Frequently Asked Questions

Well, it all started with Jenny and Jeff Vierling, endurance athletes in Colorado doing what some folks call “crazy long events” like the Leadville 100, Paris-Brest-Paris, RAAM qualifiers, etc. The first couple of hours always seemed to go well, but 4-6 hours into a race or weekend adventure, their stomachs would revolt, their legs would cramp up, and they’’d get what they call the “gag reflex” because drinks were too sweet to keep on drinking. So Jeff sat down, did a ton of research, formulated a drink, ran it by some gastroenterologists, started using it for himself, and before they knew it they were burning out their Kitchenaid food mixer making it for friends. Fast forward a couple of years later and here we are! –

Tailwind gives your body what it needs – complete energy, electrolytes, and hydration in a simple drink with clean, light flavours.

Tailwind is designed to maximise absorption of fuel, water, and electrolytes while being easy on the digestive system. Mixing with water, Tailwind’s glucose/sucrose fuel takes advantage of how our bodies absorb fuel to maximise intake of calories.

Once in the bloodstream, Tailwind’s glucose fuel directly powers muscles, sparing precious glycogen stores and allowing you to go longer and at higher intensities without ‘bonking’. Tailwind’s electrolyte profile mimics what you’re sweating out, so you don’t have to take separate electrolyte pills to make up for what’s not in your drink.

You’ve probably reached the point about an hour into your exercise where you feel like you have nothing left in the tank – and that’s basically true!

Your body stores energy in the form of glycogen (sugar) and has enough to get you through about an hour of exercise. Once it runs out, your blood sugar plummets and you bonk hard. To avoid the crash, you need to put sugar back into your bloodstream.

Our products contain simple sugars (dextrose and sucrose) as our primary ingredients. Simple sugars go straight into your bloodstream to replenish glycogen stores and prevent you from crashing or having an upset stomach during or after exercise.

Many exercise fuel and recovery products contain maltodextrin, a long chain of glucose molecules, which need to be broken down into individual glucose molecules before being absorbed by the small intestine. This takes longer than you would expect and causes GI distress for a lot of athletes. Your body runs on glucose so that’s what Tailwind provides.

Nope. Tailwind is free of wheat, gluten, soy and dairy. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Fuel according to time and not distance! What’s important to understand is that even though you may be burning 500+ calories/hour, your body physiologically can only process 200-300 calories per hour. So, in general, we recommend starting off with 200-300 calories/24oz (c.700ml) of water/hour for 2+ hour workouts, and 100-200 calories/24oz (c.700ml) of water/hour for activities less than 2 hours. Listen to your body. If you are feeling hungry dial up the amount of calories, if feeling overly satiated/full, dial it back. The right amount may also vary based on the conditions (think temperature and humidity) and length and your intensity (how long, how hard, how far). When it’s hotter than your usual training temperature, keep the same calorie rate per hour, but increase water to thirst.

Tailwind mixes totally clear because it doesn’t contain any artificial flavouring, colouring or preservatives. It’s 100% natural. To tell the difference, give it the “sniff test”.

Tailwind is a fine powder which you should mix with water and then sip little and often.  A general rule to start with is 2 servings per hour (or 1 stickpack) mixed in 500-750ml of water or however much fluid you will usually consume in an hour.  You can then experiment with strengths, for example I use 2 servings in 750ml when training but on race day I’ll use the stronger mix of 2 servings in 500ml as I don’t take as much fluid in.  On a hot day I’ll also drink plain water to satisfy thirst but keep to the guideline of 2 servings (200 calories) per hour.

Yes, absolutely! Caffeine-free Tailwind products are safe for all ages to use.

The caloric needs of children during exercise can be different than adults depending on age. Feel free to ease off our Endurance Fuel recommendation of 200-300 calories per hour ratio. Please note that Tailwind does contain simple sugars. It’s important to understand that your body works differently when exercising than when sitting on the couch. Here’s a blog post with more detail: https://tailwindnutrition.blog/2019/04/17/sugar/.

Caffeinated Endurance Fuel flavours: Matcha, Cola, Tropical, Raspberry. Endurance Fuel caffeine content: 35mg/scoop, 70mg/single-serving pack. *We do not recommend consuming caffeinated Endurance Fuel for more than 6 consecutive hours at our recommended serving size

Caffeinated Recovery Mix flavours: Coffee. Recovery Mix caffeine content: 40mg/scoop, 80mg/single-serving pack.

Tailwind Endurance Fuel can be pre-mixed up to 3 days prior to use and will remain fresh for a few days if kept in the fridge. Unmixed, sealed product has a shelf life of 3 years for Endurance Fuel and 2 years for Recovery Drink.

Dextrose (Glucose), Sucrose, Sodium Citrate, Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Organic Flavour, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Citrate and the caffeinated Raspberry Buzz, Tropical Buzz, Matcha and Colorado Cola contain anhydrous caffeine.

A standard scoop, which is included in the 30 and 50 serving multipacks is 27g or 35cc, which equates to .95oz or 2.4 tablespoons. Each scoop is 100 calories. The Stickpacks contain 2 servings which are to 2 scoops .

2 scoops or 1 stickpack contains 606mg of sodium which is equivalent sodium content to 1.5 S-caps, 4 Metasalt caps or 2.75 Salt Stick  capsules

Sodium Citrate delays the production of lactic acid in your muscles which helps to keep the muscle cramps at bay.

Tailwind has a shelf life of about 2 years. Once added to water, a. good rule of thumb is to treat it like juice. After mixing, it’s best to drink it within a day (even if it’s warm it tastes pretty good). If mixed and then kept in the fridge it will stay good for about a week. You will know when you have let it hang around in your bottle too long, it will smell a little bit funky and you’ll think you have started a science experiment.

A number of customers have reported they are consuming more volume of liquid than they are used to. Because Tailwind does not taste as sweet as some of the other sports nutrition brands, it is easier to consume greater volumes and because simple sugars are used, your stomach is happier to take more thereby increasing calorie intake.

Most definitely, please follow this link for more information: https://tailwindnutrition.com/blogs/tw/fueling-for-a-triathlon?_pos=1&_sid=2f3f83727&_ss=r

Eat a substantial breakfast 2+ hours before your event with carbs, fat, and some protein.
Sip Tailwind before the start to top off glycogen stores and electrolyte levels. Pre-load with up to a full bottle if drinking during your event will be hard.
Sip regularly during the event and keep your hourly calorie target in mind.
Tailwind is excellent to rebuild glycogen stores during the critical window for recovery immediately post-exercise.
After rebuilding glycogen stores, have a nice meal with protein for faster recovery.

Work on time and not distance. work on 200 calories of intake per hour, ie.for a road marathon, and you are aiming at a 4 hour race to avoid, having to mix mid-race mix 4 stickpacks or 8 scoops in a 500ml bottle and mix with a little water to form a concentrate.

This is a very strong mix – take a mouthful of before each water station and then wash down with water to meet thirst.

Here are some helpful tips for YOUR race day fueling strategy. #GoTailwind

*Use pre-measured baggies. This way, when you get to an aid station, you just dump the bag in your water bottle and fill with water. You want to pay close attention to your caloric intake/hour so try to stay as close to the “x amount of calories”/hour that you’ve dialed in during your training.

*Run with a small bottle with Tailwind mixed up as a syrup. When you get to your aid station, just squirt the amount in that you’ll need. So, if you are filling water bottles or a hydration pack at the aid station, you’ll want to just put in “x” mls of your syrup into your bottle/hydration pack and then fill with water.

*Finally, run Tailwind as a gel. Caleb Masland, a coach, uses this approach along with his Team Wicked Bonkproof members. The key thing to remember is that if you are running Tailwind at a higher concentration, then you need to keep up on your water intake. As a datapoint, each 100 calorie gel requires about 350 ml of water to digest it. If you don’t keep up the water, you run the risk of dehydration since your GI system will literally suck water from your body to digest those calories. This can lead to stomach ills and why so many people run into problems with gels.

Step 1: Ignore the Package Directions. For a race situation, you want to carry as little as possible. Once you have determined how much fuel you need (based on experimentation during long runs of various intensity), you want to get that into the smallest package possible. I need about 500 calories for a marathon, and if I were to follow the directions on the package, I would need to carry 2 big handheld bottles. Instead, I mix the solution much stronger, and put 500 calories into 2 x 175 ml plastic flasks, which I can carry with my Salomon Sense Hydro S-Lab Gloves.

Step 2: Switch to a “Little Sips, More Often” Intake Approach. I promise that you will find it easier on your stomach to use this approach, but you need to get used to doing it. During a marathon, I take a little sip right after hitting the lap button for each mile. Then, I supplement with water on course since I mixed the solution stronger than package directions. The biggest risk with this approach is getting behind on caloric intake, so you need a system to follow. — with Caleb Masland.

Tailwind Nutrition South Africa will send a confirmation of order automatically once an order is received. As soon as payment is received a notification will be sent stating that the order is being processed. A further email notication detailing tracking information will be sent as soon as the order is despatched.

We endeavour to process all orders on the same day that payment is received, however, please allow 1-2 working days for order processing, and then 2-4 working days for delivery to national centre’s. Outlying/remote areas may require 4-8 working days delivery lead time.