Hi,

A few years ago, I couldn't believe how hard it was to get to even 60g of carbs per hour, let alone 80. I felt like I was eating all the time. But then I realized how fresh I felt after an hour, and especially at 90 minutes, where I used to be fading.

I grew up in the culture of 4-hour big rides with nothing more than hydration and one or two gels. I'd be a couch zombie for the rest of the day. Useless. Christian Vande Velde told me the other day, "We were so dumb about how we trained and starved ourselves back in the day."

Here's the thing I had to unlearn: consuming fewer calories during your workout doesn't mean you've "burnt" more calories. I used to think the bigger the deficit, the better. I was wrong.

When you fuel your workout aggressively (I consider 90g+ of carbs per hour as aggressive), you go harder for longer. You finish fresher. You can get up and go again the next day. Do this for two weeks and not only will your fitness improve substantially, you'll become leaner than the starve-yourself method.

How to start:

Your next 2 workouts: 60g of carbs per hour. Two gels. Take the first one when you start, then every 30 minutes until you stop.

Your next 3 workouts: 90g per hour. Same approach, but every 20 minutes. Use standard 25-30g gels like Maurten Gel 100, SiS Go Energy Gel, Precision PF30, GU Energy Gel, or Amacx Drink Gel.

Hate gels? Go with a high-carb drink mix. The Feed Lab is the best value - neutral flavor, adjustable. One scoop = 30g, two scoops = 60g, three scoops = 90g. One bottle per hour, do the math.

Really Sensitive Stomach? Meet Maurten drink mix. What makes Maurten unique is their hydrogel technology that lets you consume more carbs in a way that is easier on your stomach. 

Indoor workouts: This is even more important. Your energy output is higher, and you fade faster. Even if you're doing a strength workout with intensity, take a gel at the start and again at 30-45 minutes. You'll feel the difference.

Next topic, what's hot:

I took a look at what's been trending so far this year. The data shows something clear: athletes are finally fueling smarter, recovering harder, and taking stress seriously. Here's what's actually trending.

Sleep is killing it. Dream Shot is one of the top-selling new products of 2026. PILLAR sleep support is growing steadily. Athletes are finally treating sleep like the performance enhancer it is.

Cortisol management is taking off. KA-EX launched this year and is already a standout. Managing training stress, specifically getting your post-workout cortisol back to your baseline, not just training load, is becoming part of the conversation.

High-carb fueling is exploding. The Feed Lab High-Carb Drink Mix is flying off the shelves. Enervit C2:1PRO Carbo Gel is up 75% year-over-year. Amacx Drink Gel is up 80%. The industry shift isn't coming, it's already here.

Recovery is having a moment. Momentous Creatine is up over 100%. SwissRX Synthesis and Foundation are selling strong. People aren't just training harder, they're getting more from every workout (Synthesis) and recovering smarter. 

Performance nerd stuff is going mainstream. Maurten Bicarb System is up 2x over last year. Lactate buffering used to be pro-level territory. Now it's crossing over to serious amateurs.

And the product of 2026 so far? Nomio. Lactate clearance, HRV improvement, endurance performance - it's 6lbs of broccoli sprouts in a single drink shot. The performance optimizer athletes didn't know they needed. You take it at least 2 hours, ideally 3 hours before workouts or afterwards for recovery. 

The trends are clear: fuel harder, recover smarter, optimize everything. And the data proves you're not doing this alone.

A few things I'm using right now:

NAD Daily Routine
Sticking with it, loving it. I'm keeping the Quicksilver NAD+ Liposomal on my desk and getting my 3 to 4 pumps per day. 

BodyBio Remineralize
Adding this to my water lately. New one for me. Meant to add all your key minerals back into your water. So far, loving it. 

H2Tab
Taking this almost every morning now. I talked about it last week. I know it is a bit woowoo, but I'm hooked. Also trying out the new Quicksilver H2 Bath (same idea, but a hydrogen bath. I've now heard of 5 serious pro athletes that converted their entire bathroom to hydrogen water, I can't afford that, but I'll try the bath, we'll see).

New at The Feed:

Cowboy Colostrum
Just landed.

Rho Liposomal Creatine
New delivery format. We have the whole line from Rho.

ISOPURE Clear Whey Protein
Light, not like a heavy chocolate shake. Seriously, this is delicious.

Re-Lyte Hydration
Selling like crazy. From Redmond the Salt Lake Salt Company, not as salty tasting as LMNT. They also have an immunity line worth checking out.

Transparent Labs Vitality Testosterone Support
Top-selling new product in its category. I thought the pre-workout BULK from Transparent was going to be the top product, and was surprised to find out it was the Testosterone Support.

Spring is here. Now it is go time. Optimize your routine. Hit me up with any questions.

- Matt

Founder
The Feed