Money-saving training hacks?

Unfortunately unable to ship to U.S. and looks like out of stock there also. Any other options people may know about?

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Sadly, all my extended searches show with no stock. Might be that it was a limited run and is essentially unavailable now unless you find a used copy.

Powdered gatorade with powdered bulk maltodextrin mixed in for fuel in a bottle.

Powdered lemon/lime gatorade with vanilla ice cream flavored whey protein mixed in is REALLY delicious for a recovery drink :+1:

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When I get home I want real food for recovery! If I am thirsty I might have a sugary drink for some of the carbs but I really need a nice roll stuffed with cheese, mayo, ham etc… Luckily I can often get my wife to be the roll fairy while I am out riding, if she isn’t riding/running herself that is.

DIY electrolyte drink when training indoors, especially during summer in a hot garage. I could easily spend $1/workout on NUUN or similar tablets, more if I wanted something with sugar. I do my own for about 5-10c/serving. Working on getting a good mix with maltodextrine and fructose. Flavoring is by far the hardest part of this.
Gummy bears or Trader Joe’s Swedish swimmers for glucose based sugary food.

Plain lime juice works for me. Just add a squirt to the unflavoured pre made mix in the bottle. The fructose makes it plenty sweet enough.

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Graham Obree did all his training fueled by jam sandwiches, he did ok :smiley:

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I’ll try that. I’ve also been looking for a way to add flavour, without too much additional sweetness, to my cheap mixture of bulk fructose and maltodextrin.

Seems this way. I remember looking for it earlier this year on Amazon UK, but only the Dutch version was available.

The Cycling Chef might make for a pretty good substitute – there are recipes in the back of the book for foods that have been mentioned already

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Here’s a hack for you all…

Cliff blocks cost a fortune £2.95 for 6 if bought individually…buy a block a raw jelly. It’s the exact same thing and costs around 50p!!!

(Sorry @Pete)

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I use dates for training and racing. Last year I only ate dates during the run potion of a half ironman. :grinning: I also just used pure maple syrup (between 3-5 tablespoons) and a dash of salt in my water bottles for the bike. Not sure if it’s cheaper, but I like the taste better than sports drinks.

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Maltodextrin is a pretty cheap alternative to using gels

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This thread opened my eyes to how much I’ve been spending per workout. For those folks who have been making their own cocktails, would you be willing to share the volume ratios?

I’m thinking the Gatorade powder, maltodextrin, fructose powder, and perhaps a tad bit of flavor.

Thoughts?

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Ride my mtb to work 3 times per week : saves gas $$ so more money for bike stuff and I can practice my dirt skillz :slight_smile:

I find the home branded muesli and choc bars are not only the cheapest, but also highest in carbs! Win Win. White box at Woolworths I think.

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Gatorade powder along with maltodextrin and fructose and flavour? Or do you mean to replace the Gatorade powder?

I don’t bother with mixing maltodextrin/glucose and fructose together just for training. I’ve been interested in buying fructose powder to mix the two for proper events, but not needed for a training session.

Maltodextrin is flavorless. You can tell it’s there when you compare it to plain water but not if you’re not thinking about it. Apparently maltodextrin is one of the easiest and fastest absorbing carbs. I’ve read that you can use 150g per 500ml of water before it goes above the osmotic pressure that isotonics have (or whatever its called) meaning it’s easy on the gut. I usually do roughly 60g in a bottle filled two thirds the way. Not really any point in any more than that over a one hour session.

Also I think it should be said to remember to rinse with plain water after sipping on these drinks. Absolute worst thing for oral hygiene.

There is some existing discussion about mixing drinks in this thread.

And this one too.

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For those of you mixing up your own energy drinks, last I looked maltodextrin was stupid expensive on Amazon. Give your local home brewing supply store some love, I usually pick up 2 lbs for about $3.50 Just don’t blame me if you pick up a home brewing habit while your there! =)

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This would be much cheaper than fixing the AC in my car :sweat_smile:

Is this true?