About

Why this site exists

I built this because I was going through a lot of gels in HYROX and endurance training and wanted a clearer, cheaper way to compare commercial gels with DIY carb mixes.

The core question was never "what's the best gel?" — it was "what's the cheapest reliable way to hit my carbohydrate and sodium targets for this race or training block?" That's a maths question, so the answer is a calculator rather than another product roundup.

How the site works

• The calculator prices everything per gram of carbohydrate — the only fair way to compare a €1.10 supermarket gel, a €4 hydrogel and a homemade maltodextrin mix.
• The prompt generator hands the fast-moving part — current prices and availability in your country — to your own AI assistant, so nothing here goes stale.
• The guides stick to duration-based defaults and honest caveats, including telling HYROX athletes when the answer is "you don't need to buy anything".

The editorial stance

Practical, evidence-informed, cost-conscious. Commercial gels genuinely earn their place on race day; DIY mixes genuinely save money in training. Every formula on this site is a training-tested starting point— never medical advice, never a race-day experiment. No product pays to appear here.

50FiveStarGels is a sister site to50FiveStarHotels, under the 50FiveStar umbrella.