It’s so easy to make a sports drink to increase performance without spending money on the artificial rubbish out there but you need to know the recipe and exact amounts otherwise you could harm (rather than help) your performance.

Firstly, you need to decide what you want your sports drink to do. This will depend on intensity, duration and environmental conditions, for example, if you’re going for a half an hour jog around the block, there’s little use in a sports drink and just plain old water will do the job. If you’re thrashing it out in the boxing ring though and sweating buckets, especially if you’re exercising for longer than 60 minutes, you’re going to need a bit of a booster so you don’t just collapse for the rest of the day. I know, it’s happened to me before!

So, here it is. An easy breakdown on how to select your home-made drink. The drinks are split into 3 categories: Hypotonic, Isotonic and Hypertonic.

 Hypotonic drinks

Hypo or “low” means that these drinks contain low levels of dissolved substances. They are designed for quick fluid absorption, rather than to provide energy. They can be drunk before, during and after exercise. They typically contain 2-3 grams of carbohydrate per 100ml i.e. 2-3%

Recipe: 250 ml fruit juice , 750 ml water, 1g-1.5g (pinch) salt

Isotonic drinks

Iso or “the same as” means that the concentration in these drinks is the same as in the body, giving fast fluid absorption and a top-up of carbohydrate fuel. They can be drunk before, during and after exercise. They typically contain 5-8 grams of carbohydrate per 100 ml, i.e. 5-8%

Recipe: 500 ml fruit juice, 500 ml water, 1g-1.5g (pinch) salt

Hypertonic drinks

Hyper or “high” means that the drinks contain a high concentration of dissolved substances. They are designed to provide carbohydrate for repletion of glycogen stores, i.e. for energy rather than to provide water for hydration. These drinks should only be taken after exercise as they can lead to dehydration and could cause stomach upsets. These drinks usually contain more than 10 grams of carbohydrate per 100 ml i.e. more than 10% carbohydrate solution.

Recipe: 1 litre fruit juice,  1g-1.5g (pinch) salt

Commercial brands will use varying combinations of glucose, sucrose and fructose to make it’s solubility level high i.e. how quickly you absorb it, but in the interest of keeping things natural as always, I opt for fresh fruit juice without hesitation. 

In each recipe be sure to use rock  salt, not table salt which is destructive to the body. The salt encourages faster and better hydration. An excellent choice of fruit juice is pomegranate juice which has a high level of naturally occuring antioxidants that help neutralise free radicals – the harmful molecules (that you create loads of in training) which cause cell and tissue damage.