most effective and tasty recovery drink?

attempting to get fit enough for a bit more xc racing this summer and so the training has begun. Basically this just means 25 miles of cycle commuting a day and the odd 5km run plus a nice off road ride at the weekend.

I can recover by just eating healthily (with maybe a tad more protein) in the evenings but it would be good to have a shake of sorts to drink in the morning after my ride in. Just a bit easier when you’tr supposed to be at your desk etc.

What’s tasty and effective and ideally just needs water adding to it?

Hmm, unless you’re absolutely destroying yourself on the ride in (and wanting to do the same on the ride home) you shouldn’t need one. You’ll consume more calories in a recovery drink than you will have burned in the 12.5 miles riding!

pint of whole milk.

flavoured milk has been shown to perform as well as anything.

the science is dodgy at best but the usual thing is protein / carbs mix with water. sweetened flavoured milk fits the bill

The aim is to destroy myself on the ride in…there’s a few tasty climbs and I’m doing it on a singlespeed so my legs feel pretty shot when I get in.

Also worth saying I could do with putting on a few pounds weight…

Milk is pretty good but not as good as For Goodness Shakes imo. The vanilla tastes medicinal but the strawberry is most excellent.

I use it more of a meal replacement it stops me destroying the fridge when I get back from a ride and if it’s been a tough one and I have to go again the next day For Goodness Shakes makes all the difference.

£2 sachet just add to 500ml of water

For Goodness Shakes…I second that. £1.50 ready made. I also try those dodgy looking ones that come in a can of beans style can. They do nothing.

and you can by them in a lot of local shops and newsagents as milkshakes, at about the same price. sounds ideal.

edit : beaten by Dan . I’ll have to “third” it. 🙂

One pint of milk & one raw egg & 3 tea spoons of sugar all whisked together = a banana milk shake flavoured recovery drink. Honest.

The aim is to destroy myself on the ride in…there’s a few tasty climbs and I’m doing it on a singlespeed so my legs feel pretty shot when I get in.

Spin home. Sorted.

Also worth saying I could do with putting on a few pounds weight…

No you couldn’t. Gaining weight will not enhance your cycling unless it’s muscle (and even then that’s not much use for XC racing, you want to be lean). Knocking back recovery drinks will be more likely to make you fat.

1/2 beetroot, 1 kiwi, 2 apples (no cores) with skins all in the blender, doesnt taste all that but its highly effective. anything you buy in powder form is going to have an amount of chemicals, goodnesshakes tastes ok but £2 for a milkshake isnt cheap after every ride

Fair point njee20. Guess I just need to MTFU

1/2 beetroot, 1 kiwi, 2 apples (no cores) with skins all in the blender, doesnt taste all that but its highly effective.

Fair bit of Fructos there, I’m thinking.
Not sure how effective Fructose is at helping you recover.

Sort of what njee said but in my training manual it suggests a smoothie of OJ, a banana and some maltodextrin, VITs and eletrolytes like liver salts (teaspoon) etc – well I have tried banana, OJ, Multivit and liver salts in a drink and its good and very cheap 🙂

Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, or a pint of Golden Best, if you’ve had a particularly difficult workout.

1/2 beetroot, 1 kiwi, 2 apples (no cores) with skins all in the blender

Not much protein there

tastiest ? banana milkshake, 3/4 pint of milk, 1 banana and dollop of icecream, blender.

are there rest days in this plan?

Bombardino ?

sorry, wrong thread – that’s skiing

I’m not bemoaning recovery drinks as a whole, they’re very useful, particularly if you can’t have proper food or whatever. Always knock one back after a race.

However, if you’re commuting 25 miles a day (assuming you’re doing the same each end of the day?) that’s maybe 40 minutes riding. You don’t need a recovery drink for that. Really.

What do you weigh incidentally, why do you think you need to gain weight? Bearing in mind you’re just lugging that extra mass up all the climbs.

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Apparently.

For Goodness Shakes are pretty good if you want something effective and ready-made.

Don’t bother with those tins of ‘Nurishment’ (I think they’re called) that were referred to by danjthomas, they’re terrible.

As for many previous posters, I make my own recovery drink by blending together : 1/2 litre skimmed milk, 1 lge banana, 30g scoop of whey protein powder* & 2 or 3 tsp of cocoa powder

(protein powder from myprotein.co.uk)

True, it is only 40/45mins riding each way(less on way home) but think because it’s the start of the day I end up feeling pretty drained. Maybe need to eat more porridge before heading out.

I weigh about 72kg and am 6ft…I didn’t think I was particualrly underweight but after a recent health check was advised to try and up my calorie intake.

Oops. Ignore.

I use and really like Torq Recovery Chocolate Orange. Very tasty but I only use it for rides over 3hrs long, or 2 hr if I’ve been going really hard.

You don’t have to have the full three scoops per drink. For shorter rides you could just use 1 or 2 scoops and this might do the job.

I’m with njee on being pretty skeptical if you’ll need it after a sub-1hr ride.

40/45mins riding each way(less on way home) but think because it’s the start of the day I end up feeling pretty drained. Maybe need to eat more porridge before heading out

For what it’s worth, my commute is around 40 minutes at each end of the day, with the majority of the climbs on the way home.

I tend to treat my commute as some kind of personal time trial which makes it quite an intense workout. I’m on an MTB too, which makes it harder work.

In the morning I just have a mug of strong coffee before getting on the bike, and eat a proper breakfast when I get to work (muesli with added kiwi/banana/protein powder & skimmed milk).

I think a lot depends on eating a decent evening meal the day before (I mean nutritious rather than big).

A 40 minute ride shouldn’t need any special food intake provided you eat properly/sensibly throughout the day.

I weigh about 72kg and am 6ft…I didn’t think I was particualrly underweight but after a recent health check was advised to try and up my calorie intake.

I’m 73kg and 5’11. A sports physio recently told me that I’m carrying a bit and if I lost another 3.5kg I’d be a much quicker runner.

Get on a diet, fatty!

I run 4 mornings a week and ride a 23mile each-way commute once a week. I have a coffee before I leave the house and muesli with milk when I get to work. Seems to be enough for me.

most effective and tasty recovery drink, got to be Cider 😛

I’m on an MTB too, which makes it harder work.

Not really. If you’d said it was 10 miles then an MTB would be harder, but for a given time an MTB is no harder than a road bike. Lower gearing, so if anything it’s easier.

I weigh about 72kg and am 6ft

You don’t need to gain weight then. That’s a reasonable starting point, don’t eat crap, ride more it’ll stabilise.

I work in 2 offices, one is about 10 miles each way (ridden twice a week), route depending. I don’t eat anything special either end of the day. T’other one is 45 miles (ridden one return trip over 2 days), still don’t eat anything special! Bowl of cereal before I go sees me right.

Chocolate or Vanilla Rego for me, made with half milk, half water.

Wouldn’t use it after a ride of less than a few hours though.

I was doing something (for about 18 months) very similar until the back end of last year. I found, certainly for the first few months, that I was getting properly knackered towards day three. The key is just to eat the right things, eat when you get to work and not before you set off, a snack at 3pm really helped me too such as some unsalted nuts or a banana. I’m unconvinced about recovery shakes, they cost a fortune and (most) taste like sh!t. The For Goodness Shakes ones don’t taste bad but if you’re planning to have one every day the cost will soon mount up over a month. I’m sure there are gains to be had from protein shakes, but I think its for people much further down the fitness scale than me

Not really. If you’d said it was 10 miles then an MTB would be harder, but for a given time an MTB is no harder than a road bike. Lower gearing, so if anything it’s easier.

😆

Torq strawbs and cream

Protein shake works for me when I’m commuting regularly.

Was getting very achy legs (and a big hunger later in the day 🙁 )

14 mile each way on the mtb. Something around 50 mins to 1.5 hrs depending on trail & daylight conditions

If you’re getting leg spasms at night then sis nocte, it’s got sweetner though.

I’m on an MTB too, which makes it harder work.

Not really. If you’d said it was 10 miles then an MTB would be harder, but for a given time an MTB is no harder than a road bike. Lower gearing, so if anything it’s easier.

It’s 11.5 miles (if I go the shortest route)

I meant ‘harder’ in the sense that riding at the same speed on a roadie-ists bike would require a lot less effort … as proven by the odd roadie who glides effortlessly past me on occasion

It’s probably equally hard, but just for a longer period of time on an MTB as top speed is lower

I don’t just bumble along in a nice easy gear either – my average commute speed is 17/18 mph

6′ and 85kg, seeing as we’re having a weigh-off

I use Zipvit Sport* ZV5 which is a night time recovery drink and is bloody amazing. It’s consistently praised by top athletes.

It isn’t cheap though and I only use it when I’m really really battered. I like recovery not to forced. Normal food and water is fine and work very well. Protein for repair, simple carbs for energy store restoration, water and a little salt for re-hydration – it’s not rocket science and doesn’t have to cost a lot.

*I do some work for them.

I’m 73kg and 5’11. A sports physio recently told me that I’m carrying a bit and if I lost another 3.5kg I’d be a much quicker runner.

Bah, I’m about the same build as you and I was pretty chuffed to get to it (post-xmas diet), now you tell me I’m still a fatty 🙁

Still, just started commuting by bike which should help. Nice big 300m climb on the way home, lovely.

Milk is pretty good but not as good as For Goodness Shakes imo

For Goodness Shakes are full of sugar, colouring, and other crap you don’t need.

I use Zipvit Sport* ZV5 which is a night time recovery drink

I might give that a try, nocte is rank. Big fan of the zipvit watermelon electrolyte tabs.