Ok for a workout drink you need 2 things:
Carbohydrate and Sodium, the rest is all marketing hype. Although a little caffeine will help with alertness assuming you don't have 4 cup a day coffee habit.
5-8% carbohydrate solution, prefer a glucose polymer solution over simple sugars like sucrose, fructose, and glucose based one. Why? A glucose polymer based drink has a higher energy density than a simple sugar based one(sucrose or fructose). Make sure glucose polymer (also know as maltodextrin) is the first ingredient. Sometimes you might see fructose on the label after glucose polymer, that is ok as fructose (fruit sugar) provides sweetness.
500-1000 mg Sodium per liter, usually 800-1000 mg per liter is the best.
Aim to drink 1 liter per hour. FYI: Your body can ONLY process about (transport across the small intestine in your gut) 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour, so don't eat too much either.
Also, cold like 35-50 F drinks, drop the core temp and are transported faster across the gut.
The best products (check bicycle shops for these products):
powerbar endurance 7% carbohydrate solution from glucose polymer and 800 mg sodium per liter. 16 bucks a can for 30 servings. I use this all the time, all flavor are good.
GU20: 5-8% glucose polymer solution and 800 mg sodium per liter
15 bucks a can for 30 servings. Get the raspberry.
Gatorade endurance: Easy to find in a bottle, has a good sodium amount at 800mg per liter, but uses a simpler sugar , sucrose (table sugar) as the primary carbohydrate source. I'll get this at the 7-eleven to fill up my water bottles on long cycle rides.
Regular Gatorade: 500mg sodium per liter, sucrose as the primary carbohydrate source
Powerade: Sodium way to low like 200 mg liter, and has sucrose. garbage drink.
You can also do the high sodium powerbar brand powergels that use glucose polymer, just drink 12 ounces of water after one. these are 1.25 each.
What NOT to drink:
Coke is 12% sugar/corn syrup and no sodium, so it will sit in your gut, plus the carbonation is bad. I assume the Red bull and the like 'energy product' have high simple sugars like @ 10% or higher so they will sit in your gut and suck water out before it is absorbed. Not good.
Keep coke and red bull for mixed drinks at the bar after you win your game.
Hope that helps.
j
