If you’ve been involved with Athlon Elite at all since we opened you already know how much importance we give to proper "recovery nutrition." In fact, we feel so strongly about it we supply all our clients with a specialized recovery drink, FLUID, to help with their recovery.
Well, I’m finally starting to see this concept of quick post-workout recovery nutrition pop-up in the mainstream media. Last night I saw a commercial for "Muscle Milk," a type of post-workout recovery drink, and a famous football player saying ‘his workout isn’t over until he finishes his drink.’
While I don’t particularly like Muscle Milk and it’s formula, I’ll give them credit for getting the timing right.
You see, there’s a pretty crucial window of time where the body can repair itself and develop at an accelerated rate after exercise. This is due to hormonal changes within the body during intense exercise, but the changes are temporary and return to normal rapidly (some estimate as quickly as 30 minutes).
Everything about recovery nutrition is about the speed at which nutrients can get from the mouth to the cellular level. This window is a roller coaster curve, greatest immediately after exercise, and rapidly declining. Ingestion of solid food can take hours to digest, empty the stomach, enter the blood stream, and arrive at the cellular level. At this point, the hormonal window from your exercise bout is long gone, and no "added" benefits from post-workout recovery nutrition can occur. Solid food simply takes too long to capitalize on the window of opportunity. Post-workout recovery drinks are based on supplying the body with the right balance of the right nutrients at the right time (right time meaning right away).
Here’s the problem… many of the "experts" seem to disagree on what that "right" balance of nutritients is.
Some feel it’s mostly protein,
some feel it’s mostly carbohydrate
and some are now saying it’s all in the "formulation" of the ingredients (like highly refined, almost vaporized powders that can be absorbed and used more effectively by the body).
Last week at the National Strength & Conditioning Association’s conference in Las Vegas research was presented on the many forms of supplementation, carbohydrate, whey protein, soy protein, casein protein, etc. for recovery nutrition. Each presentation had good scientific evidence to support its use as a recovery food.
So which one is best?
Well it would appear (as with everything in the world in my opinion) that variety is best. A little of each seems to be the way to go, though the animal proteins (whey & casein) were a little more superior than soy protein for building muscle.
—Whey protein is more rapidly digested and absorbed and has a greater concentration of branch chained amino acids and hence causes a greater increase in protein synthesis (the building of muscle) immediately after exercise…
—Casein protein is absorbed more slowly and thus it doesn’t increase synthesis as well as whey protein, but because of its "slower" properties it maintained levels of the "good stuff" longer in the blood and lead to less "breakdown" of the muscles during the recovery period over whey protein…
—Carbohydrate supplementation after exercise has shown a better replenishment of the "fuel" in your muscles and an improved immune function after the harsh effects of intense exercise…
So, the take home message here is they’re all good for you and a little of each is probably the best bet. The key is in the timing of ingestion (drink it down right away). The body is primed and ready to really use the nutrients immediately after exercise so get the fuel in soon, within 30 minutes.
On a personal note, I prefer the drink FLUID over all the other formulas because it has a good ratio of carbohydrate to protein and it has a little vitamin C and glutamine (an amino acid shown to aide in the recovery from exercise, but that’s a whole different blog post).
For those of you on a budget, guess what…
a little skim milk mixed with some Hershey’s chocolate is almost as good and in some cases even better.
Again, the key is to get it in right away… anything… even a can of soda according to Dr. Chad Kerksick from Oklahoma University. Any kind of fuel taken immediately after exercise is going to inhibit the "catabolic effects" of exercise (the muscle destruction that occurs after a hard bout of exercise). So go eat something right away!
Until next time,
Ryan
P.S. FLUID can be purchased at Athlon Elite and we even have it in little single serving packs so you can give it a try first! (805) 440-0215