The original PowerBar was created by an Olympic marathoner to provide an easily digestible source of energy to help improve athletic performance. Since 1986, PowerBar has been in the business of sports nutrition for high performance athletes.

Here's a look at energy-how to get it, how to keep it and how the PowerBar® Performance bar's optimal blend of ideal ingredients provides the lasting energy your body demands for the long haul.

Learn the truth about your energy bar. With all the energy bars on the market, it's hard to know sometimes which ingredients really matter. What are the right blends of macronutrients? Should your bar be high protein? Low carb? Can you really tell the difference in which bar you use when it comes to training, or on race day?

According to top coaches like Chris Carmichael, coach of four-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, diets high in carbohydrates, moderate in protein and low in fat actually do help improve performance. So the right bar with the right blend really can help on race day, and in training. Because of their perfect blend of high carbs, moderate protein, essential vitamins and minerals and low fat-and because PowerBar® Performance bars are so digestible they can even be consumed right before a race-PowerBar® Performance bars are the only bars Chris Carmichael recommends.

Want high performance energy? Load up on carbs. Performance athletes have long known an essential truth about energy: carbs are the body's best source of fuel. Better than protein, better than fat, carbs efficiently supply the energy performance athletes need-in training or on race day. Scientific studies have shown that eating carbohydrates before exercise actually improves performance.

During light to moderate exercise, the body relies primarily on fat for energy. But during intense exercise, the body turns to glycogen-and lots of it-to keep up a steady energy supply. Pedal up that hill or train for that marathon and you're going to use your glycogen stores. And the answer to replenishing glycogen supply lies in carbs.

Carbs are so important for energy during performance and after for re-filling depleted glycogen stores, endurance athletes actually need 60-70% of their daily calorie intake while training or on race day to come from carbs. That's why the PowerBar® Performance bar, the original energy bar, has the highest percentage of total calories from carbohydrates of any leading performance energy bar.

Get energized with vitamins and fight free radicals too. If carbs are essential for fuel, vitamins and minerals have their own vital place in sports nutrition. To convert food into energy, your body needs B-vitamins. It also uses antioxidants like C & E to help fight free radicals those potentially harmful by-products of normal body metabolism and exercise. The mineral calcium helps support strong bones while magnesium also helps produce energy.

PowerBar® Performance is the only leading performance energy bar with 100% of the Daily Value for eight B-vitamins and also contains 100% of the Daily Value for vitamins C & E. Plus the bars provide 230 mg of electrolytes to help maintain hydration. All told, PowerBar® Performance bars are among the most fortified energy bars on the market.

Add some protein for muscle development and repair. An adequate supply of protein is essential for the body to help repair, maintain and grow human tissues and muscles. The reason? Proteins are made up of and supply the body with amino acids. The body then uses these amino acids to build muscles, enzymes, hormones and even antibodies.

There's only so much protein the body can store and most of it is limited to muscle. If the body needs protein and hasn't gotten it from food, it will go straight to the body's own stores-from existing muscle tissues. Every time the body digs into its own protein stores, muscle tissue breaks down. Then you have to go back to work building them up again.

PowerBar® Performance bars contain high-quality milk protein, and offer a convenient source of the protein your body needs to help build and repair muscle tissue.

Make sure the bar's low-fat, digestible and versatile. When it's time to turn up the heat in competition or just power through your daily workout and you're looking for energy, the last thing you need is to get weighed down by your bar. What you do need is a bar that's easily digestible, low in fat and packed with energy.

That's where PowerBar® Performance bars come in. You can eat them on race day - before, during or after. They'll give you energy without wearing you down. Plus the bar won't break, crumble or melt, so whether you're in the heat of a triathlon or on the cold slopes of Park City, your PowerBar® Performance bar will be there for you, ready to provide the convenient energy you need.

PowerBar® Performance. The right energy for any challenge. With all nutrition - and especially sports energy nutrition - balance is everything. PowerBar® Performance was developed to achieve the perfect blend of high carbs, moderate protein and low fat, plus the vitamins and minerals you need to help protect cells from damaging free radicals and maintain energy production. It's the bar trusted by world class athletes for everyday training and the demands of competition, so you know PowerBar® Performance delivers top sports nutrition.