Recovery drinks?

Simon430

Looking at buying some sort of recovery drink. After looking at various sites and reading came across myprotein XS and evo. I read on the XS ingredients was creatine and I read somewhere else it's not good to take it for cycling but reading the evo ingredients list it doesn't mention creatine. The evo is also a little more expensive. Anyone have any experience of using these?

http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/recovery_xs

http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/recovery_evo

Thanks,
Simon

Rushmore

I personally found no real benefits to using protein drinks myself. They were expensive, tasted like crap and make you put on weight if you don't constantly train...

Just eat a baked potato and tuna within 30 mins of finishing your ride...

much better, natural "proper" niutrience, tastier and cheaper.

Simon430

I see where your coming from but I tend to go for a ride come home at 5.30-6ish and have an apple or banana and not have my tea till 9ish, so just making sure I recieve the right nutrients.

Also, sent myprotein an email and they confirmed that the evo does not contain creatine so ill be ordering that.

.blitz

For Goodness Shakes are very good if you need to ride again the next day. The vanilla is pure puke but the strawberry is most excellent. Contains whey and casein protein. Definitely stops me from destroying the fridge after a bike ride and virtually eliminates soreness the next day.

Doesn't mix very well with alcohol but that could just be me.

1mancity2

Simon430 wrote:

I see where your coming from but I tend to go for a ride come home at 5.30-6ish and have an apple or banana and not have my tea till 9ish, so just making sure I recieve the right nutrients.

Also, sent myprotein an email and they confirmed that the evo does not contain creatine so ill be ordering that.

When you get home try having a muller rice instead of the apple/banana.

cjcooke

I have tried all sorts of recovery drinks in the past and must admit that I can't feel the benefit (if any).

I tend to take a normal milkshake (not the thick stuff) and a muller rice and have that about 10 minutes after my ride.

Anonymous

Sufficient and the right food some time earlier or the night before. A drink involving water, sugars and salt during the ride (make your own. I do High Juice + water + salt. Cheap and loads of fruit juice with less expensive branding). Don't burn out. After - whatever. Tea, coffee, snack before a nice meal later, beer, veg on the sofa in front of the telly.

miss notax

.blitz wrote:

For Goodness Shakes are very good if you need to ride again the next day. The vanilla is pure puke but the strawberry is most excellent. Contains whey and casein protein. Definitely stops me from destroying the fridge after a bike ride and virtually eliminates soreness the next day.

Doesn't mix very well with alcohol but that could just be me.

Agreed (although don't know about the alcohol bit - will have to investigate now, damn you )!

If am going to eat in the 30 minutes or so after riding then I don't bother, but on those occassions where we have a car journey home etc then I always have one of these - chocolate favour is best. In my completely un-scientific opinion I think they work!

mrbrightside

Why does creatine not mix with cycling?

mcnultycop

I read an article in a bloke at works Triathalon magazine that said Milk and a Banana is better than any bought shake, quick google:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/33313 ... bstitutes/

paggnr

Chocolate Milk!

Stu Coops

Save ya money just eat and drink correctly keep your diet balanced take a couple of muesli bars or similar on your ride, job done as another post says just make you put on weight taste shite and expensive and no more benefit than eating healthily

Anonymous

Mid ride snack - Cheese straws of course (it's a Surrey thing ).

1mancity2

deadkenny wrote:

Mid ride snack - Cheese straws of course (it's a Surrey thing ).

urgh!!

Darryl_1983

I use the Myprotein Meal replacement: http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/total_mrp

Nice balance of protein, carbs and fats, maybe not quite as ideal for recovery as the specific recovey blends, but the amount of sugar put me off.

Now Protein shakes do not make you fat or put on weight as has been suggested. Unless you're taking them on top of your normal food intake, as you'll then be consuming excess calories.

However proper food (good quality food) is always better than supplements. I only use this when i get to work in the morning, or if i've got a decent drive home after a ride, mainly because i'm lazy and don't prepare food before i set off.

Also use whey protein and a banana or two after gym workouts or if i run out of the meal replacement.

cooldad

Beer

sniper68

cooldad wrote:

Beer

Agreed 8)

njee20

Unless you're taking them on top of your normal food intake, as you'll then be consuming excess calories.

Which is exactly what people do! Most cyclists (IME) over estimate the energy they're using, so they finish riding, have a 'recovery drink' - then have a big meal, having wobbled around for 4 hours, of which 2 hours was actually riding, consuming maybe 1200 calories!

I occasionally use recovery drinks (or Frijj milkshakes) - generally if I've got back to back hard days of riding, or after a race, but IMO it's generally unnecessary, and I do a reasonable amount of riding.

Anonymous

GPS tracker usually tells me how much I've in theory consumed. So I go and eat a huge meal twice that number and beer/wine on top

njee20

My Garmin reckons I managed 3000 calories riding home from work yesterday. Admittedly it was 2.5 hours, but even so. Strava thinks 1997 but even that seems a serious over estimation.

concorde

Rushmore wrote:

I personally found no real benefits to using protein drinks myself. They were expensive, tasted like crap and make you put on weight if you don't constantly train...

Just eat a baked potato and tuna within 30 mins of finishing your ride...

much better, natural "proper" niutrience, tastier and cheaper.

I would love to know how you came to that conclusion and what logic you used?

A few things:
Myprotein.co.uk is cheap as chips, way cheaper than tuna and jacket potatoes.
The flavoured versions taste absolutely fine
And most interestingly, put on weight? So a shake containing 25g of protein equates to about 98 cals. A jacket potato and tuna a lot more, probably looking at about 300 at least! So you have one option with more carbs, more protein, more fat and more calories and you have the other option with less of all those things but you say the protein shake makes you put on weight?! Haha, laugh is all I can really do to that.

People put on weight simply because they eat more calories than they burn, there is no other way about it. I can asure you a protein shake will not make you 'put on weight' on it's own. It's an excellent way of replenishing quickly and efficiently.

Although I would recommend some carbs in the shake as well as the protein to replenish glycogen. I keep it simple and use fine oats, again, cheap as chips from myprotien,co.uk

njee20

But are you suggesting that a 98 calorie protein shake alone is sufficient to help you recover enough? No.

For Goodness Shakes are about 300 calories anyway, recovery shakes are convenient for sure, but I think people over estimate their need.

concorde

Lol, Forgoodness shakes ain't cheap. You might aswell have a pint of semi skimmed milk. More protein in the milk and less sugar. With my oats and whey and milk I could make a better and cheaper recovery shake than either though to be honest.

Northwind

Chocolate milk. Protein, sugar, and added mmmmmmmmm. Cheap and available everywhere.

njee20

Lol, Forgoodness shakes ain't cheap. You might aswell have a pint of semi skimmed milk. More protein in the milk and less sugar. With my oats and whey and milk I could make a better and cheaper recovery shake than either though to be honest.

I didn't mention cost. You said:

And most interestingly, put on weight? So a shake containing 25g of protein equates to about 98 cals. A jacket potato and tuna a lot more, probably looking at about 300 at least!

So are you suggesting that a 98 kcal recovery drink is a sufficient meal replacement to recover from a ride? To my mind if you're gonna eat anyway then just skip the recovery drink, unless you're doing back to back hard training days.

tofu21

I find the SIS Rego recovery drink really makes a big difference.

I've I have done a hard ride a recovery drink really picks me up a lot more than proper food does.

ddraver

+1 for SIS Rego.

That said, I only use it after a long ride/run or during 24hr races and only really becasue i like the taste tbh!

With regard to calorie consumption, I do find it helps to stave off snacking if I'm between meals and I reckon that it does help reduce muscle stiffness the next day (although I'm fully prepared to accept that that is pure placebo!)

With alchohol, I discovered 2 weeks ago that it is no substitute for some proper stomach lining food though, especially if some hottie is waving Jagerbombs at you. (that said, she was the one being sick last weekend so we re 1 all at the mo )

Ian43

I make my own, a banana + semi skimmed milk + spoonful of peanut butter in a blender does the job for me, I sometimes add oats to thicken it up a little. I used to use goodness shakes but they get to be expensive after a while.

There is nothing out there you cannot make an equivalent of at home cheaper in a blender.