If you run a lot or bike a lot, you know that the high carb era is here. And that means you get to revisit your childhood and consume copious amounts of sugar to fuel your recovery needs.
The issue is, off the shelf fueling options are expensive as hell. Your average Gu Energy Gel is about $2 USD, and gives you ~22 grams of carbs. The latest literature suggests 60-90 grams of carbs an hour of cardio is ideal for most athletes.
Let’s say I run 6 days a week. And 2 of those days are super easy recovery runs and I decide not to consume carbs. On my two workouts, I’d aim for ~120 grams. On my Saturday long run, maybe 270 grams. And for my Sunday run another 120 grams. That’s 630 grams a week. Just over 2,500 grams a month.
At 11 grams/$1, that’s $227 a month in fueling by using Gu Energy Gels! Crazy.
Comparing fueling options by cost
I put together a spreadsheet that compares a variety of different carb fueling options: from gels, to whole foods, to chews and drink mixes.
Check it out here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hpiG52YG6CpFUtjneh8MRj_pSfBYSMqUWz97VzXPYVg/edit?usp=sharing
Making your own gels
I think making your own gels, gummy bears, and maple syrup all offer some of the best bang for your buck. See below for my recipe for gels I started using in 2021.
Ingredients
- Maltodextrin mix
- Fructose mix
- Table salt
- Water
- Optional: flavoring like lime juice, vanilla extract, etc.
Tools
- Measuring cup
- Protein shaker
- Hydrapak 150ml soft flask
Steps
- Put 80g malto mix (roughly 2/3 of a cup) and 40g fructose mix (roughly 1/5 of a cup) into your protein shaker.
- This is a 2:1 ratio. I’ve seen others using 1:0.8 ratios as well
- Add a dash of salt (or more depending on your preference and heat and sweat needs)
- Add an flavoring
- Heat up 1/2 cup of water in the microwave or kettle and pour into the shaker.
- Shake that puppy up and poor into your flask
- …and you’re done! This creates roughly 150ml of gel with 120 grams of carbs.
- Sometimes you have to play around with consistency a bit. More/less water or malto/fructose mix to get it just right. I usually throw mine in the refrigerator and use them the next day. You’ll find that they thicken a bit as they cool down.
Cost Saving
The end result from me is reducing my monthly cost by using Gu gels from $227/month down to $32 by making my own gels!
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