The wait is over, our Fitness Friday contributor Mark Beier has finally launched his own line of nutrient-dense performance bars appropriately called—MARK BAR. Whether you are professional athlete competing at the highest level, or a weekend warrior looking to improve your performance, MARK BARs provide you with the fuel you need to perform at your best with ingredients you can trust. One of our favorites being quinoa—YU know how we love our quinoa around here.
Let’s be honest, many whole food energy bars taste like mud. MARK BARs taste like muffins and cookies in bar form—it’s true.
Want to win a sample pack of flavors including Blueberry Almond, Honey Almond, Peanut Butter Chocolate and Cinnamon Raisin Almond? Comment below to be entered in our MARK BAR Giveaway.
Want them right now? If you are in Chicago you can go to any of these locations. Non-Chicagoans can buy online.
More about MARK BAR and the man behind them:
Mark is a classically trained chef and has spent a lot of time creating recipes that are both healthy and delicious. For MARK BAR, he spent several months perfecting the combination of slow and fast digesting carbs, protein and fat to help fuel workouts. MARK BAR is ideal pre-workout food, which is just as important as what you eat or drink post-workout. Most people work out on an empty stomach because they don’t want the calories or they don’t want to feel full. However, a small amount of food in the form of a snack about 1 hour prior to a workout will help the body use those calories to get more out of that workout and help to repair the muscle tissue that has been broken down during the workout.
If you plan on working out for an hour or more, it’s especially important to make sure you have a snack that gives your body the fuel it needs to power your workout. A snack that contains some high glycemic carbs (like honey and dates) and low glycemic carbohydrates (like rolled oats and quinoa), healthy fats (like nuts) and lean protein (like quinoa) is ideal. All digest at slow but varying rates, so you have more staying power during your workout.
Why quinoa?
It’s high in protein and includes all nine essential amino acids, making it a complete plant-based protein. Quinoa contains a significant amount of the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair. It is an excellent source of fiber, iron, phosphorus and magnesium.
WIN A SAMPLE PACK OF MARK BARs—We will pick one winner at random on March 4, 2012.
Just tell us below what flavors you’d like to see added to the MARK BAR line and/or how you think we could help get MARK BAR into school vending machines. It would be fantastic to see them as an option instead of the lab-made frankenfoods, eh?
Check out:
The MARK BAR website: learn more about the bars, the mission and buy some
Take on Mark’s workouts in our Fitness Fridays Video Series
Follow Mark on Twitter
Like MARK BAR on Facebook
CONGRATS TO OUR WINNER KRISTY! Thanks to everyone for your incredible suggestions and participation.
Comment Rules: We´re pretty confident that everyone who visits YumUniverse is cool. So let´s be just that — cool. Critical is fine, but let´s make it constructive, friends. If you're rude, we'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your personal name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. You have to option to link your name to your site, so, have fun and thanks for adding to the YumUniverse!
43 Comments to “TGIFF Giveaway: Contributor Mark Beier Launches His Own Pre-Workout Bars”
I am dying to try these! They look delicious and I love that they are full of healthy whole foods!
I would love to try MARK bars! I think it’s a wonderful idea—to get these into schools.
As for flavors to add, I’m a big fan of coconut… I love just a hint of the flavor in nutrition bars.
There’s also the idea of a doing a combo bar that contains raw (sprouted) pumpkin seeds. Most of the foods I eat before a workout are raw in nature…sprouted seeds + fresh fruit. But if MARK could be part of my daily routine, that would be great!
Regards,
Alicia
@AliciaGetsFit
@RUNspiration
those bars look great! would love to try them!
I would love to see a MARK BAR with a lemon flavor!
These look amazing! I have dreams about bars like this. Maybe a chocolate coconut flavor would be a good addition for those who like chocolate but have peanut allergies. Getting these into school vending? Probably the biggest barrier is the cost. Perhaps you could cut the price for schools. I wouldn’t mind paying a little more for mine if I knew it was so they could be offered in schools.
i’d love chocolate walnut
YUM!!! Those sound delicious!
whoops- initially missed the part about the suggestions! Anyway, as for something to add to the MARK BAR line—perhaps something green? Like, a bar with spirulina or chlorella? thanks!
these look amazing! i’ve been looking for a good pre workout bar and these look awesome! the cinnamon raisin almond one looks delicious but i would also like to see something with cranberries perhaps!
great idea getting them in school vending machines.
A cranberry chocolate would be tasty or a carrot cake like flavor
Can’t wait to try these!
I am a huge fan of cranberry and orange together. Maybe with some pecans or pistachios as well. Yummy!
Cranberry & Orange
Chocolate & Cherry
Chocolate & Orange
Match Green Tea
Spiced Chai
Macademia & Coconut
Apricot & Almond
Triple Berry
Maple & Pecan
Nutz! (combo of many)
Hemp, Chia & Flax Seeds
I’d like to see a straight peanut butter one without the chocolate chips, an almond butter one, a green food one, kids would probably like a strawberry one, and I’d like one with flax.
I don’t know how to get them into school vending machines, but I think it’s a great idea, and when you do it, don’t forget about college gym vending machines! I pass them every day and they’re full of not-nutritional items.
I look forward to trying these!
Congrats on your bars.
Would love a Chocolate Espresso flavor bar as well as a Lemon bar and Blueberry bar.
These look awesome! would love to win them
How about Coconut-Chocolate?!!!
You’re a GeNiUS, Mark!
I hope I win!
I would LOVE to win some of these to try. They sound delicious! I am myself a fitness trainer and teach people who to eat healthy, and how to stay healthy on the go. If I try and like these, I will certainly recommend them to my boot camp participants.
My partner will go nuts over the peanut butter and chocolate! And I love that these have quinoa in them. I think fig and raspberry or cashew and cocao nibs would both be delicious flavors. As for getting these into schools, I’d suggest trying charter or private schools first because the regulations there might be less wacky. You could also try after-school centers like the YWCA/YMCA. With typical public schools, I’d approach PTAs and make a call to the BOE to see what the regulations are. A good PE teacher might be willing to listen to you and help persuade her/his school. Offering to donate product at first never hurts. Good luck!
looks great! Is it possible for you to send me a nutrition breakdown – I didnt see that on your website – thanks!!! also – are any of the ingredients organic? Lastly – how about a sample pack on the website to order and try? Thanks for a great product!
These look great. Something with cherries would catch my attention.
They look great! Throw them in your bag for an easy,healthy snack! Would love to try them! Congrats on your new venture!
These look really good. Another interesting flavor combination is banana cardamom!
Yum! How about peanut butter raisin?
Would love to surprise my husband with these:)
would be a great ending to my morning workouts
I would love to try these! I think a whole foods pre-workout bar is a great idea. I’m in Chicago next month and will definitely track these down if I don’t win
As for flavors, I like a lot of the ones listed. Here are a few I’d buy:
Coconut & Chocolate
Coconut & Mango
Chocolate & Pecan
Chocolate & Cherry
Cherry & Almond
Raisin & Sunflower seeds
Wow – these look awesome!! I’m always looking for a snack bar that isn’t a million calories, and these look like they’d fit the bill! As for flavors, I love anything with coconut, banana, raisins, or almonds. A tropical bar with coconut, raisin, pineapple would be amazing! Thanks for the chance to win some and try them out!!
These look excellent – how about Chili pepper chocolate or chocolate cherry?! YUM!
Spiced Chai
Carrot Cake
Blueberry Vanilla
can’t wait to try them all
I love anything with coconut!! How about coconut apricot? Yum
hmm, anything coconut would be great….maybe coconut lemon – yum!
I would love to try this mark bar..Looks really delicious..thanks for sharing this with us..
I’d love to try these! Thanks!
I would love to try these as a pre-yoga breakfast to get through my ashtanga class!
Delicious! I would love a carrot cake or pumpkin + chocolate flavor.
How about a cranberry macadamia nut flavor?! I work in the school districts, and I agree, the things they offer our children as a snack is frightening! I know schools are trying to stay away from food items that list sugar at the first ingredient so focusing on the natural ingredients of the Mark Bar would be a great start.
goji berry! sunflower, pumpkin seed, cranberry. Are the oats gluten free? Maybe even make a bar without oats too with millet/quinoa. would love to try mark bars, hope they arrive in stores.. machines soon!
Very Berry.
Massive mailing list to the dietary depart, sports director dept.
Local newspapers, and local TV news stations.
Start local and and PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, God will do the rest…..:-)
I would love to try out Mark’s bar. I’ve been looking for a great pre workout bar! I would love to see some tropical flavors maybe a blend of mango and coconut with walnuts or even pineapple-coconut. Yum-yum!!
Oh man these look yummy!
I think a sesame seaweed bar would be amazing! pumpkin & coconut! goji & spirulina! I am not sure that you would be able to have these in vending machines maybe more so at the snack bar or lunch line. They would be a good item at sports vending areas as well. Starting with the proper demographics and possibly taking samples and educating the students and faculty both about the nutrients in the bars at a pep rally. Make it exciting! Best of luck I would have purchased them as a child
I would love to see a cranberry version, yummy!
Subscribe to followup comments via RSS | Trackback URL