5-hour ENERGY

What’s the deal with this 5-hour Energy stuff? I see it everywhere nowadays. I’ve been driving a ton and see it at all the truck stops. And riding it is at the register at nearly every convenience store in the country.

I have a couple cases I’ve gotten from various sources, but have never consumed a bottle. All I know is that whoever owes this company is printing money. I thought RedBull was a good business. This is about 1/10 of the volume of a RedBull and cost about the same I think. Actually, I don’t even know how much it costs. But, any company that has a NASCAR race team is selling product.

I’m more interested because they do sponsor bike racing with their co-sponsorship of the Kenda/5-hour Energy team. I think I should break a bottle out soon and see what all the hype is all about.

Decaf? That would seem to defeat the purpose of this I'd think.

15 thoughts on “5-hour ENERGY”

Jean-Marie March 31, 2012 at 10:15 am

Here’s an article on the guy:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2012/02/08/manoj-bhargava-the-mystery-monk-making-billions-with-5-hour-energy/

Steve Wathke March 31, 2012 at 10:25 am

It’s old people’s energy drink. Enjoy! Ha ba!0

Me March 31, 2012 at 10:37 am

Sorry WADA says it’s illegal:
“The status of caffeine has not changed from last year. Caffeine was removed from the Prohibited List in 2004. Its use in sport is not prohibited.
Many experts believe that caffeine is ubiquitous in beverages and food and that reducing the threshold might therefore create the risk of sanctioning athletes for social or diet consumption of caffeine. In addition, caffeine is metabolized at very different rates in individuals.
Caffeine is part of WADA’s Monitoring Program. This program includes substances which are not prohibited in sport, but which WADA monitors in order to detect patterns of misuse in sport.
The 2010 and 2011 Monitoring Programs did not reveal global specific patterns of misuse of caffeine in sport, though a significant increase in consumption in the athletic population is observed.” BUSTED!!!

Me March 31, 2012 at 10:39 am

Stay away from that Claritin-D stuff too!!!

AP March 31, 2012 at 12:07 pm

Turns out most of the stuff in there is supposed to come from fruit and various other natural sources. Therefore, you would be better off eating a wide variety of fruit and veggies. I think in 10 years they are going to find out that stuff causes heart problems or some other health issue.

chad hartley March 31, 2012 at 12:43 pm

thanks for the shout out steve, as they are a sponsor for me i can shed some light. 5hr is manufactured in Michigan, in there own stand alone facility and all they produce is 5hr energy. there is no concern of cross contamination. in fact we have had batches tested by Scott Analytics and they pass WADA code. as far as price, they are very proud of the fact the the ingredients in a 2 oz 5 hr energy cost more than double then their nearest “energy product” competitor. ie higher quality. for whatever by biased opinion might stand for, i take one everyday before riding and love it.
AP, is right thought, it can cause health problems if misused…. http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/30/6975082-5-hour-energy-binge-lands-woman-in-hospital

apparently 10 bottles a day for 2 weeks is bad for you. but hey, what else are you going to do if you have 50 hrs of work a day?

chad hartley
Kenda 5 hr Energy pro cycling

Curby March 31, 2012 at 12:46 pm

It’s another way to get people to consume aspartame.

Franz March 31, 2012 at 3:32 pm

I know a guy who takes a bottle of 5 hour energy every 3 hours and it does not seem to do anything for him.

Stamper March 31, 2012 at 3:33 pm

I participated in a study that evaluated different energy supplements from multiple sources, and one stood out in particular in my mind. We had a fixed hour workout (after being fasted for 12 hours) that monitored wattage, speed, VO2, and blood, then we had to ride a 10km TT. With that particular treatment I went faster and felt better while going faster. When I went back after the study was over and asked him what the treatment was he told me it was 5 hour energy. It was also the only treatment in the study that had caffeine. Surprisingly not all of the participants went faster, some participants actually did not respond well to caffeine. Your ritual prerace 3 shot espresso is doing the same thing.

Ted Lewandowski March 31, 2012 at 4:06 pm

Excellent Forbes article – thank you Jean-Marie!!!

SB March 31, 2012 at 6:04 pm

I thought a big part of the 5-hour boost was the massive dose of B-vitamins… I only use it occasionally and I still get the niacin flush.

brian snyder March 31, 2012 at 7:43 pm

Hey josh……

I was the co-PI for that study…. I could provide the data if you are interested. The 5H group had a non-significant trend toward faster times. But on paper they went faster. I will have to look back at the data set to see just how many went faster.

And, it seems that what is best for performance is not always best for health. And what might be best for ‘health’ may not allow you to achieve optimal performance. It is a bit of a trade off sometimes.