Custom blend

A custom blend in sports nutrition is a do-it-yourself mixture of carbohydrate and electrolyte ingredients designed to create a sports drink tailored to an individual’s needs. Athletes combine different powders or concentrates to achieve a specific ratio of energy, sodium and other minerals.

Explanation

Manufactured sports drinks are formulated to work well for a broad range of athletes, but sweat rates, sodium losses and carbohydrate tolerance vary widely. Creating a custom blend allows you to adjust the drink’s composition to your requirements. For energy, athletes might choose a mixture of glucose, maltodextrin and fructose to maximize carbohydrate absorption via multiple transporters in the gut. Adjusting the proportion of simple and complex sugars can influence sweetness and gastric emptying. Electrolyte powders or salt capsules provide sodium, potassium and magnesium to match individual sweat losses. Some athletes add amino acids, caffeine or bicarbonate, though these additions should be used with care. When making a custom blend, it’s important to consider the final osmolarity and flavour: high concentrations can slow digestion or taste overly sweet. Measuring ingredients accurately and dissolving them thoroughly ensures consistent composition. Many endurance athletes experiment during training to find the combination that supports performance without causing stomach upset.

Building your own drink

A simple custom blend could start with 40–60 grams of carbohydrate powder per litre of water, adding more or less depending on exercise intensity. Sodium content might range from 500 to 1,000 milligrams per litre for heavy sweaters, while smaller individuals or cool conditions may require less. Flavour can be adjusted by adding natural fruit powders or a small amount of a flavour system designed for sports drinks. For athletes who prefer lower sweetness, using glucose polymers such as maltodextrin or cluster dextrin provides energy with minimal taste. It’s helpful to test different recipes in training to see how your stomach and taste buds respond. Always keep track of the dilution ratio and stay within safe intake limits for both carbohydrates and electrolytes.

Developing a custom blend can help athletes fine-tune their hydration and fueling strategy when off-the-shelf drinks don’t meet their needs. It requires careful measurement and experimentation to ensure that the final product is effective, palatable and safe for use during exercise.

Related Terms: Dilution ratio, Split dosing, On‑course fluids, Sodium loading, Hydration pack