Protein Shake
Protein Shakes vs. Recovery Drinks I’ve noticed that a lot of people seem to confuse recovery drinks with protein shakes. I remember that the difference between the two was a big eye-opener for me and my hubby when he was first starting out.
- Protein Shake – A protein shake is simply a form of protein replacement. It’s an optional way for you to drink one of your protein servings as outlined by the . This is helpful because the first phase of the program requires a very large amount of protein – larger than your typical “healthy” diet. When you are a Level III and are required to down 9 protein servings per day, the option to drink one or two can be a lifesaver, rather than, say, eating 27 ounces of chicken!
- Recovery Drink - Your recovery drink serves a specific scientific purpose – speeding muscle recovery and reducing soreness, and therefore allowing you to continue to work hard day after day. The science behind this is that muscle growth occurs when you harm your muscles. You work out, lifting weights or doing pullups, etc., and it causes micro tears in your muscles. This is the cause of soreness. Then your body repairs those tears, and in the process adds a little bulk. Repeat this process over and over, and you get muscle growth. Your muscle actually uses sugar to repair these tears – thus the recovery drink is a sugary drink that provides your body with the tools it needs to fill in the gaps quickly. The more effectively it does this, the less sore you are the next day. Which also has the side-effect of letting you bring it more effectively the next day, and the next, and the next. The time-frame for this recovery drink is also important – you need to drink it within a half hour ofyour workout, and don’t eat or drink anything else other than water during that time, or you’ll mess up the ratio. Please also note that your recovery drink DOES NOT count as a protein or fruit serving, even if it has protein and fruit in it. The way the P90x nutrition plan works, one food counts for one serving – since the recovery drink is already accounted for in the plan, it will not count for anything else.
Regarding recovery drinks, my hubby used (Fruit Punch flavor), which is cheaper than the drink offered by P90x but seemed to be effective. While I was waiting for that to come in the mail, I used chocolate milk as his recovery drink. The key to a recovery drink is ensuring that it has a 4:1 carb to protein ratio. So whatever drink you use, look at the nutrition stats and make sure that if you multiply the grams of protein by 4 you get approximately the same number as the Total Carbs (give or take a few). If your chocolate milk doesn’t have enough carbs in it to give it that ratio, you can add sugar to make it correct. 1/4 tsp of sugar adds 1 gram of carbohydrate. (I know it feels weird to be adding sugar and drinking a high-carb drink during a low-carb diet, but post-workout is the one instance when it is beneficial. Just remember, your body needs sugar to repair the micro-tears in the muscle and reduce soreness. Rest assured that the P90x nutrition plan is designed taking a high-carbrecovery drink into account and it won’t hurt your results.) ***3/6 update – Several great ideas gleaned from comments below: 1) Instead of adding sugar to your chocolate milk, you could add Agave Nectar for a “cleaner” way to add carbs than white sugar. 1 tbl of nectar has 16 carbs, 15 sugars and 0 protein and 0 fat. So a tsp of nectar is about 5 g carbs. 2) As an alternative to Accelerade, you can try , which according to Nic below, is from the same people who make Accelerade and is closer in formulation to the p90x recovery drink than Accelerade. It has 50 more calories, but still has the 4:1 ratio, plus L-Glutamine and L-Arginine for recovery just like the P90x drink. Nic also adds creatine to this (see my P.P.S. before you decide to do that though!).***
Just for your information, Beachbody’s recovery drink has 220 calories – 39g carbs, 10g protein, and 2g fat.You might also want to search around a bit on the teambeachbody forums – I’ve seen various posts for yummy-sounding recovery drinks. As long as the ratio is correct, you can use almost anything.
Here are some P90x recovery drink alternative ideas that I’ve found on the forums: (see my P.S.)
- Chocolate milk (with sugar or Agave Nectar added as necessary to get the right ratio)
- 1 scoop of low fat frozen yogurt, 1 scoop organic peanut butter, 2 scoops frozen mixed berries, 1-2 scoops of protein powder, 1-2 cups of skim milk or water if you want to cut down calories. Blend until smooth. Serves 2-4 people.
- 1-2 scoops protein, 1-2 scoops fruit of your choice, add milk or water
- Skim milk, lite chocolate syrup, and a scoop of chocolate protein powder
- 1 scoop whey protein powder, 1 scoop of creatine powder (before you do this, please see my P.P.S!), 5 fresh berries, and blend
- 12 oz Gatorade, 5 oz apple juice, 0.5 scoop whey protein powder, water
- 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops of whey protein powder, 1 banana, 2 ice cubes
- 6 oz. grape juice and 2 tsp. whey protein powder
- 1/2 scoop of your favorite protein only powder (no carbs or lil’ carbs), and 3 strawberries, or half a banana, or a table spoon of brown sugar, or 15 blue berries…and all this in 500ml of water
- 2 scoops of strawberry whey protein powder, 8 oz water, 1/2 cup of strawberries, 1 tablespoon of strawberry nestle quik
- 2 scoops of vanilla whey protein powder, 8 oz skim milk, 1/2 cup strawberries, 2 kiwis, add ice if you want
- 2 scoops of vanilla whey protein powder, 8 oz skim milk, 1/2 cup of mixed berries, add ice if you want
Another recommendation I saw on the forums was to avoid drinks that include “Crystalline Fructose” which is basically the same as High Fructose Corn Syrup.
***3/5 Update: Vegan Recovery Drink Options
- Lifted from the : Mix 12 ounces of apple or grape juice with soy, pea, or rice protein. (The article suggests avoiding hemp protein, because the fiber in it slows absorption.) Powders tend to vary in calorie amounts, so do the math. You’ll want approximately 10 to 12 grams of protein to the 45 grams of sugar you’ll find in the juice. You’re shooting for a carb-to-protein ratio of between 3 to 1 and 5 to 1.
