Sport drink recipes

Every once in a while I get asked about what I put in my water bottles. Well the answer depends. If I am doing rides of less than 2 hours the answer will usually be water, just plain water.

Water is one of those amazing liquids, it expands as it freezes becoming less dense. That’s why ice cubes float! It is also one of the most easily absorbed drinks in the human body.

For rides longer than that some sort of electrolyte replacement is necessary. Electrolytes keep the muscles functioning smoothly and prevent cramping. Of course with so many sport drinks on the market and how expensive some of them are it is hard to find the right one.

Back in the day, my drink of choice was flat Coca-Cola. That’s right Coke with all the fizz gone. It had plenty of sodium and sugar. It really works. But it is messy and sticky when spilt. There are also better things you can drink that won’t also eat the enamel off your teeth.

I actually gave up a few years back trying to find a drink I liked and started looking at what was really in them to see if I could come up with a cheaper alternative. So with the help of the Internet I found a few recipes for making your own sport drinks. I present them here:

Basic Sports Drink

• 1 quart (32 oz) or 1 liter water
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• Flavoring to taste – orange juice, lemon juice, etc. Keep refrigerated.

20-Oz. Sports Bottle’s Worth of Sports Drink

• 3 tablespoons table sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• Flavoring to taste – orange juice, lemon juice, unsweetened Kool-Aid or Wyler’s drink mix, etc. Suggest trying 2-3 tablespoons of juice or 1/3 packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid.
• Fill halfway with water, mix well.
• Top off with water. Keep refrigerated.

Sugar free Sports Drink

• 1 cup (8 oz) water (not carbonated)
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• small pinch of salt
• Flavoring and sweetener to taste, Crystal Light Drink Mix, Unsweetened Kool Aid (with sugar substitute to taste), Sugar-free Flavored Syrups such as Da Vinci or Torino”

A little more effective would be to substitute the table salt for something like Morton’s Lite Salt. It doesn’t have as much sodium but has some other added minerals like Potassium. If you are using Lite Salt then just double the amount suggested in the recipe.

There are a few things that I change including the use of Lite Salt as mentioned above. I also do not use sugar, instead opting for the sugar free recipe. This is because I also use gels and solid foods to augment the sports drink and I also do not want to ingest any more refined sugar than I need to. If you are planning on getting all your caloric needs from liquid then make sure you use the recommended amount of sugar.

The most important thing when it comes to hydration is to drink plenty and drink often, no matter what your preferred drink is. You need to drink 4-6 ounces of water for every 15-20 minutes of exercise. That can add up to a lot of water!