Does anyone use these muscle recovery drink/shakes efforts after riding?

ive got into a routine where im riding Wednesday, Friday & Sunday and playing squash tuesday & thursday. the trouble is on a wednesday, my legs are suffering from squash the night before and then thursday they are struggling the previous nights riding etc etc sunday and tuesday im fine because ive rested a day, so i thought some kind of recovery supplement might help me out?

please recommend…

The usual thery is carbs / protein 4:1 ratio. Flavoured sweetened milk is shown to be as good as anything.

Myself I have my doubts about this but fluids and carbs are not going to do any harm

The High5 stuff works for me, its not until you run out and do without that you really notice all the aches n pains.

Use the For Goodness Shakes, either premix or powder, regularly. Or failing that, Mars Refuel from the garage. Find they do help with muscle soreness, but so does just rehydrating properly.

Chocolate Yazoo, mostly. In the winter, I go with the Frijj that can be microwaved. Mmmmmmmmm. I believe it makes a difference, then again, it’s entirely possible that if I believed a homeopathic recovery drink made a difference it’d make a difference.

Got some SIS stuff as well but as it’s clearly wallpaper paste with some pink dye in, I tend to return to the good stuff.

I’ve been using Torq recovery occasionally and it does seem to make a difference. The packets of For Goodness Shakes are handy when travelling.

Also look at your post-exercise stretches and consider some compression tights.

When I was commuting 30-odd km every day by bike, I was too knackered on a Sunday to actually enjoy riding.

Try some BCAAs (help prevent delayed onset muscle soreness) or some kind of special recovery protein mix with milk and some fruit after your exercise. For goodness shakes might be a good bet.

The research on flavoured milk mostly compares it to “sports drinks” with no protein. Flavoured milk is still a decent option but specific recovery formulas are much better.

I either use For Goodness Shakes for a quick one or if I’m riding too/from home a protein shake made up with Holland & Barrett Body Fortress Lean Whey Protein.

They certainly help, especially when doing long rides back to back; like a hilly 80 miler on the road one day and an equally hilly 75km off road the next

Holland & Barrett Body Fortress Lean Whey Protein

+1

I have a quick shake when I either get in from a bike ride or a gym session if I know im doing either or again the next day.

I always look out for the offers at holland and barrett and it can work out dead cheap. I think last time I paid about £20 for 2 x 1kg tubs and a new shaker. Lasts a few months too.

SIS Rego if you are doing that much athletic stuff. It mixes up with water so pretty convenient to take the dry powder in a shaker and make it up as soon as you finish.

Get fitter and drink milk.

I don’t take any supplements and manage to train 2 or more times a day.

500ml skimmed milk + choc Nesquik.

Go onto myprotein website, its renowned to be about the best out their with very hi quality whey protein which is what you require. I use the Max Total Peptide as I find it dosen’t give me the worlds worst farts which you will find a lot of others will. OK if you live on your own but I know my partner didn’t appreciate it as much as I did!

The usual thery is carbs / protein 4:1 ratio. Flavoured sweetened milk is shown to be as good as anything.

Myself I have my doubts about this but fluids and carbs are not going to do any harm

What doubts do you have? Other than your normal, default, knee-jerk tendency to question pretty much everything?

+1 for MyProtien.

Go for Recovery XS, it has Luciene, L Glutamine, Protien and also (good for our sport) Vit C and Elecrolytes for dehydration.

I take mine after every ride, and then for weights sessions after the session & again the next morning – no muscle ache for me!*

Buying a £20 bag lasts me 3 months, riding 3x per week – way cheaper than goodness shakes etc.

Badly wired dog – I looked up the research quoted by a manufacturer of the 4:1 ratio stuff. The research was small scale, poorly done and of dubious relevance to leisure bike riders.

I like evidence based practise. Teh evidence for this is not great

Whey protein seems to work for me, BCAA’s work better, mixing with a shedload of carbs works even better again, but I often skip those to cut out calories, usualy only include them if it’s been a long Saturday ride and I’m planning on going out with the roadies on a Sunday.

Myprotein.com sells all the ingredients that stuff like torq use.

Torq recovery is something like

6g L-Glutamine
3g HMB
3g D-Ribose

15g whey protein
75g 2:1 maltodextrin:fructose
+ flavouring

Yazoo might not be just as good then….

Oh yeah – if you’re a bit tubby, then stop using all supplements. Embrace the pain and keep on training.

Thats not true Yeti. The right supplement/diet can actually speed up your metabolism – Protiemn vs Carbs is the simple calc here.

You’ll put on weight for two reasons while supplementing

a) If you’re using creatine, it retains water in your muscles
b) If you don’t do the exercise, you’ll get fat – supps contain calories too…..

People need to work out that hard exercise and your body needs fuel to recover, develop and repair. You dont have to use Supps but you should consider/alter your diet content and volume with this in mind.

ie – no fat on a bodybuilder but they eat X times more than a normal person.

Yazoo might not be just as good then….

Worked for me.

My opinion is that unless you’re at the very top of your game and training at your limit then steer clear of supplements.

Get what you need from real food. It is possible to get the appropriate mix of protein and carbs from actual food you know.

If you’re tubby… don’t drink calories.

Well that is that settled then. The OP just needs a tuna sandwich or a Yazoo.

My opinion is that unless you’re at the very top of your game and training at your limit then steer clear of supplements

I think you’ve got a point, but your first post bordered on the AWESOME detracting from its perceived value 🙂

I’ve used those recovery drinks in 12/24 pairs just as an easy way to get calories and some protein in between shifts, but I don’t do enough to need them normally. I like goodness shakes vanilla though, it’s lush.

this MyProtein Recovery XS tackle sounds just the badger! Are there any high street stockists, or am i paying the postman?

It was sort of intended Brassneck.. it’s true though. I’ll neck a forGoodness Shake in the absence of being able to eat something good ie motorway services after a long ride, but proper planning could avoid that one too…

Nope just the web site, you get a first time purchase discount if you use someone else’s id number, just do a google search for myprotein code.

Choc Yazoo > Goodness Shake

…plus you save about a million quid.

Jamie – goodness shakes say all about sports and stuff, they have pictures of athletes on the bottles – believe the Hype!

Hmm. You make a good point. They do have a picture of a guy doing a thing I also do on the bottle.

*shakes head enthusiastically, with slightly dumb looking smile*

mmmh hmmmm… you see, don’t be a loser… fill youself full of Win.

Done all the protein based recovery stuff and found it messed with my insides. Now going down a more natural route of whole foods for recovery supplemented with cherry concentrate http://www.cherryactive.co.uk/. For me much better and far more natural.

You’re a saint TSY, I’m straight on the chips. All that salt is electrolyte replacement, no?

Yazoo is usually 2 for one in Tesco too, but I’ve never done a nutritional comparison to be honest, I just like vanilla better 🙂
I do remember checking a Frij choccy shake and it was pretty much as many calories as my average lunch.

All that salt is electrolyte replacement, no?

YES! Well that’s what I tell myself…

Home made energy drinks recipes advise chucking in salt IIRC.

never needed them for mountainbiking but after hard road rides i use bannana rego, certainly helps with the doms and i find it essential if i want to ride the next day. milkshakes don’t seem to work for me.

@ Jaff – MyProtien is mail order

@ Yeti & colleagues – do a good bit of reaserch into what you are eating/your bosy is needing for recovery. Yes, you can do the same with good quality natural food, but to get the same amount of content you’d need a lot of very good quality organic produce prepared & seasoned properly to a balance – that basically equals a lot of money, and a fair bit of time / dedication. Motorway Services is poor quality junk in comparison!

Supps are there to avoid the cost/inconvienience of a natural food route, but don’t kid yourself if your going to do it properly.

Its a choice, but don’t pretend a Motorway Service Tuna Sarnie is anywhere close to a decent dietary fix – it isnt!

Chocolate milk, stretching and compression tights work for me. Sleep and proper rest is vital too.

Supps are there to avoid the cost/inconvienience of a natural food route, but don’t kid yourself if your going to do it properly

There also there to extract money from the naive and to help make lazy incompetents believe they’re proper training.

What you actually ‘need’ is pretty easy to get from food.

Oh, and I’ve tried whey protein shakes and have come to the conclusion that (for me) they don’t work – i recover better with chocolate milk or a mix of carbs and protein.

Having a good diet is also key, as is being well hydrated.