Hydrogel Technology
Introduction

Potential exists in everyone, but individual fueling needs can be complex and difficult to predict. To solve the real problems that limit your performance it’s important to be inquisitive and to ask questions that intentionally challenge the status quo. Without the right understanding of fueling, athletes can be held back by limitations.

Maurten Hydrogel Technology is designed to help mitigate GI discomfort and bypass the fueling limitations that prevent an athlete from achieving their potential. It is the innovation that enables high concentrations of carbohydrates to be more tolerable to athletes during high-intensity training and racing.

Fueling Principles

To sustain performance, endurance athletes require carbohydrates — the primary fuel source for the body during high-intensity exercise. Carbohydrates are broken down and absorbed in the digestive system, converted into glucose, and stored in muscles and the liver as glycogen — ready to be used when exercise load is applied to the body. The amount of glycogen the body can store is limited. As exercise intensity and duration increase the store of glycogen (fuel) will start to deplete. Eventually the store will start to run out and performance will quickly decline. It is possible to prolong performance by consuming additional carbohydrates during the session or race.

During exercise, blood is diverted away from the stomach to assist working muscles, slowing down the rate at which content of the stomach moves through to the intestines (gastric emptying). 

Digesting fuel now becomes challenging and athletes are at a greater risk of experiencing gastrointestinal discomfort, compromizing performance. Maurten sports fuels with Hydrogel Technology are developed to optimize the intake and absorption of carbohydrates during higher intensity activity.

Even when consuming additional carbohydrates, the body has a natural tendency to favor, and therefore continue to deplete, the readily available fuel that’s already stored in the body. Hydrogel Technology enables athletes to consume more carbohydrates repeatedly during exercise, with less risk of GI discomfort. This allows the body to utilize more of the ingested fuel.

Meet the Hydrogel
In detail

A hydrogel is a network of polymer chains that can hold a large amount of water while maintaining their structure. Maurten Hydrogel Technology uses alginate — extracted from seaweed — and pectin — found in fruit fibres — to create a unique protective structure. That’s why the gel is an actual gel, not a runny syrup. This structure is critical to the functionality of Maurten hydrogels in the gut. 

The 3D, semi-solid state of the hydrogel behaves a bit like a sponge, with lots of microscopic holes. The carbohydrate component fills these holes within the hydrogel.

This is the meaning of encapsulated.

Doing our own research

Questioning established models takes courage. Maurten is committed to advancing and helping athletes improve performance through research and testing.

Innovation by design

Introducing a new product is just the beginning. The Maurten Nutrition team collaborates with athletes in real-world settings to refine formulations and adapt to the evolving endurance landscape.

Athlete-first approach

Maurten's collaboration with top athletes gives them insight into the challenges athletes encounter. Their hands-on approach aims to unlock potential, impacting all levels of sport where proper fueling is essential.

Trust your gut

At the low pH of the stomach, Maurten hydrogels hold their structure, facilitating a smoother, more controlled transport of carbohydrates through the GI tract from the stomach to the small intestine. Once in the intestines, the hydrogel dissolves, releasing the carbohydrates to be absorbed as fuel for the training session or race.

Discomfort from fueling can be considered a significant performance limitation. The impact impairs race day performance as well as the effectiveness of training sessions. Maurten hydrogels are designed to help athletes overcome this. 

The Gel, Drink Mix, and Bicarb System are allowed to exit the stomach at a controlled rate that should not overload the intestines. The result is athletes can consume more carbohydrates during exercise, prolonging race performances or increasing the potential for training adaptations. In effect, bypassing the limitation.

Discomfort can stop you in your tracks. Ideally, you want to feel nothing. That’s the intention of Hydrogel Technology — to facilitate performance without interference.

Real-world testing

Science starts with the athletes. Without their insights, conversations, and honesty, science would have no purpose. The athletes always come first. To create solutions for the real problems that limit performance, you first need to understand the context and exposure of the people who are experiencing them. The lab starts at the track, at the finish line, in the gym, at the pool, in the races — that’s where limitations are discovered.

Each product in the Maurten ecosystem — whether tangible or intangible — is designed to help athletes bypass limitations that would otherwise restrict them from achieving their potential.

Hydrogel Technology is the innovation behind world champions, world records, gold medals and Grand Tours. Maurten fuels the fastest.

Fueling is an art

Blinkered by the status quo, it’s easy to overlook alternatives.

Daring to be bold and to challenge acceptance of established practice is the essence of innovation. Even in places where many feet have already walked, it's possible to find a new path — to do things differently and reveal new potential. 

Fueling is a progression from one-size-fits-all to the freedom of self-expression. From the template of a fuel guide to a strategy tailored to your own needs — practice, experiment, adapt. As your knowledge and experience expands, and you become more confident, you begin to harness the power of fueling on your terms — adding more nuance, complexity, and intricacy. Here you establish your own style. It’s when you attain your own fueling strategy. It’s when you master the art of fueling.