Recovery drinks

chopper1

Does anyone recommend a good recovery/protein drink?
At the mo, i am using PowerBar Protein plus, but am unsure to whether it is making a good/beneficial improvement in my recovery, rather than just eating high protein foods.
Would anyone say SIS or Torq etc recovery drinks are worth trying?

Not Another Hill

I've just started using SIS REGO recovery protein drink and finds it does make a difference after a particularly long/hard ride: leg muscles recover more quickly and able to go out next day without that nagging ache from previous days efforts. You need to drink within 20 mins of finishing ride to get best benefits then you need to eat within the hour (carbs).

cacbyname

SIS REGO is a good recovery drink, tastes ok if a little chalky and as NAH says, you feel better the next day for having it.

I recently bought a heavily discounted Torq recovery drink, Chocolate and Orange flavour - similar in the recovery stakes but the taste is absolutely rank. Avoid like the plague IMO.

chopper1

Yeah, i know about the torq, the bars are great, but not too keen on the drink (even though the club i'm in is sponsored by them, oops) I'll give the sis rego a try.

bikeparts

not sure about drinks. but maxis do a gopod range of recovery bars - i tend to buy a months supply at a time nowadays!

Toasty

Normal chocolate milk is supposed to work very well too! Contains much the same stuff in just about the right quantities (unless you carry dumbells everywhere you go).

Matteeboy

Slightly diluted Lucozade Sport does me fine.

Amos

Another vote for REGO here.

Langers

I have tried most recover shakes and found CNP Pro Recover to be about the best one. Chocolate is my fav.

dennisn

While sports drinks, bars, and gels have their place in the scheme of things, my advice to
you would be "eat real food" whenever you can and leave the rest for when you can't.
Most of these things are not much better, if at all, than a regular candy bar. Just loaded
with sugar, maybe a bit of protein and not much else. Of course the "Ad-men" would have you believe that you can't possibly ride without these things, but that's another
subject that I won't get into.

Dennis Noward

Langers

Not sure I know of many candy bars that contain 25g of protein, 50g of carbs, <1g saturated fat and things like antioxidants and vitamins!

FSR_XC

Milk

or if you really feel the need to use a 'recovery' drink:

Mars Refuel or For Goodness Shake

Langers

Milk is better than nothing, however its protein content is low and slow absorbing. Also contains fat, so skimmed would be better.

JasonRwmb

I use this http://www.myprotein.co.uk/formulas/our ... covery-xs/ after long rides.

Like any sports drink or food, it is really hard to tell if it makes a difference. The one thing I notice is I am much less likely to pig out on junk foods once I have drunk a pint of recovery drink.

Dazzza

During the ride today i gave zym tablets a try, they aren't a carb drink, they're just designed to replace what your body loses during exercise, i have to admit they worked great for me i find sis too sweet and too much of an aftertaste if you dilute it down.

For recovery, i just eat normally, try to mix it up with steady carbs and protien nothing too heavy, a handful of peanuts goes down very well.

ride_whenever

More exercise you big sissy!

More seriously, i like the lucozade hydro for post training, but i've never found i need anything for protein, even when in full training, i can get everything i need from a decent diet that i've tailored for my activities.

Toasty

No harm in having some there though, your body just pees out any excess protein. As for the fat thing, fat is really important when cycling anyway, I certainly wouldn't make a real effort to avoid the 1-2% fat you get from a milk drink.

For Goodness Shakes get my vote too (I used a carb+protein shake last year and got the same results)

Pretty much all the whey protein drinks are the same stuff anyway, aside from the taste I'd ignore the branding on them. Just as anything with carbs in will show off about having maltodextrin in (maize/potato starch :roll: ).

320DMsport

I use Rego too and i quite like the taste, but i'd be interested in a cheaper option?

I read that drinking milk straight after exercise isn't so good as the body's temp is enough to curdle the milk in your stomach amd may upset it.....so mens health mag said but who knows.

What would be the diff in eating a bowl of porridge which has carbs and protein after riding than say rego providing your at home and able t make the porridge.

Also i noticed riding with SIS PSP22 i was getting a upset stomach so went back to water, didn't notice much diff in energy levels but stomach felt better.

Is it worth just using lucozade sport and the odd snicker bar??

beanston1975

On the recommendation of a friend I tried some Squeezy Gels - and they were absolutely the 2nd worst thing I have ever tasted (after anchovies).

The same friend recommended nuun tablets, and they are brilliant, and my local shop has them at half price just now so I'm stocking up!