Upon walking around school recently in the past few months, many students have probably noticed the new colorful beverage bottles that are offered during lunch. Many question what makes this drink better than other sports drinks such as Gatorade or Powerade. The new drink on the market is called BodyArmor.

Michael Repole and Lance Collins created BodyArmor in June 2011. Collins and Repole have been competitors in the industry for the last two decades. Collins created and sold his drinks Fuze and NOS to Coca-Cola for $250 million in 2007. While Repole co-founded Vitaminwater and Smartwater, which sold to Coca-Cola for $4.1 billion in 2007. Now the two have teamed up to form the new sports drink, BodyArmor.

BodyArmor has arrived at Cherry Hill East this year, and has been a huge hit among the students.

“Ever since we got [BodyArmor] a few months ago it has been flying off the shelves,” said Ms. Dawn Ingrassia, a woman who works at the school snack-cart.

The drink is loaded with 300mg of potassium while Gatorade only has 45mg. Potassium is good for athletes because it is needed to help muscles contract, to build protein, and to provide electrolytes for energy.

“The reason to drink an energy drink after [your workout] is for the potassium and electrolytes which you lose during a workout; it helps replenish,” Scott Hatch, the athletic trainer for Cherry Hill East, said.

BodyArmor is not only for athletes. It is an energizing drink for anybody during the school day.

“This is going to be a product for people who work hard on the field and work hard off the field,” Repole said in an interview with Forbes. “There are athletes that play games and there are athletes that play the sport of life. We all need nutrients in our beverages.”

Since students have to wake up earlier for school this year, they are often more tired throughout the day. BodyArmor gives the total of 18 carbohydrates, with ten-percent coconut water, which is filled with electrolytes, giving students more than enough energy to get through a school day.

“The drink fills me up [and] gives me energy for school,” Jamie Park (‘17) said.

Along with its great nutritional values, the drink has a great taste in an assortment of flavors with more flavors constantly being added. It comes in fruit punch, tropical punch, strawberry banana, mixed berry, grape, and orange mango. Every student is sure to have a flavor that suits his or her taste buds.

“The taste is magnificent. My favorite is the new mango,” Megan O’Rourke (‘17) said.
The difference between BodyArmor and other competitors is that BodyArmor offers less sodium in their drinks and more natural flavor. A serving of Gatorade is filled with 160mg of sodium, while BodyArmor is filled with 15mg of sodium.

Many professional athletes are also getting on board with BodyArmor such as James Harden, Kevin Love and Kobe Bryant of the NBA; Mike Trout and Buster Posey of the MLB; and Andrew Luck, Lesean McCoy and Rob Gronkowski of the NFL.

Bryant had also invested in the company, making him the company’s third largest shareholder behind the founders.

So next time that you are falling asleep first period and are stressed out because you still have two tests and an essay to write, stop by the snack cart for a nutritional, energizing, and most importantly tasty drink.