Make your own sports drink

[bradistani]

Sports drinks are really easy to make - not to mention a lot cheaper than buying expensive bottles in shops.

All you need are a few ingredients and a little bit of imagination.

There are three main types of sports drinks; isotonic, hypertonic and hypotonic.

Each drink serves a different purpose depending on what type of training you are doing.


ISOTONIC DRINKS

They are designed to quickly replace the fluids which are lost by sweating. They also provide a boost of carbohydrates.

The body prefers to use glucose as its source of energy. Sometimes it is better to consume isotonic drinks where the carbohydrate source is a concentrated form of glucose.

They are commonly drunk by athletes, especially middle and long distance runners, but all professional sportspeople use them in their daily training regimes.

Drink one: Fruit Academy

You will need:

• 200ml ordinary fruit squash
• 800ml water
• A pinch of salt
• Mix them all together in a jug and cool down in fridge.

Drink two: Thirst Burst

You will need:

• 50-70g sugar
• One litre of warm water
• Pinch of salt
• 200ml of sugar free squash
• Mix, cool and drink

HYPERTONIC DRINKS

Hypertonic drinks are used to supplement your daily carbohydrate intake. They contain even higher levels of carbs than isotonic and hypotonic drinks.

The best time to drink them is after exercise as they help your body to top up on muscle glycogen stores. These are your valuable energy stores.

In very long distance events such as marathons, high levels of energy are required.

Hypertonic drinks can also be taken during exercise to meet the energy requirements.

However, it is advisable to only use them during exercise alongside isotonic drinks to replace fluids.

Make your own - You will need:

• 400ml of squash
• One litre of water
• Pinch of salt
• Mix, cool and drink

HYPOTONIC DRINKS

Hypotonic are designed to quickly replaces fluids lost through sweating. Unlike isotonic and hypertonic drinks they are low in carbohydrates.

They are very popular with athletes who need fluid without the boost of carbohydrate. Jockeys and gymnasts use them regularly.

The best time to drink them is after a tough exercise work out as hypotonic drinks directly target the main cause of fatigue in sport - dehydration - by replacing water and energy fast.

Make your own - You will need:

• 100ml of squash
• One litre of water
• Pinch of salt
• Mix, cool and drink

[makaveli25]

What the hell is squash

[wes]

salt
sugar
water
fruit flavor

$3.75 per 16 oz. 

[bradistani]

What the hell is squash

dilute pop

[wes]

dilute pop

what the hell is dilute pop.............damn britishers!  

j/k brad 

[bradistani]

what the hell is dilute pop.............damn britishers!  

j/k brad 

lol, i'm not sure what you call it ? orange (or fruit juice) you mix with water. cordial ?

[JAM]

I just mix water and juice.   

[bradistani]

apparently its not available in america

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squash_%28drink%29

[wes]

lol, i'm not sure what you call it ? orange (or fruit juice) you mix with water. cordial ?

In other words,these drinks are just snakeoil and can be made in large quantities very cheaply.

I never buy that type of stuff anymore,I just drink water.

[bradistani]

ok, here's a more american friendly recipe...

http://sportcrazy.net/cycling/pimp-my-sports-drinks-cheap-and-tasty-diy-solutions/

I remember reading about a DIY sports drink a couple of years back and it caught my interest because I was going through a lot of powdered Gatorade which is next to impossible to find in Ireland, or spending too much money on Lucozade Sport or equivalent sports energy drinks. Athletes drink a lot in training and I wanted to make my own sports drinks to save money and also because I can tailor the ingredients better to my needs.

If you don’t want the bother of making your own, this powdered drink seems pretty popular online.

The important ingredients of a sports drink are:

    water keep the body hydrated,
    salts to both
        aid in that hydration (salt makes the solution isotonic) and to
        replace some (but not all) of the lost salts from sweat, and
    carbohydrates (sugars) for energy.

It’s pretty easy to figure out a simple recipe if you want to make your own sports drink. Mess with the amounts to make it taste ok but don’t over do the sugar or salt:

    70% water
    30% orange juice
    small amount of sugar to your energy and taste needs
    pinch of salt (sodium is good, great if you can get some with potassium also)

That’s it. Simple, eh? Covers the basics, is dead cheap and tastes just fine. So that’s a bit basic, what else can you make?

One I’ve heard of cyclists using a lot years ago is flat coke, they shake it up to remove the gas which can interfere with digestion. I don’t know if they add salt but would make sense. This explains why a lot of pro-cyclists have bad teeth

Here’s another DIY energy drink recipe which I saw over at Yaniverse – (s)he calls “EnerT”. The ingredients for 1000ml:

    2 Tea Bags
    6 level teaspoon sugar (24 grams)
    A pinch of salt (0.5 grams)
    2 oz lemon juice (about 55 grams)
    30 oz boiling water

    I opted for tea as caffeine has a beneficial workout benefit, and tea provides a low-level caffeine, striking my personally preferred balanced between ‘waking’ and ‘wired’. Any level of sugars under 8% is acceptable, but I find Gatorade to be overly caloric for those of us trying to balance increased workout performance with weight loss/maintenance.

Good point on the caffeine, and the sugar content is interesting too, I didn’t realise Gatorade was so high in calories.

An alternative if you don’t want to make your own is powdered Ola loa sports drink.

[hrspwr]

I make my own electrolyte boost with water, honey, potassium and some baking soda.

[wes]

I make my own electrolyte boost with water, honey, potassium and some baking soda.

Saves a ton of money compared to shit like Gatorade or Power Ade......fuck high carb drinks too............pure shit IMO.

[Figo]

dilute pop

Juice concentrate

[bradistani]

In other words,these drinks are just snakeoil and can be made in large quantities very cheaply.

I never buy that type of stuff anymore,I just drink water.

well, no.. there's  legit science behind these drinks.. just that they're a fucking ripoff and far to expensive if you drink just a couple of bottles a day.

[JasonH]

Interesting stuff - I drink two to three litres of sugar-free squash/cordial every day as I prefer it to just plain water.

Question though - what's the deal with adding the pinch of salt - what does this do - just replace electrolytes lost through sweating?

[Kwon_2]

WHAT THE FUCK IS SQUASH DILUTE POPP?

Step to Me!

[wes]

Interesting stuff - I drink two to three litres of sugar-free squash/cordial every day as I prefer it to just plain water.

Question though - what's the deal with adding the pinch of salt - what does this do - just replace electrolytes lost through sweating?

Supposedly ,yes.

[dr.chimps]

WHAT THE FUCK IS SQUASH DILUTE POPP?

Step to Me!

It's a concentrate. The one my Da always has on hand is Rose's Lime Cordial. Put in like a 1/3 of a glass, then the rest water. When I was last in UK, I saw orange squash was still around. Kinda tastes like a flat pop.

[Jizzacked]

It's a concentrate. The one my Da always has on hand is Rose's Lime Cordial. Put in like a 1/3 of a glass, then the rest water. When I was last in UK, I saw orange squash was still around. Kinda tastes like a flat pop.

it seemed like everyone drank that orange squash shit when I was there.  shit is terrible... must be a cultural thing

[Marty Champions]

like the vegetable squash?

[JBGRAY]

I'm thinking its along the lines of those frozen canned juices?