This weeks review comes from Kat and Steve who have been testing a range of the Voom nutrition products. They both tested the Voom POW® bars, Voom Pocket Rocket bars and Voom hydrate smart electrolyte drinks. Putting them well and truly through their paces while training hard. Read their Voom nutrition review and how they supported performance through training.
Introduction to Kat
I recently tested out Voom nutrition on a 2 week triathlon training camp in Mallorca. We were putting in the miles every day so it was the perfect opportunity to test out both the taste and efficacy of this new brands products.
Introduction to Steve
Hi, I’m Steve Bowman and I’m a cyclist. By that I mean I just don’t ride one type of bike although I race both mountain bikes and cyclocross. I also ride on the road and commute from time to time. I’ve raced across Europe and the UK at regional and international level including the WEMBO European and World 24hour Mountain Bike Solo Championships.
Kat’s Review of Voom Nutrition
Voom POW bars Review
On my first day I tried one of their POW® bars – these are oat based flapjack type bars, however the difference with Voom is that they all include beetroot (each bar is one of your 5 a day!), coconut oil, L-arginine along with other flavourings (all natural from fruit juice).
Taste of the Voom POW Nutrition Bars
The first bar I tried was Beetroot, Rhubarb and Ginger. I also tried Beetroot and Raspberry and Beetroot and Cacao. Now – this is not a bar for those that don’t like beetroot! The flavour is especially pronounced in the raspberry bar, and much more subtle in the cacao bar. I am not a huge lover of beetroot although I don’t mind it, however after the first bite and being surprised at how much I could taste the beetroot, I actually enjoyed the bars.
Texture wise they are like a homemade flapjack, the lack of artificial flavours means they do taste of exactly what it says they will taste of, and they are not overly sweet like many energy bars – you could definitely eat more than 2 on a long ride without getting sweet flavour fatigue. I would buy them again, definitely the cacao bar and the rhubarb and ginger. Each 60g bar is 10g fat, 34g Carb, 4/5 g protein and 245/246 kcal.
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Voom Pocket Rocket Bar Review
On the days when we were doing TTs and hard efforts on the climbs I gave the Pocket Rocket bars a go (each bar ~45g and 170kcal). I had 3 varieties to try:
- Beta blast – containing 150mg of caffeine and 2g beta alanine in orange flavour.
- Electro Energy – containing 120mg electrolytes and B vitamins in lemon & Lime flavour.
- Caffeine Kick – containing 138mg caffeine, 101mg of taurine and 50mg guarana in berry flavour.
These bars were not what I was expecting – the nearest I can describe their texture is that of Kendal mint cake! They are solid bars that dissolve in your mouth, the bars are segregated so its easy to break off a cube at a time and they advise to eat 1-2 pieces as you need or 1 piece every 15min. 1 bar being equivalent to 2 energy gels. After the initial surprise at a texture I’ve never seen in an energy bar before I again grew to like these.
Performance Benefits from Voom Nutrition Bars
They are easy to break on the move and take one cube on, they dissolve quickly in your mouth and taste pleasant. Saying that I would not use the caffeine ones during training as the caffeine content is high, but during racing that boost is occasionally needed and I would consider adding that in sparingly in racing. I would buy the Electro Energy again as it includes electrolytes (especially important when training in Mallorca) and the lemon & lime flavour was pleasant.
The last bar I tried was the Protein Recover Fudge and this was delicious – it really did taste like vanilla fudge! Again this bar is segregated so you can easily break off a chunk at a time. I usually find protein bars leave a sickly sweet slightly synthetic taste in the mouth but this one didn’t. The bar dissolved nicely in the mouth and left no nasty after taste. I would definitely use this again. Each bar has 208kcal, 10g protein, 32g Carb and 5g fat (3:1 carb: protein).
For breakfast cereal alternatives we have reviewed the Surreal Cereal that is specifically designed for athletes. Hear from another one of the Trivelo nutrition specialists on the Surreal products.
Voom Hydrate Smart Review
Finally, I tried their drink powder formulation – Hydrate smart formula – a hypotonic electrolyte drink in lemon & lime. The made up 500ml drink contains 75kcal, 18g carb and has a mix of electrolytes and the VOOM cognition mix which is a mix of amino acids designed they say to improve mental performance. The powder dissolved well and the flavour wasn’t too sweet or overpowering, and I had no stomach issues when riding using it. However I did think the drink had a powdery feel that I wasn’t too keen on. As a caveat I usually only train with water in my bottle so maybe the powdery taste and feel is normal! But this is the one product I’ll say is not for me.
Summary of the Voom nutrition review
I was pleasantly surprised by the Voom products. The oat energy bars really do taste like homemade flapjacks with no unnatural ingredients, however, not one for beetroot haters! Their energy bars were an entirely new texture, but were easy to portion up and use on the go and felt like they were giving you an instant boost when you needed it quick. The recovery bar was delicious and with no synthetic after taste that a lot of protein bars leave me with. The drink powder is one I would personally pass on, but for those used to training with energy/electrolyte in their bottles it could be a good one to try.
Buy Voom Nutrition Products from Voom direct with free shipping currently on all orders over £40.
Video Review of Voom Nutrition Product Range
Hear Kats thoughts on using the Voom Nutrition range of products from her testing while in Majorca on a triathlon training camp.
Steve’s Review of Voom Nutrition
Summary of Voom Nutrition Review
The supplied bars and drink aim to provide you with all you could need before, during and after your workout, training session or race all packaged nicely in recyclable wrappers with clear branding and easy to read & digest nutritional information.
Trivelo Score 3 / 5
I’d give the Voom nutrition range that I sampled 3 out of 5 stars, the product is sound, the flavours are very good in some cases, but not ideal in others and the products are expensive.
Nutritional information on Voom Nutrition
There’s plenty of easy-to-understand nutritional information printed on each of the bar packets, so you know what you’re getting including the high caffeine warning associated with a couple of the products.
Voom POWr bars review
The Voom POWr bars I received had some let’s say interesting flavour combinations on their packaging, lots of Beetroot accompanied by other fruits and vegetables such as raspberry and the perennial ginger which always adds a nice bit of heat. They’re mainly made up of organic oats and coconut oil to provide the base with the afore mentioned flavours added, these are badged up on the recyclable wrapper as being for a boost during your training or event, so something to munch on while in my case pedalling away.
The winner in my book was the beetroot, rhubarb, and ginger bar as it was the only one that didn’t tase mainly of beetroot. The texture was good, initially moist and easy to digest, but a drink was required to
wash down the little oatey bits, which handily came in the form of the Hydrate Smart Formula in Lemon & Lime flavour, claiming to be a full spectrum hypotonic drink – which I had to look up on the internet as John Barnes never explained this in the 90’s – it mixed up easily in the supplied bottle and tasted nice, which is as much as you can ask for a sports drink.
Voom Pocket Rocket Bars Review
The VOOM Pocket Rocket bars, which are either electro(lite), caffeine or beta fuel based, with the latter two having a high caffeine content and the usual warning attached. According to the packaging these are advised to be taken either before or during your event or training to provide a boost, much in the same way as a traditional gel, but this time delivered in a slightly chalky almost Kendal Mint Cake type texture which is a tad awkward to swallow without a bit of fluid to wash it down and fiddly if you riding along as you can’t try and eat them like a normal gel there’s more involved so not great for racing, the flavours however are lovely and all have a little refreshing taste to them.
Voom Protein Bar Review
Lastly, we had a bar of the Voom Protein bar for that important after workout snack to aid recovery and help repair those (over)worked muscles. This one had no advertised flavour, but the ingredients showed coconut oil and that was the predominant taste, like the Pocket Rocket bars the texture was slightly chalky, but its not so much of an issue for a post workout snack when you’d invariably have a drink to hand anyway.
Alternatives to Voom Nutrition
I normally use Science in Sport or Torq products and I’m totally used to the flavours, textures and ease of consumption on the bike comparatively the Voom bars are very distinct in their flavour, especially the heavy reliance on the sometimes-overpowering use of beetroot. The Voom nutrition products are also tricker to consume while pedalling, especially the Pocket Rocket bars as they’re just not as easy to use as the traditional gel for when you want that hit mid race.
Pros & Cons
The fact that the products are vegan based will appeal to a wide audience as will the fact that they are made in the UK so these are both plus points even though I’m not a vegan myself. The packaging is all also recyclable and environmentally friendly, but this is somewhat off-set by the normal plastic bottle.
For me the flavours are too heavily beetroot based and this takes away from the POWr bars, as other than that they are as good as anything else out there.
Would I recommend Voom Nutrition?
I don’t think I’d be convinced to swap from my usual nutrition as it’s just easier to use while
training and racing with any form of intensity, for more gentle rides the Voom products score
well in terms of providing you with what you’d need, but at £2.75 per bar they are on the
more premium side of things.
