Recovery drinks and weight loss

beefcake2

Hello

Just a quick question with regard to recovery drinks etc. I am finding that after rides of about 20-25 miles I am aching like mad. I also have the same problems when doing a session at the gym. I am trying to lose weight but I am so sore that I might not train again for 3-4 days. I have just bought a SIS introductory pack to try something like rego to help with soreness/recovery. Should I be looking to use this though as I am trying to lose weight? Will it help with the post exercise munchies I seem to get as well?

I understand that to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume but a 100g serving of rego has more than 300 calories in it. Should I just accept the soreness as being inevitable and stop being such a wimp? :?

Cheers in advance

Beefcake2

guinea

Your aches are most likey to be caused by muscles getting used to riding. You just need to get on your bike more.

However, if you pain is due to the bike not fittingthen more riding will be more pain. Get someone whoe knows (LBS, mate) to check if the bike fits you properly.

Recovery drinks replace lost fluids/salts/sugars and won't really help your pain and will in slow down your weightloss.

SBezza

Recovery drinks are designed for quick muscle recovery between hard training sessions or races, for a general ride or weight session I don't think they are needed. They may help with DOMS, though if you have been inactive, I think it is more the fact that the muscles are just not used to the work.

Rego is ideal a 50g serving with 500ml of water, with an extra 50g if required. I only use 50g, and find it works very good, but I only use it, if I do a very hard training session, or after a race.

If you are worried about the calories, cut calories elsewhere in the diet, another alternative might be a pure protein product, it will help the muscles repair, and probably less calories.

One of the best things I found when having sore muscles, is to go for a shortish spin the next day, in a low gear, and just spin the legs, it helps me. The legs might be sore, but it shouldn't stop you doing stuff for 3 to 4 days.

beefcake2

The only reason I was thinking of trying them was the fact that I was so sore after my last gym session (cardio and weights) that I couldn't stand without pulling myself up something. I had a similar thing after my last ride (roughly 25 miles, reasonably hilly). I have just started to get back into cycling but I weigh around 18stone so there is quite a lot of weight to shift round. If a recovery drink would help with the soreness/aching to the level that I can get another session or ride in then surely that would be beneficial to me at the moment as I would be getting more bike fit and therefore able to increase distance etc.

I appreciate that my body will get used to the exercise again and that my problem is caused by being inactive for quite some time. I bought a couple of 50g sachets of rego on the way home tonight to try and see if it makes a difference. I am planning a 30m ride this weekend with 2000 ft of climbing. I know that some people may not think that is a lot of climbing but it is a good target for me. I think I may be able to do it if I am not feeling too bad after my next gym session on Friday.

joeyhalloran

How i see it is the energy burned while cycling needs to be replaced by a recovery drink (the optimal time to take in any calories is just after exercise) but then the continueing recovery carries on burning calories and maintaining bigger, stronger muscles uses more calories. Maybe it is best to think of it as the recovery drink putting back the calories burned while exercise, the weight lose is just to the continual recovery and the maintenance of the muscle you develope.

Rich158

JoeyHalloran wrote:

How i see it is the energy burned while cycling needs to be replaced by a recovery drink (the optimal time to take in any calories is just after exercise) but then the continueing recovery carries on burning calories and maintaining bigger, stronger muscles uses more calories. Maybe it is best to think of it as the recovery drink putting back the calories burned while exercise, the weight lose is just to the continual recovery and the maintenance of the muscle you develope.

Good advice. The way I see it is I have to fuel my riding and recovery, and there's a minimum amount of calories I need to put into my body to do this, in the right mix of proteins and carbs. I never try to reduce this and use my HRM as a general guide as to how much I need.

My body also needs a minimum of about 2000-2500 cals just to survive on a daily basis, and it's here that I try to reduce my intake in order to lose weight.

I think of my daily food as being split into two dinstict parts, the meals I'd normally eat without riding, and the additional food etc I need to consume to power my riding. The weight loss is slower but |I've found it be more sustainable over a long period of time

Aggieboy

Are you stretching after your ride/gym sessions? This will help relieve muscle stiffness.

robthehungrymonkey

I put a similiar question on another thread, as I am in a similiar position. My legs are still aching from a ride on Sunday! (I did kill myself with a poorly chosen route though, the longest i'd ever cycled and then 4 miles from home coming across the steepest hills known to man!!).

Here was the response...

maryka wrote:

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.

Coming from a very similiar position to you (but it sounds a little bit further down the road), i'd suggest you maybe doing a bit less cycling, but more often. Getting your legs used to it.

Another thing that probably helped me more than anything else was going on the excercise bike at the gym with minimal resistance, but keeping it above 90rpm for half an hour. I found this helped me develop a naturally higher cadence (RPM), which apart from being more efficient takes a lot of pressure off your legs.

Hope this helps.

joeyhalloran

A proper cool down is also incredibly important but sometimes overlooked.

beefcake2

Hi Guys

Thanks for the advice. I do stretch and cool down after any sessions or rides that I do. I tried 50g of Rego when I got in from the gym in 500ml of water. That stuff really fills you up! I ate something about an hour after that and this morning I have minimal aching!

I decided to go for 50g to try and keep the level of carbs down that I was consuming but it seems to have done the trick. I will not do anything again until Friday by which time I should be fully recovered.

As I want to get down to around 14.5 stone I think this could be the right way to go. As Rich158 posted, If it means my weight loss is slower but more sustainable that is going to be better for me in the long run.

Thanks for the advice!

Beefcake2

robthehungrymonkey

From my (very little) experience... keep the protein levels up too.

jonsikins

Hi,
There seems to be an increasing debate amongst sport nutritionalists over protein vs carbs for athletes. Cycling Weakly recently had an article suggesting that the professionals were moving over to high protein, lower carb diets and theres also a Bikeradar article on the subject from September:-
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/fitness/a ... ery--18650
I've recently started using a new isotonic drink from Herbalife called H30 Pro. I find it a lot more drinkable than SIS - a much pleasanter taste. I've now used it on several 90 mile plus training rides as well as their protein bars (quite similar to snicker bars in taste) and Formula 3 soy/whey protein powder for recovery. Its worth trying if you're not happy with other energy drinks. Also no dodgy aspartamine sweetener in it.

http://www.sport-nutrition-supplements.com

joeyhalloran

I try and keep away from the carbs until before, during and after exercise when they seem to be important. Protein will also help you feel fuller and so results in you wanting to eat more. Also drinking lots and eating 5 times a day instead of 3 help.

mgcycleguy

From my experience ( I lost 6 stone in 7 months, a few years ago and have not put any back on since, actually I've lost another half a stone)... you are not really training as an athlete, so my diet was simple, 1,500 calories a day... absoultly rigid application... No Cheats... excercise will not lose you weight really, what it does do is keep your metabolism going. If you reduce your calories your body will natually attempt to slow its engine to save fuel... you have to keep your foot on the pedal as such to stop your metabolism slowing. So your excercise only has to be moderate, maybe 30-40mins a day, but make sure its cardio to keep your metabolism going remember.

... the agony of the diet (and it is agony) is sticking to the 1,500 calories... but there are a few tips that worked for me... eat balanced.... eat loads of fruit and vegtables, eat slow release (porridge for instance) in the mornings, and try and reduce your bread to 1 or 2 slices a day max (bread is the devils food)... Count every calorie, you have to become obsessed with it, and NEVER cheat....

... its possible to do, I did it, I went from 18st10lbs to 12st 7... and kept it off still (almost 4 years on)

... One final thing, its worth it, life is 100 times better thinner dont beleive all the crap about being happy and heavy... its not true... Go For It... and Good luck

Klis

Beef, assuming you are from the UK, you should check out the latest episode of "Grow your own drugs" on BBC iPlayer.

He did a pretty cool natural pain reliever (Effectively a heat pad, but natural :P ) specifically designed to reduce muscle pains.

He tested it on Rugby players who are used to sprains, tears and general muscle issues. They seemed to find that it worked wonders

That said, I agree with the others that your muscles are hurting because they are adapting to the rigours of a new training regime. The pain should subside (assuming that is the issue) with more training - You will feel much better after you push that little bit extra

Here is the link to the episode

Grow Your Own Drugs - Veg (Ep6)

Livingstrong

Hey, Beefcake, I hope this article helps you with your muscle pain/soreness. Try it, it really works. Coffee works wonders for us, cyclists.

http://www.livescience.com/health/09033 ... -pain.html