Earlier this month, I spent a couple days at the fitness expo held inside the Arnold Sports Festival, the largest multi-sport event in the world. (For reference, the 2024 Arnold Sports Festival saw nearly double the number of competitors that participated in the 2024 Olympics.) And just to save you some googling, yes, the “Arnold” in question is Arnold Schwarzenegger. He founded the event.
On the show floor, I tried dozens of protein bars, pre-workout mixes, and energy drinks so I could bring back the very best for coverage here on Sporked. You’ll see more pieces from my Arnold experience in the coming weeks, but let’s start by running down the best hydration, energy, and protein drinks I tried on the show floor.
BUM Energy Dr Bum
Without question, this was the best energy drink I tried all weekend. BUM Energy is a unique line of modern energy drinks, with just 112 milligrams of caffeine per 12oz can. I’ve enjoyed many of their previous flavors, but this new “pepper soda” flavor leaves them all behind. This might actually be a better zero-sugar Dr Pepper than Dr Pepper Zero Sugar.
GHOST Hydration Orange Squeeze V2
GHOST recently announced a revamp of their hydration line, promising a “lighter, more chuggable” taste. They delivered; I absolutely chugged this super-refreshing drink after a long day of kissing hands and shaking babies at the expo. I did manage to get sample bottles of all four new Hydration flavors at the GHOST booth, including fan-favorite flavors Welch’s Grape and Strawbango. Let me know in the comments if you want to see a full review.
VALR Nitrogen-Infused Energy
I’ll be reviewing the full lineup of flavors from VALR in-depth later this month, but this new line of nitrogen-infused energy drinks definitely warrants a mention here, for innovation’s sake. (I’d mention my favorite flavor by name, but it won’t be announced publicly for a few more weeks. I’m not trying to steal VALR’s thunder on that reveal.) If the loss of Nitro Pepsi left a hole in your heart (or if you’re just a Guinness fan), keep your eyes right here on Sporked to learn more about this brand new energy drink line.
Bucked Up Lightly Carbonated Protein Drink
Full disclosure, I’m not actually sure whether there’s any caffeine in these protein-stacked drinks. These were being sampled ahead of an early access sale on TikTok Shop, so there’s no nutritional information available on their site just yet. That said, I really enjoyed the Banana Pineapple flavor I got to try on the show floor. And speaking of protein…
Core Nutritionals x Transformers Vanilla Honey Graham
I tried sticking to ready-to-drink products for this list, but this sample tasted so good that it warrants a format-breaking mention. Hell, this protein powder tastes so good that I bought myself a tub. I’ve never bought protein powder before. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do with it, but I’ve mixed myself a few shakers’ worth already just because it tastes like Golden Grahams cereal milk. Plus, every tub comes with one of 32 die-cast mini Transformers figures; they definitely know their audience.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!