best value recovery drink

maryka

So to sum up this thread:

1. simplest cheap option: Nesquik + fresh milk = ~40p per 300 calorie/500mL serving
- convenient for buying ingredients
- less convenient if refrigeration needed

2. less simple cheap option: make your own malto/dextrose + whey protein + water = ~40p per 300 calorie/500mL serving
- convenient as powders can be mixed in large quantities with just water needed
- more hassle in mixing and measuring ingredients

3. simple expensive option: buy Zipvit, SiS, or any other commercial mix + water = ~£1 per serving
- convenient to buy though generally only stocked by specialty shops or online
- expensive!

Sounds like 1 or 2 beat out 3 by a country mile unless you're either sponsored or independently wealthy.

Frankly when it comes to recovery drinks, I would not buy into the hype that sports nutrition companies are selling. Recovery is extremely important, but all your body needs is protein and carbs, possibly with some electrolytes to replace deficiencies after hard training. Unless you've got an extremely sensitive stomach, any whey protein/milk and carb mix will do, whether you use malto which has higher osmolality and is less sweet, or straight glucose/fructose/dextrose like that found in Nesquik.

If you've got money to spend on commercially-produced specialty sports nutrition, save it for your during-event needs, especially on the long and/or intense stuff. After about 5-6 hours in the saddle, I notice a marked decline in my body's interest in taking in calories, so I've always got tried and true stomach-friendly nutrition on hand. For me, that means quality gels, electrolyte tablets, and lactate bufferers. At 100 miles, that's what's going to make the difference between a strong finish and a bonk and to me that's money well-spent.

SBezza

My current batch of Rego 69.5p per serving, not exactly expensive is it, plus it is more conveinient. You do not need to be rich, in fact I am happy as I was paying £1.58 a time for For Goodness Shakes.

The ZipVit offer will be even cheaper than my Rego, probably about the same as option 1 & 2 and a damn sight more convienient. They are more expensive generally, but not what I would call expensive in the grand scheme of things.

Milk is good, there is no doubt about that, but try drinking it after a day in a possibly hot car sat in a car park whilst you done a sportive, TT or road race.

Milk is fine if after a ride you get home, but for some of us that do events and then get a recovery drink in a car park or village hall, a dedicated recovery product is a worthwhile choice, it doesn't go off in a hot car, and the price difference is not worth worrying about. Each has it place shall we say, for me a dedicated product is the better choice.

maryka

SBezza wrote:

My current batch of Rego 69.5p per serving, not exactly expensive is it

I said a 300 calorie serving of Nesquik/milk or home mix was 40p. Correct me if I'm wrong, but according to their website, a 300 calorie serving of ReGo is 100g of powder. Tesco sells 1.6kg of it for £23, so a comparable serving would cost £1.40. That's double your 69.5p and 3.5 times as much as the other options for the same number of calories.

The thread is called "best value recovery drink" and I think we can all agree that ReGo or any of the commercial mixes is not the answer.

Drink ReGo all you want, just stop trying to convince everyone that it's the cheapest or best value when it clearly isn't.

SBezza

I haven't said it is the cheapest method of recovery, I haven't even said it is the best value. The OP asked about Rego and ZipVit asking which was best, I have given an answer based on this, he actually asked if ZipVit was the best value for performance, it is other people mention milk based products.

I think a dedicated recovery product is the best solution, it isn't the cheapest, but performs the best. I would rather get better performance, than save a few pence each time.

I was basing my costs on 500ml of recovery product, as recommended by SiS themselves, so that is a 50g serving, compared with 500ml of a milk based solution, not calories consumed.

I have said each to there own, I am not trying to convince everyone it is the cheapest option, I know it isn't. People can make there own mind up on that.

robthehungrymonkey

I've got a question to those who know what they're talking about...

My main reason for cycling at the moment is to get my weight down. After a ride at the moment, I have a pint of milk, 2 teaspoons of sugar with a bannana whizzed into it.

It helps make me feel a bit better pretty much immediately. Now the question is what could I do to improve that? That's simple, cheap and keep the mile and bannanas, but also keeps to the weight loss program (i.e. not just piling calories into it).

My legs feel pretty dead after a ride yesterday!

maryka

robthehungrymonkey wrote:

I've got a question to those who know what they're talking about...

I'm certainly no expert but have done quite a bit of reading about it and experimenting with my own diet over the years.

robthehungrymonkey wrote:

My main reason for cycling at the moment is to get my weight down. After a ride at the moment, I have a pint of milk, 2 teaspoons of sugar with a bannana whizzed into it.
It helps make me feel a bit better pretty much immediately. Now the question is what could I do to improve that? That's simple, cheap and keep the mile and bannanas, but also keeps to the weight loss program (i.e. not just piling calories into it).

My legs feel pretty dead after a ride yesterday!

If anything, you may be eating too little after a hard ride, which is why your legs probably feel dead a day later.

The generally accepted wisdom of recovery and dieting for athletes these days is to get in a good number of calories within 20-30 min of exercise (your milk, sugar and banana), then to eat a full meal with lots of carbs and adequate protein within the next 90-120 minutes after that. This time period is a window of "high glycogen synthase", i.e., your freshly-depleted muscles are primed during that period to replenish themselves. So take advantage of that to get the full recovery effects.

Once the 2-hour window is up, you should take care to cut back on high-density carbs like bread, pasta, sugar, etc. and instead eat fruit and vegetables with moderate protein and some good fats. Unless you're training many hours a day for several days in a row, watching what you eat in the "post-recovery" hours is the way to lose weight. Skimping on recovery nutrition in the first 2 hours will only give you tired and unrecovered legs, which means your next training session will be lower quality.

See the Paleo Diet for Athletes for a better understanding of this.

Poulsy

Go to www.myprotein.co.uk and buy maltodextrin and whey in bulk. Saves you £££ over things like Rego.

You can obviously use the maltodextrin as your energy drinks too. Add low salt & salt to make it isotonic and fruit squash to taste.

robthehungrymonkey

Many thanks Maryka

Bhima

Yes, I think the calories binged on after a ride go straight to your muscles to replace glycogen stores - and many many times quicker than usual.

The reason you put on weight usually is because the energy is not needed, so it's stored as bodyweight. After a ride, you need it, so not eating enough is not really an intelligent way of keeping the weight down. :? There are much more effective ways.

robthehungrymonkey

Bhima wrote:

Yes, I think the calories binged on after a ride go straight to your muscles to replace glycogen stores - and many many times quicker than usual.

The reason you put on weight usually is because the energy is not needed, so it's stored as bodyweight. After a ride, you need it, so not eating enough is not really an intelligent way of keeping the weight down. :? There are much more effective ways.

I'm not talking about starving myself (my username might be an indication of my eating habits!), and I did have a roast later! I'm not being extreme by any means with dieting, and have pretty much just kept to my normal diet, just cut out a lot of drinking and the leaving out the bad extra stuff. I was just intrigued, as i'm not looking for ultimate performance, just enough to keep my legs working...