If you’ve followed some of my earlier posts you may remember that I actually endorsed low fat chocolate milk as a post-workout recovery drink. I received a lot of feedback from my recommendation as many people we’re like “Shane, are you serious, really chocolate milk?” Yes!
I know it might sound contradicatory to everything I teach you but in this post I’m going to briefly explain the rationale and share some interesting new research that supports my idea.
Why in the world would I recommend chocolate milk for a post workout recovery drink?
Alright, here’s the thing…you know where I stand on sugar and simple carbohydrates in general.Â
99% of the time you’re better off not having them in your diet. My reasoning is due to the hormonal responses (primarily insulin secretion) that occurs when you consume sugar and simple carbs.Â
Normally we don’t want you to have a high insulin response to the food or drink in your diet…except for times like after an intense workout.
Here’s the reason why…when you finish up with an intense workout (key word here being “intense,” I’ll get back to that in a minute) your muscles have been depleted of glycogen, electrolytes, and other nutrients along with muscle fibers being broken down.
In order to repair and replenish the muscles you need to bring back in nutrients including amino acids from protein that act as building blocks in the rebuilding process.
Timing is important…faster is better!
The FASTER you start the rebuilding/recovery process the better off you’ll be. As you can imagine it just makes sense that the best time to recharge your muscles with nutrients is right after they’ve been depleted and the “window” is open per say.
Now how exactly do we get the amino acids from protein, glycogen, etc into your muscle cells? There has to be a ”carrier” or a transport vehicle per say to get all this stuff into the cells. That carrier is none other than the hormone insulin!
That’s right, this is the one time that insulin is a good guy! If you have an insulin release post workout by consuming simple carbohyrates, you’ve got a vehicle to get all the nutrients into the muscle cells to start the rebuilding and recovery process.
So what makes low-fat chocolate milk such a good choice specifically for a post workout recovery drink?
You’ve got simple carbohydrates, sugar, protein, along with nutrients all contained within chocolate milk. This ”recipe” works nicely for producing an insulin response and getting the essential nutrients on a fast track into the muscle cells.
Why do I specifically recommend “low-fat” chocolate milk?
Simple. Remember your objective is to have the FAST acting process of simple sugars getting released to produce an insulin response. If you add fat to this process it’s only going to slow everything down.
This is the same reason why it’s not “as effective” to EAT solid foods with carbs and proteins immediately post workout. The process of gastric emptying, digestion, and assimilation is much longer this way. For OPTIMAL results, you’d want to drink a post recovery protein shake (or chocolate milk ) and then eat a supportive nutrition meal 1-2 hours later.
Remember, the whole idea is you have this ”open window” with your muscles post workout and your objective is to drive nutrients back in as quickly as possible to start the rebuilding/recovery process.
Now before I share with you the research I found, I want to make one very important point.
I’m recommending that you can effectively use chocolate milk for a post workout recovery drink because (A) it does the job and (B) it’s an inexpensive alternative to high priced fancy post workout recovery drinks and shakes.  It’s old school, cheap, and it works…period.
When the chocolate milk post workout recovery strategy is NOT such a good idea…
But here’s the thing…drinking chocolate milk for a post workout recovery drink is ONLY a good idea if you’ve had an “intense” workout and really fatigued and broken down your muscles. This is for demanding workouts where you’re actually breaking down muscle fibers.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you’re doing a light resistance or cardio workout that’s not very intense FORGET using this or any other post-workout receovery drink/shake. Your body just won’t need it and you’ll end up storing fat from the excess sugars and carbs intead of FEEDING the muscle.
I hope I’m clear on this and it makes sense…I’ve seen a lot of people not even break a sweat in the gym and think they’re doing good by having a post workout drink/shake/smoothie or whatever. The reality is they didn’t work hard enough for their muscles to need it and they’ve just downed a bunch of carbs likely going to fat instead.
The research on the benefits of chocolate milk as a post-workout recovery drink.
Listed below I’ve shown the latest research on this subject that I found reported by Charlene Laino in the WebMD Health News.
June 4, 2010 — Fat-free chocolate milk beat out carbohydrate sports drinks at helping to rebuild and refuel muscles after exercise, researchers report.
The combination of carbohydrates and protein in low-fat chocolate milk appears to be “just right” for refueling weary muscles, says William Lunn, PhD, an exercise scientist at the University of Connecticut.
“It’s not just a dessert item, but it’s very healthy, especially for endurance athletes,” Lunn tells WebMD.
The research involved eight male runners in good physical shape who ate a balanced diet for two weeks. At the end of each week, they took a fast paced, 45-minute run.
Following each run, the men drank either 16 ounces of fat-free chocolate milk or 16 ounces of a carbohydrate-only sports beverage with the same number of calories.
Post-exercise muscle biopsies showed increased skeletal muscle protein synthesis — a sign that muscles were better able to rebuild — after the milk drink, compared with the carb-only beverage.
Additionally, drinking fat-free chocolate milk led to a higher concentration of glycogen, or muscle fuel, in muscles 30 and 60 minutes after exercise, compared with the sports drink. Replenishing glycogen after exercise helps future performance, Lunn says.
The findings were presented at the American College of Sports Medicine conference in Baltimore this week.
While only men were studied, one would expect women to gain the same post-workout benefits from chocolate milk, he says. While the studies were small, there’s no reason not to reach for fat-free chocolate milk after your next workout, says sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, MS, RD, of Healthworks Fitness Center in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
“Athletes can consider it an inexpensive nutritional alternative to engineered sports beverages for help with post-workout recovery,” she tells WebMD.
The studies were supported by a grant from the National Dairy Council and National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board.
So there you have it…you don’t just have to take my word for it now. The “white coaters” even seem to agree on what I’ve been telling you all along.
Train hard, eat primal, live strong!
Shane Doll is a certified Charleston personal trainer, fat loss expert, speaker, and founder of Shaping Concepts Personal Training Studios. Learn more how you can receive a FREE no-obligations trial of his Charleston personal training programs and experience the Shaping Concepts difference for yourself.
Tags: chocolate milk for post workout recovery
Posted:
Thursday, July 1st, 2010 at 12:06 pm
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