Post Workout Recovery Drink - Advice Please

[jnp]

You know I never do this is which probably explains why I never really gain any appreciable mass. That and gaining mass has never been a priority.

My problem is I despise chocolate milk. Since I'm not in the poorhouse yet, is there a readily available pre-mixed post workout drink that is a good product and not chocolate milk flavored?

[Deadmeat]

Not sure if you have these sort of ready-to-drink breakfast drinks in the US,
http://www.upandgo.com.au/

but they seem to work pretty well for me in a pinch, and are widely available.

Also

http://www.sustagen.com.au/sustagen_rtd.php

They are usually marketed as breakfast replacement drinks for people with hectic lifestyles, but the only people I ever see actually drinking them tend to look like they've just left the gym. They are high in protein, low in fat, and come in a range of flavors.

[TheRuss]

You know I never do this is which probably explains why I never really gain any appreciable mass. That and gaining mass has never been a priority.

My problem is I despise chocolate milk. Since I'm not in the poorhouse yet, is there a readily available pre-mixed post workout drink that is a good product and not chocolate milk flavored?

In descending order of preference:
-I don't know about where you live, but up here there's also strawberry and banana-flavoured milk. I'd assume the nutrition works out to about the same.

-Barring those being available, if you were to drop the "pre-mixed" requirement, the equivalent:
1 cup milk (choose your own fat level)
13g table sugar (sucrose)
Alternate: 17g non-HFCS corn syrup if you're feeling fancy and want straight glucose
Optional: Vanilla (or other flavour) whey powder to nutritional requirements/taste

-There's powdered recovery drink (carbs and protein) available at your supplement store of choice

-There's the various pre-mixed crap your local convenience store stocks.

[hairydynamicist]

Nope.



Yup.

A cup of milk has roughly:
230 mL of water (for hydration)
13g of lactose (slow carbohydrate for the hours after your workout)
1.8g of whey (fast protein)
7g of casein (slow protein)
(And whatever fat content you add)

With chocolate milk, add:
13g of sucrose or glucose (fast carbohydrate)

Hence the combination of chocolate milk and supplemental whey protein. Fast and slow carbs, fast and slow proteins.

Perfect - thanks!

How do you feel the morning after training? Pretty wobbly I'd imagine.

Christ yeah. Monday night is randori night and so is - by definition - 'kin hard work, meaning Tuesday mornings in particular can often be just as you describe. I try and eat pretty healthily in general and don't particularly worry about nutrition beyond that; I'm not after a beach body and I'm not competing at any decent level in judo or running (my other exercise of choice) so felt that looking in to supplements etc. was a bit hardcore. But I think that's going to have to change coz even I'm aware it's not healthy to have insomnia induced by intense rice-pudding cravings.

[Asriel]

I used this post workout:

http://www.myprotein.co.uk/formulas/...ry-xs-(1800g)/

Active Ingredients (per 90g serving):

1. Waxy Maize Starch: 50g
2. Whey Protein Isolate: 27g
3. Leucine: 5.5g
4. Glutamine: 4.5g
5. Creapure®: 3g
6. Vitamin C: 550mg
7. Electrolytes: 360mg

[Kintanon]

Perfect - thanks!



Christ yeah. Monday night is randori night and so is - by definition - 'kin hard work, meaning Tuesday mornings in particular can often be just as you describe. I try and eat pretty healthily in general and don't particularly worry about nutrition beyond that; I'm not after a beach body and I'm not competing at any decent level in judo or running (my other exercise of choice) so felt that looking in to supplements etc. was a bit hardcore. But I think that's going to have to change coz even I'm aware it's not healthy to have insomnia induced by intense rice-pudding cravings.

I don't know why I never link the two, but any morning that I didn't have a good meal after class the night before I get up and my balance is shot and I'm staggering around like I'm drunk for a good 10 minutes until I get some kind of breakfast in me... Note to self, I'm still not eating enough.

[Jhemsley]

For the guy who wanted a food source of protein instead of a drink.

All Yogurts have Whey in them. Three of those should cost $1.50 US or less, and have have between 15 and 24 Grams of Protein. If you don't get the low carb ones, that will be about 35 Grams of Carbs as well. This compares favorably with a post work out drink, is highly absorbable, fairly portable, and cheap. Yogurt keeps a lot better out of the refrigarator than Milk, a couple or three hours at room tempature makes no difference (in your car on a summer day is another story).

Barring that, if you want protein from food without using a milk source for whatever reason, use eggs whites from boiled eggs and get the carbs from a fruit / veg blend drink like the V-8 Fusion stuff. It won't be as fast, but it will still work MUCH better than nothing.

Persoanally I do the Biotest Proteint Powder, Creatine, Glutamine, V-8 Fusion, and Leucine.

As far as effectiveness from tehe PT, the only non-anabolic steriod product proven to be effective in every form of testing tried for increasing muscle gain is Carb and Protein drinks post workout. Creatine is the next best results from scientific studies (not for building msucle mass but for a long list of other positive workout and getneral health reasons), but there are a (very) few studies that couldn't find a benefit - most of which used lower loadings than any company that sells Creatine recommends. BCAA's and (Leucine in particular) have a mounting body of evidence of effectiveness for mass building that is only a little behind that of Protein / Carbs. The three together are really good.

Finally, buyer beware of cheap protein powders. There are huge quality questions about the Wal-Mart Protein powders. Some within the industry state that the bulk cost of Whey is higher than the retail price of those cheap bulk containers at Wal-mart. Which means they either are using sugar, or filler protein like gelatin, which is essentially useless for muscle building.

While I shop at Wal-mart a lot, and get a lot of Vitamin products there, I wouldn't buy any protein powder from there. Its possible even the brand name stuff is a cheaper formulation than ones with the same labels sold at GNC / Health Store to make it significantly cheaper. My only source for this is the Internetz, so don't take it as gospel. However, the supplement industry is so unregulated, there is almost nothing to prevent someone for doing this if they wanted. The bulk protein at Wal-mart is so cheap (and if you actually compare it to a higher quality brand) I am more than a little suspicious.

That's not to say the Protein Powder at Wal-mart ISN'T what it claims to be, but there isn't a good reason to buy cheap protein powder when it may or may not be better than milk. High Quality Protein Powder is PROBABLY better post workout than Milk, but assuming it is, there isn't a good reason to use a lower quality powder in lieau of milk..

If you can't afford more expensive protein powders like at GNC / Vitamin Shop / Biotest | T-nation.com, I'd simply leave the Wal-Mart Protein Powder, walk over to the grocery section, buy a gallon of choclate milk, 1 dozen eggs, 2 containers of cottage cheese and a dozen yogurt with that money. (Shoudlbe about the same price).

As long as you get a quality protein with simpe carbs within 30 minutes of your workout, you'll get most of the results of the perfect workout drink.

[fightclubfreak7]

I usually use GNC's Whey Protien. I am not trying to gain mass, in fact replacing my normal snacks with a protein shake has helped me stay a little slimer, I also use it after workouts. Allot of people seem to have a problem with the taste of GNC's protein but it tastes fine to me. It is allot cheaper than allot of name brands. Does anyone know if this protein powder is decent quality or not, I would figure it would be a litle better then wallmarts brand.