Gatorade sponsored “G” Series Week at Redwood, providing winter athletes free pre-workout and post-workout snacks during the week of Jan. 11-15.

Due to Redwood’s large purchase of Gatorade products within the athletic department, it qualified to take part in the “G” week, which included a 10-minute nutrition overview by a Gatorade representative, followed by the delivery of free snack samples to athletes.

“G” Week was an overall success, according to athletic trainer Americ Alvarado. Many students tried the samples and learned more about how to properly fuel their body while training, he said.

“Whether the students use the Gatorade [products] in the future or not, at least they now know more about what to eat before and after a workout,” Alvarado said. “Gatorade snacks are high in some ingredients like sugar, but it’s overall a good boost of energy for the athletes.”

Gatorade brought energy chews, power bars, protein shakes and energy drinks to fulfill the “Prime, Perform, Recover” slogan of the G Series that a Gatorade representative referenced when she gave a nutrition overview on Monday to the winter athletes.

According to sophomore JV basketball players Joe Spinrad and Michael Davey, it was very convenient to have snacks available.

“The pre-workout chews didn’t really improve my practicing, but I liked having something there for after the workout when we [were] tired,” Spinrad said.

Davey said that he wasn’t very picky about the different snacks and thought they all tasted good.

“If anything, the power bars tasted a lot like candy bars,” Davey said.

The purpose of the nutrition overview given by the Gatorade representative was to teach the athletes how to fuel their bodies while participating in sports. It was somewhat insightful for Spinrad and Davey.

“I only learned a little from the lesson, like not to have protein before working out,” Davey said.

According to Alvarado, the week’s supply of Gatorade snacks was like a “thank you package” to Redwood for buying so many products from the company.

Because the football, basketball, and cheer teams purchase enough Gatorade products, Redwood has been eligible to participate in recent years. This year, however, was the first year that Alvarado was aware of the possibility to participate in “G” Week.

Alvarado also said that Gatorade will continue to bring Redwood free products for a week in future years because the week was a success.  The students enjoyed having the snacks available and they were easily accessible on a table in the athletic training room.

Alvarado found out about the offer last August, but decided to try out “G” Week during winter because it would be most manageable given fewer sports teams. “In the fall, it would have been more complicated. I probably would have had to set up a table outside for the athletes to get the snacks.” Alvarado said.