Recovery Drinks

designman

What Recovery Drinks do you have after a long ride?
And do they work?

Grill

Chocolate milkshake is all you need.

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

Or a mug of tea and piece of cake. Recovery drinks are a clever marketing tool to persuade people to pay a lot of money for some water with some added chemicals (mostly colourings and flavourings).

Grill

3:1 minimum carb to protein ratio (closer to 2:1 is better) is what you should look for. Tea and cake doesn't quite get you there. Of course, these sorts of things are personal so what works for one may not be best for another.

charlie_potatoes

xdoc wrote:

Or a mug of tea and piece of cake. Recovery drinks are a clever marketing tool to persuade people to pay a lot of money for some water with some added chemicals (mostly colourings and flavourings).

And the ingredients in the cake are....?

chippyk

SIS Rego gives me shocking farts

Grill

ChippyK wrote:

SIS Rego gives me shocking farts

It contains aspartame which can cause gas. Absolutely stupid to use an artificial sweetener in a product that actually needs carbs.

Camcycle1974

designman wrote:

What Recovery Drinks do you have after a long ride?
And do they work?

Fridgj milkshakes are nice. You don't need anything other than a milk based drink followed by a decent solid meal containing carbs/protein. Recovery shakes etc are just an expensive milkshake.

NeXXus

Camcycle1974 wrote:

designman wrote:

What Recovery Drinks do you have after a long ride?
And do they work?

Fridgj milkshakes are nice. You don't need anything other than a milk based drink followed by a decent solid meal containing carbs/protein. Recovery shakes etc are just an expensive milkshake.

And frijj is just expensive flavoured milk.

Oh wait...

Grill

NeXXus wrote:

Camcycle1974 wrote:

designman wrote:

What Recovery Drinks do you have after a long ride?
And do they work?

Fridgj milkshakes are nice. You don't need anything other than a milk based drink followed by a decent solid meal containing carbs/protein. Recovery shakes etc are just an expensive milkshake.

And frijj is just expensive flavoured milk.

Oh wait...

They're usually on offer for next to nothing. Still much cheaper than any marketed recovery drink.

Scrumple

xdoc wrote:

Or a mug of tea and piece of cake. Recovery drinks are a clever marketing tool to persuade people to pay a lot of money for some water with some added chemicals (mostly colourings and flavourings).

Factually incorrect, if maybe correct in sentiment.

Recovery drinks work, and contain things the body needs. So your claim is misleading. Proteins, for starters.

As for overpriced, that's a yes. And you can get the nutrients from a snack using the right foods. You pay a lot for convenience , which is the modern world all over!

DiscoBoy

After a ride, you need to take in:
fluids, in order to replace the fluids you've lost
carbs, to replace muscle glycogen supplies
protein for your body to use to repair your muscles.

How you do the above is up to you because which way is the "best" is entirely subjective. A recovery drink is (probably) the most convenient way to do it.

I would suggest that buying the ingredients which make up a recovery drink is far cheaper than buying an off the shelf one. The ingredients are fairly simple and widely published. I personally use whey protein and oats mixed with milk.

hypster

60g of high GI carb source, maltodextrin is best but any sugar is better than nothing
20g whey protein
5g Glutamine

I mix my own from MyProtein sources but "For Goodness Shakes" is a good one if a bit expensive but comes in convenient powder sachets. Chocolate milk is a good alternative. If you don't think you need a recovery drink then you're not riding hard enough.

overlord2

Soya Milk.

Wholemeal toast with mackerel.

Taste better than than protein ****e

Grill

With soya you miss out. Whey increases protein synthesis and casein (milk) stops protein breakdown. When I was veggie and then vegan I avoided soya like the plague. Some of the worst stuff you can put in your body.

mattythemod

Pint of milk with few spoons of nesquik powder !

Anonymous

Torq mandarin :P

jordan_217

I bulk buy the ingredients from MyProtein and make up my own, adding choc milkshake powder or fruit juices for flavor.

The last batch of pouches I bought were back in May '13, for £25 and I've still got plenty left. A dedicated/pre-made recovery drink will cost you that month! (actually probably more)

ViperS15

I have various flavours of Torq Recovery. None of that aspartame crap and they actually taste nice, unlike some others I've tried. The Mandarin that Carbonator has said above is surprisingly refreshing.

Anonymous

Its makes such a change from the usual boring old strawberry lol.

If you like that, try watermelon SIS GO electrolyte, mmmmmmmmm.

I Use dedicated energy/recovery stuff as a treat and for convenience mainly, or just because it tastes nice.
I think you can use homemade and dedicated products rather than homemade or dedicated products

Cost should not really come into it (other than if someone is asking how to save money).
It gets mentioned as if anyone buying an energy product is a mug, but without analysing every single expenditure of both parties............ its meaningless :roll:

darkhairedlord

A glass of semi-skimmed goats milk and four chunks of santander colombian chocolate followed by a cup Juan Valdez coffee.
In winter it's corona hot choc made with a tot of medelin rum.

If that's not pretentious enough I'll have to buy a rapha jacket to cool down in.

overlord2

Grill wrote:

Whey increases protein synthesis and casein (milk) stops protein breakdown.

Have you got evidence that cows milk increases protein synthesis? Think its a load of bull tbh

Grill

Overlord2 wrote:

Grill wrote:

Whey increases protein synthesis and casein (milk) stops protein breakdown.

Have you got evidence that cows milk increases protein synthesis? Think its a load of bull tbh

Cow's milk is roughly 20% whey and 80% casein, so yes (but not as much as a proper recovery drink which has a higher whey percentage).
http://jap.physiology.org/content/107/3/987

daveyruthers

Full fat milk with chocolate Nesquick for me.

meanredspider

I like For Goodness Shakes banana recovery shakes. The sachets are convenient (I can take them in hand baggage and easy to make up in hotels) and mix well. So they aren't cheap (road cycling isn't cheap) but I only buy with good discounts and can afford them in any case. When I'm home, a bowl of granola/milk does the job too

I once tried the SIS Rego Night things (apparently help you sleep - thought they might be good for multi century-day rides where twitchy legs keep me awake). They must be fantastic based upon the taste: they were utterly foul and verging upon impossible to get down. Needless to say I never bought them more than once!

iron-clover

I've recently joined this bandwagon- at first I bought a few 'For Goodness Shakes' when they are on offer for a £1 each, and now I've got a tub of High Five recovery in chocolate flavour. Luckily I spotted the BikeRadar offer that let me get it for just £15, and it'll last me a while. It tastes great with skimmed milk, but it's got 4:1 ratio so more to replenish glycogen stores than build muscle (but I want to stay lean anyway!)

However, I only really use it after dedicated training sessions or a very grueling ride. I must admit the only difference I find after using it is that I'm not so tired after training- I guess the carbs are absorbed quickly and start replenishing the muscle stores more efficiently than after I've had a shower and made something to eat.

mfin

Before Recovery Drinks, people could only ride for 10 miles.

Camcycle1974

mfin wrote:

Before Recovery Drinks, people could only ride for 10 miles.

Lol, it is funny how all us amateur riders suddenly feel like pros by consuming recovery drinks etc. What's wrong with a pint of milk which supplies all the nutrients you need to "recover" from a training ride?

hypster

Camcycle1974 wrote:

mfin wrote:

Before Recovery Drinks, people could only ride for 10 miles.

Lol, it is funny how all us amateur riders suddenly feel like pros by consuming recovery drinks etc. What's wrong with a pint of milk which supplies all the nutrients you need to "recover" from a training ride?

I think you're both missing the point somewhat, a recovery drink which supplies the right amount of nutrients for a faster recovery allows you to train harder, more often. No one is actually disputing the fact that we can recover without any sort dedicated recovery formula. It's just that modern research shows that the right blend of nutrients consumed within an hour of strenuous exercise definitely helps rehydration, glycogen replenishment and muscle repair faster.

That fact that the pros do it doesn't make me feel or perform like a pro, it just helps me to be the best I can.

drlodge

I was going to buy some "for goodness shakes" stuff, but after reading some reviews they all seemed to say a couple of others were better. So I've ordered some Recovery XS. Will see how it tastes.

I don't intend to use this stuff often, but I have a few consecutive days cycling planned over Easter and I thought this will help me recover better and make me feel fitter the following day. We'll see!

meanredspider

Camcycle1974 wrote:

mfin wrote:

Before Recovery Drinks, people could only ride for 10 miles.

Lol, it is funny how all us amateur riders suddenly feel like pros by consuming recovery drinks etc. What's wrong with a pint of milk which supplies all the nutrients you need to "recover" from a training ride?

Nothing, I guess - though pretty light in carbs which, for me at least, I could use after 100 miles. I also need to keep it in the fridge or buy that UHT stuff. Sachet and a tap is all I need - I can normally find a tap.

Just because they're now called "recovery drinks" I'm sure it's no different from what people used to do