoneyMaxx. It continues to get better and better.
Where I would give a recommendation for people looking for that immediate surge of taste and flavor is if they wanted to mix in like half a scoop of their normal sports drink mix. This way, they can have the sweet sugary taste they are used to in the beginning of their training, while having the drink continue to dissolve and get more flavor as time goes on. I tried this once but quickly realized I don't want to do that anymore. I really like the taste of HoneyMaxx so I don't want to add any unnecessary refined sugars to my sports drink. Also, in the first few stages of my training, I don't need a huge sugar boost. I just need to keep my mouth wet and continue to hydrate my body. So mixing in any type of other sports drink is not for me, but I thought I would at least give a quick fix for someone looking for that immediate impact of flavor.
After putting HoneyMaxx to the test for a while now and having a good amount of workouts in, here are longer impressions I have of the product:
-I really like the taste. If you like the taste of honey, then this product is for you. At first, there is a slight hint of honey, but as time goes on you can really get the full effect and great taste. Mixing that with the lemon-lime flavor was something I haven't had before so I really enjoy it. In fact, it has such a great after taste. After taking a few swigs of it on the bike, you can continue to taste the flavor a few minutes after each drink. This is good because it continues to keep your mouth wet, but not in a bad way. As someone who can't do a workout or race without a piece of gum in my mouth, the taste sits with me until I grab another drink. I have not gotten that cotton mouth feeling that happens after pushing yourself too hard and continuously needing to drink more.
-I really like that is has Tumeric in the mixture. For those of you who don't know what Tumeric is, there are plenty of health benefits associated with it. I'll let you do the research on all of them, but it has been used for centuries. The one benefit that attracts me the most, or any athlete for that matter, is that it has a lot of anti-inflammatory effects. So as you're breaking down your body and muscles during your workout, the Tumeric is helping with anti-inflammatories. Think of it as wearing compression shorts inside your body (yes I know, weird analogy). But any type of anti-inflammatory benefit I can add to my workouts or races I'll take it. We all break down our muscles enough so why not have something that will help?
-The products are all natural. I am not one of those organic, live off the earth type of guys, but when I can have the chance to substitute something that has a lot of chemicals in it with something that is all natural and I can get the same results and benefits, I'll take it every time.
- I haven't needed to play with concentration levels yet. As time goes on, we all like to pick how many scoops we put into our sports drink mix. Since I got the product and started using it, I haven't had to add more mix than the bag recommends or I haven't added too much and now think I'm drinking a soda during my workouts. The recommendations are pretty accurate so I know I'm getting a great taste every time I put a mixture together. This also seems to keep cost down. We all know we have to buy these sport drink mixes and some of them aren't cheap. So if we need to add more scoops into our mixture just so we like the taste, then we start to decrease the servings in a given bag.
- I haven't bonked yet. This one surprised me the most. I thought that after only drinking HoneyMaxx during my long bike rides and long runs that I would bonk due to the lack of chemicals. This has not been the case at all. In fact, I'm finding that towards the end of my workouts, I'm getting stronger. I feel extremely confident only using HoneyMaxx as my primary sports drink from now on. I know it won't get watered down, but I know that my body reacts to it well and that it will continue to fuel me as my workouts get longer.
-No GI issues. I've taken HoneyMaxx on long bike rides, long runs, and a really long brick workout. I haven't had any type of digestion problems at all. My body can easily digest HoneyMaxx and doesn't sit in my stomach for long periods of time. Can't ask for more than that.
Conclusions:
After spending some time working HoneyMaxx into my workout regime, I have to say that I am extremely impressed with the product. The taste alone is far better than most sports drinks that are already on the market. HoneyMaxx solves the problem of having a great taste without having to feel like I'm getting a cavity every time I take a drink from the typical sports drinks that I have been using in the past. As your workout continues to go on, so does the taste.
Having an all natural product that gives the benefits of having anti-inflammatories for your muscles, antioxidants, and time-released fuel to help you through your workouts, I have to say this will now be my go to sports drink. There are plenty of studies out there showing the benefits of honey during endurance exercises, so adding this honey based, great tasting product to my regime is something that I look forward to.
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