The BLK BOX Stinger Bar is ideal for anyone who wants to compete at the highest levels of the CrossFit Games, as it has the same high-quality spec and weighs 15.86kg. Non-GMO— Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, present a huge list of concerns that we aren't going to get involved with here; we suggest you Google it if you don't have an opinion yet. Many people and countries believe that GMOs present threats to not only nutrition but the natural world as well, which is why they are banned in many countries, While it isn't the single biggest preference for us when it comes to healthy ingredients, it certainly makes the list. A winter day out at the crag, enjoying a tasty bar in the sun between attempts on the sport climbing project. Skratch Labs is a Boulder, CO, based company that makes food products specifically for athletes. We like the Skratch Labs Bar because of the great texture — they are both crunchy and nutty while perfectly broken up by chunks of real fruit, such as cherries. The bar tastes exactly what the ingredients look like, but it also tastes like real food. We like that these bars come in both sweet and savory flavor options because sweet bars can get old after awhile, and especially toward the end of a long effort, all we really crave is salt.

The BLK BOX Stinger Bar is a high-performance yet compact piece of weightlifting equipment. At 1.77m in length, the barbell is ideal for home gyms or commercial facilities with limited space. Designed with 1.2mm diamond knurl marks for both weightlifting and powerlifting grips, the Stinger Bar offers users an excellent gripping surface without any uncomfortable sharpness. This makes it better suited to high volume sets as it’s less likely to tear the hands. The bar is also crafted with hardened chrome sleeves, which each contain two needle bearings for a comprehensive smooth spin. Whole, Unprocessed Ingredients— Eating natural foods is simply better for you, and we prefer bars that feature these foods over processed alternatives. Shorter than a standard barbell, the BLK BOX Stinger Bar is perfect for facilities with limited space. It’s designed with 1.2mm diamond knurl marks, making it suitable for both weightlifting and powerlifting, while two needle bearings per sleeve offer a smooth spin. It is ideal for anyone who is training to compete at the highest levels of CrossFit with the same high-quality spec as the barbells used in events like Wodapolooza.Health is an inextricable ingredient in living the outdoor lifestyle. Participating in outdoor sports not only makes you healthier but being healthier makes outdoor sports easier and more fun. We all know that nutrition plays a critical role in living a healthy life, and this simple fact should be even more obvious when it comes to what we are eating while playing outdoors. For that reason, we decided to rate each bar based upon how healthy the ingredients contained within it are. Don't get us wrong; simply defining what is a healthy ingredient versus what is not is surely nearly impossible. There are countless dieting trends, fads, facts, and alternative facts, that proponents will argue make more sense when it comes to nutrition. So we tried to keep this simple, rating products based on the following criteria, which we dream of seeing in all energy bars (and all food, for that matter!). How an individual bar fits into your specific diet is up to you. The most unpleasant stereotype about protein bars usually proves to be true — that their texture is that of raw powder. We find this powdery texture mildly off-putting at best and downright gag-inducing at worst, so we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the KIND Protein Bar is actually a protein bar. There is not a hint of that powdery texture when chewing it, and most of our blind taste testers found its very crunchy, nutty composition aided by a dark chocolate coating on one side (we tested the Dark Chocolate Nut flavor) to be among the very best of all those we tested. We appreciate their salty finish, which appeals to more of our palate than just the sugar zone. With 250 calories per serving, it is also one of the most calorically dense bars you can buy and can be bought for almost the same price as a grocery store granola bar, offering fantastic value. We took a peek at the ingredients list of all the bars we tested and rated them for the above qualities. Those with whole, natural, and organic ingredients, have little to no added sugars, and are non-GMO scored the highest. Kate's Real Food met every one of these criteria, deserving our applause. Another top scorer is Taos Bakes, and surprisingly Honey Stinger Waffles, which do have a lot of sugar but are natural, organic, and non-GMO. Power Crunch Protein Bars were the most heavily processed and non-natural of all the bars that we featured above (many other even more heavily processed and unnatural choices were tested but not worthy of our recommendation), while products made by Skratch Labs were also sadly non-organic nor very natural. Energy Bar Alternatives