It’s been about a month since I signed up for the FRS Healthy Energy Drink introductory program and have been writing about my experiences with this Quercetin-fueled elixir.  What interested me in this energy drink is that Quercetin is an ingredient that has shown some promise in early research and possibly can provide energy in a low-calorie package.

UPDATE: I wrote this log in real time so in reality it has been over three months since I started my FRS Energy Drink experiment. As of June 1, 2010 I am still using FRS and pay for the drink concentrate and chews with my own money every month.

I started using FRS Healthy Energy Drink back in early February and a couple of weeks ago my wife started using it, too.  Where I had a bit of an issue with the taste of the low-calorie orange flavor – sweetened with Sucralose – my wife says she doesn’t think FRS has a bad taste or aftertaste.  What I will say is that I do not have as much of an issue with the taste now that I’ve been using the energy drink for about a month.

I have used FRS before every workout I have done since February 9 and have found that under a wide-variety of circumstances, moods and workouts my energy levels have been sufficient to get me through the sessions.  As I’ve written before, I have used a variety of traditional and non-traditional foods and drinks to give me an energy boost for my workouts; Gatorade, Snickers, granola, food bars, carbohydrate gels and nuts.  I found that FRS worked as well, or better, than any of these items.

There are a couple of issues to consider with regard to my feelings that FRS was effective.  There is always the possibility that the Placebo Effect could be responsible for my feeling that FRS worked.  However, I have also used other products, some of which did and some which didn’t work.  So in my unscientific, anecdotal experience I feel that FRS did make a difference in my workouts.  Another factor to consider is that since I was taking FRS with the express purpose of writing a product review I paid more attention to how I felt and maintained a strict schedule and didn’t miss a dose.

The FRS Healthy Energy Drink is a viable option for people who are looking for a pre-workout energy boost without the calories and jitters that can come from using other brands of energy drinks.  After using the drink for a month, I recommend signing up for the FRS Energy Drink trial offer.

I signed up for the FRS Healthy Energy Drink free trial program a few weeks ago and have been writing about my experiences with this Quercetin-fueled elixir.  Quercetin is an ingredient that has shown some promise in legit research, providing energy in a low-calorie package.

I have been training pretty hard over the past several months and have been planning to back off a bit so as to avoid the dreaded overtraining syndrome that I have written about in the past.  One of the most common problem fitness enthusiasts can experience is the overtraining syndrome that occurs and an otherwise healthy person starts to experience a wide-range of negative, physical symptoms simply because they are doing too much exercise.

So I hit the gym the other day ready to take it easy.  I was having a bit of a low-energy day, and was thrilled I had a planned a reduced-intensity and volume workout as part of my weekly routine.  Nevertheless, I dosed up with FRS Healthy Energy Drink 20 minutes before the workout, mixing 2-ounces of concentrate with 6-ounces of water and some ice chips.

My workout started with a progressive running drill warm-up that includes some flexibility and takes approximately 20 minutes.  This was only the second time I had done this routine in several months – as I take 2 or 3 months off from sprinting, running, agility drills during the winter to give my body a rest – but felt really good despite what I thought was a low-energy day.

Throughout the time I’ve been using the Quercetin-fueled FRS Healthy Energy Drink, I have not felt a jolt of energy like you feel when you have a caffeine-based energy drink; I have felt energetic even on days when I did not feel 100%.

After my running drill workout I did a variety of one-handed, dumbbell explosive lifts – jump shrug, jump high pull, hang clean, snatch – and some kettlebell work and my energy level was high.  As a matter of fact, I had to fight the urge to do more than I had planned.  All-in-all, it was a brisk, constructive 70-minute workout that ended with me feeling better than when I started.

It’s been a little more than 2 weeks since I took my first taste of FRS Energy Drink and I will say that – so far – I have been pleasantly surprised with the results.  I have used several different kinds of substances for energy that I’ve taken before and during workouts – Snickers, Pop Tarts, carbohydrate gel, Gatorade, other energy drinks, granola bars – and feel that FRS with Quercetin offers similar benefits.

If you’ve been training long enough – and hard enough – there are going to be times when, for a variety of reasons, you will need a boost.  And, so far, I think that FRS Healthy Energy Drink offers a viable option to those folks who are thinking of making an energy drink a part of their regular supplementation routine, and am glad that I signed up for FRS free trial.

My Quercetin Experiment continues and it has two weeks since I signed up for the FRS Healthy Energy Drink trial offer.  Quercetin is an ingredient that has shown some promise in legit research in providing energy in a low-calorie package.   I will chronicle my experiences with the drink and post the details here on a regular basis (see part 1 and part 2 of my log).

I will tell you about my experiences and impressions of FRS Energy Drink and if I don’t like it, I will tell you.  And if I do like it I’ll let you know, as well.

Last weekend I put FRS through the paces.  I had been using it for a regular basis for a week and headed to the gym for a rigorous workout that consisted of “The Deck of Cards Workout,” which I’ve written about on the site, followed by a 20-minute swim.

I drank my 8-ounce FRS before my workout and mixed another batch to take with me to drink after I completed the Deck of Cards, before I jumped in the pool.  As I’ve mentioned, the FRS trial package includes a 2-ounce mixing cup and thermos that can hold about 12-ounces of liquid, along with a 32-ounce bottle of concentrate in a low-cal orange flavor. The recommended mix is 6-ounces of water with 2-ounces of concentrate, and I like to add a few ounces of ice chips to make it colder and help it taste better.  As I’ve mentioned, the Sucralose-flavored FRS doesn’t taste great and has a bit of an aftertaste, as well.  But if FRS Healthy Energy lives up to its billing, the taste won’t be much of a problem.

So back to my workout.  For a warm-up I jumped rope for 15-minutes and ran through a quick dynamic flexibility routine.

The Deck of Cards workout consist of doing body-weight squats (black cards) and push-ups (red cards) with the flip of the cards – after a good shuffle – determining the order and repetitions for the exercises.  For the number cards, do the number on the card (duh!), for the Jack do 11 reps, Queen 12 reps, King 13 reps, Ace 15 reps and Joker is 20 reps.  It’s over 240 reps of each exercise and is a challenge for people of all fitness levels.

I had not done this workout in about a year so it took a more time than usual – 30-minutes – and was a challenge.  But I will say I did feel energetic – was it the FRS or am I just in good shape? – that’s the problem with knowing how these drinks work.  But I was beat after my cool down and had second thoughts about jumping in the pool as I sat down in front of my locker as I started to change.  Fortunately, I had my FRS Energy Drink ready to go.  I had to make the effort to get into the pool, but once I was there I did feel my energy level pick up and was able to complete my 20-laps in the usual time.

The verdict is that I completed a pretty difficult workout that I had not done in a while, and despite feeling the effects of the workout, I had the energy to complete the workout in a manner consistent with my past performances.  While I did not feel an overt energy boost, I certainly was able to power through a workout that I did not feel I had the energy for.

Even though I am not in love with the taste, I think it’s worth continuing my experiment with the low-calorie orange FRS Healthy Energy Drink.  Check back to get my feedback as I continue my FRS Energy Drink trial.

If you want to try it for yourself, click here for the free trial.

A few weeks ago I signed up for the FRS Healthy Energy Drink free trial offer because the drink contains Quercetin, an ingredient that has shown some promise in legit research.   I will chronicle my experiences with the drink and post the details here on a regular basis.

I will tell you about my experiences and impressions of the product and if I don’t like it, I will tell you.  And if I do like it, I’ll let you know as well.

Last Thursday I drank my FRS before my workout and after I had cleaned up my driveway and walkway in the aftermath of a 15-inch blizzard.  I ate a good breakfast before I did my shoveling and snow blowing, but I don’t like filling up my belly before a workout, so I drank my 8-ounces and wondered if the Quercetin would be able to provide me with enough energy to get through my explosive exercise training routine.

As I mentioned in my first entry, FRS provides you with everything you need to make using the drink as easy as possible.  In the trial package I received 32-ounces of the FRS concentrate, a 2-ounce mixing cup and thermos that holds around 12-ounces.  They included a package of their energy chews as well, and I will tell you about them a little later.  Mixing up a batch is simple; pour 2-ounces of the concentrate into the mixing cup, add it to about 6-ounces of water in the thermos provided and shake it up.

I am still not in love with the way the orange flavored FRS energy drink tastes.  To me, it has a very distinctively artificial flavor that I’m assuming comes courtesy of the Sucralose.  There are some people who are virulently anti-Sucralose on the basis that it’s some kind of health threat, I’m anti-Sucralose strictly from a taste standpoint.

However, if the Quercetin-fortified FRS Energy Drink delivers on its promise of providing ample energy without the crash, I’ll probably get over my issues with taste.  FRS contains a fraction of the caffeine used in other energy drinks – the amount contained a third of a cup of coffee (35mgs) – which I guess is why I haven’t experienced a post-drink crash.

This was the first time that I drank FRS before a training-session, and while I didn’t feel any overt burst, I certainly had enough energy to successfully complete a 90-minute workout  that included a 15-minute warm up, three explosive lifts (dumbbell split jerks, one-arm swings and high pulls), pull-ups and 8, 60-yard shuttles completed in 13-seconds with 47-seconds of rest in between.  I supplemented the 8-ounces of FRS with 2 of their energy chews.  The chews are similar in taste and texture to a lemon-lime Starburst and did not have the same less-than-ideal taste of the liquid.

The big test will be the next time I hit the gym and perform both resistance-training and swimming in the same workout.  I plan on drinking the FRS before my workout and before I get into the pool.  Check back for my next installment.

If you want to try it yourself, click here for the free trial.

Quercetin is an antioxidant and one of the hot new nutritional supplements on the market today.  Touted as having a wide-range of benefits, it is the key ingredient in the new Lance Armstrong endorsed energy drink, called FRS.

There’s a lot of hype surrounding Quercetin.  According to the FRS website, Quercetin is a powerful antioxidant, “that been shown in clinical studies to deliver sustained energy, help promote improved fitness and support overall health.”

In fact, there have been only a handful of Quercetin studies that used human subjects and there is not a clear understanding of how it works or if it can improve exercise performance. There is a reason to believe that Quercetin acts in a way similar to caffeine and delays fatigue. Certainly this substance has given researchers a reason to conduct further studies, but at this point Quercetin is not a slam dunk.

FRS energy drink has gotten a lot of attention thanks to its arrangement with Lance Armstrong. And if you visit the FRS website and click on the “Science of Quercetin” link you will be given a little info and a video featuring Dr. Mark Davis, a researcher involved with a pro-Quercetin study.  You can do a search for Quercetin research on the website for the “International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.” Davis was involved with the study titled, “The Dietary Flavenoid Quercetin Increases VO2 Max and Endurance Capacity,” that found Quercetin improved endurance without exercise training after only a 7-day period, in untrained individuals.

In my opinion, at this point in time there isn’t enough data to conclude that Quercetin is a panacea or can provide more, or “better,” energy than any of the currently available, cheaper products that are on the market.

FRS energy drink has positioned itself as the “healthy energy” alternative to other energy drinks that utilize sugar and stimulants like caffeine and its relatives as their main ingredient.

If you are in the market for an energy drink FRS Healthy Energy drink is worth trying.  get a free trial and make your own decision.  I have signed up for the FRS free trial and will see for myself if FRS energy drink delivers on its promises.  Even though I do not use an energy drink I have signed up for the FRS free trial and will see for myself if FRS energy drink delivers on its promises.

UPDATE: Read my FRS test log entry to see how my first experience with FRS went.