Recovery shakes or something else.. Help!

James07

James07

James07

Soldato
Joined
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West Yorkshire
Currently I use this but I don't feel I notice a difference using it and I need to.

I need something that'll help me recover fast, help build my strength fast and also aid weight loss if possible. The first two are a must.

The stuff I've bought in the past is 8 quid more expensive now too, any ideas?
 
I've been working on my diet this past two month
I've changed it a lot and for the better and lost over a stone in 7 weeks.

My legs are ruined on my way home from work. I need them to recover faster.
 
The problem being here is that running in a calorie deficit to lose weight is not conclusive to good recovery unless you get your diet really nailed even then your recovery will be no where near as good as when running in a surplus.
 
I've just started the gym regularly and have started using SIS's Rego Recovery. I find it works quite effectively and does exactly what it says. You still feel like you've been, but I find I feel far better after it and have no dead leg like feelings or anything. Might be worth a try.
 
Ryan-3 said:
I've just started the gym regularly and have started using SIS's Rego Recovery. I find it works quite effectively and does exactly what it says. You still feel like you've been, but I find I feel far better after it and have no dead leg like feelings or anything. Might be worth a try.
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Eat some fruit and 100g of lean meat, that'll give you pretty much exactly the same in terms of carbs/protein and be real food.
These shakes are not magic, they're just another way of getting the nutrients in which can be done just as well if not better with whole foods.
 
As above, running a kcal deficit really knackers your recovery.

What do you mean by "sorted your diet" btw? I can lose weight by eating really bad food that isn't great for recovery. I do it all the time and feel like cack actually :p If you could give us a breakdown of what you're eating we could poke holes in your diet..I mean..give you helpful tips.
 
That wiggle stuff is expensive and rubbish.

I have a shake after any exercise along side a proper "refuel meal" (protein, good fats, carbs etc)

Check out Myprotein website - good quality and decent prices (2.5kg bag for around £25/£30 compared with 1.1kg for £32 from wiggle)
 
Probably more a question of meal timing if you're struggling on the way back from work? In that position I would probably eat a relatively high carb breakfast after riding to work and leave yourself some space to have a snack before riding home.

Don't forget the key to exercising on a calorie deficit... coffee. :D
 
FrenchTart said:
Ditch the snake oil and just consume some food that has a bit of protein, fat and lots of carbs.
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This.

I do a lot of running, not cycling, but the principle is the same. After a big run I have a large glass of sports drink (from powder), this is only to ensure body salts are raised after sweating because if you drink plain water your body tends to expel it (pee) until your electrolytes are better balanced. This mainly an issue for long sweaty exercise periods in the summer, if I dont sweat then plain water.

Next up is a big glass of milk with a shot of fresh espresso. Milk is an excellent recovery drink with fats, sugars and protein, plus calcium. Caffeine has been shown to reduce recovery times, but I simply like it as a mental boost to fight post-exercise tiredness (I workout in the morning before work).

If I did a really big workout I will add a scoop of protein powder unless I have time to really get some protein rich food in me quickly.This is fairly optional but after along run there is a lot of muscle damage, the sooner that can start being repaired the better. If I have time then I will make a big sandwich with eggs, deli meat or roast chicken, some cheese, or even make a cooked meal with grilled chicken and quinoa salad etc. This takes time which i don't have during the week, so protein powder is an easy quick fix.



Lastly, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, is plenty of carbohydrates. Thick slice of toast and peanut butter + banana, bowl of porridge with nuts and berries etc. Carbs are more beneficial post exercise than protein, especially over a longer workout where glycogen levels are depleted.

It takes up to 48 hours to restored depleted glycogen stores, so the sooner you can have big quantities of carbs the sooner you can do a next round of of long exercise.
 
tom_e said:
The problem being here is that running in a calorie deficit to lose weight is not conclusive to good recovery unless you get your diet really nailed even then your recovery will be no where near as good as when running in a surplus.
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This, recovery requires eating plenty of food. During my peak marathon training I typically gain weight despite burning around 1700 a day on average with some days over 3000 calories from running alone. For the 24 hours following my long runs I basically don't stop eating, every hour I will get an urge for food, that is just the body signalling the brain that more food is needed for recovery.


If you want to really loose weight then you likely have to cut the exercise volume back a notch. I was loosing eight running 50 miles a week, I am at a steady weight running 70miles a week, at 80 miles a week I start gaining weight without a lot of control.
 
randomshenans said:
^^ haha I'm in a deficit and it's killer. I sometimes just find my legs are shot, but I'm running fairly low on carbs daily (121g), which doesn't help when I'm trying to do ~150km a week riding.
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That is your problem, get your carbs way up there, 80% calories form carbs if you are doing a lot of exercise.
 
D.P. said:
This, recovery requires eating plenty of food. During my peak marathon training I typically gain weight despite burning around 1700 a day on average with some days over 3000 calories from running alone. For the 24 hours following my long runs I basically don't stop eating, every hour I will get an urge for food, that is just the body signalling the brain that more food is needed for recovery.


If you want to really loose weight then you likely have to cut the exercise volume back a notch. I was loosing eight running 50 miles a week, I am at a steady weight running 70miles a week, at 80 miles a week I start gaining weight without a lot of control.
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I always find intensity determines my eating needs, if I have a hard ride I'm hungry for a lot longer after, and like you want to constantly eat. If it is just a casual social of say 60 miles I have a much lower appetite for the rest of the day.

The crappy feeling of recovery does go away once you get used to it, I've been running a deficit (notably carb) since the new year and have dropped about 4kg (first 2kg were probably water from a heavy christmas) But this was more lower intensity longer efforts, where I wasn't in bad shape from smashing my muscles to pieces. If I tried this a year ago I think I would have definitely have suffered more, but body is trained a lot better now!
 
SoliD said:
I always find intensity determines my eating needs, if I have a hard ride I'm hungry for a lot longer after, and like you want to constantly eat. If it is just a casual social of say 60 miles I have a much lower appetite for the rest of the day.

The crappy feeling of recovery does go away once you get used to it, I've been running a deficit (notably carb) since the new year and have dropped about 4kg (first 2kg were probably water from a heavy christmas) But this was more lower intensity longer efforts, where I wasn't in bad shape from smashing my muscles to pieces. If I tried this a year ago I think I would have definitely have suffered more, but body is trained a lot better now!
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IF you exercise at a lower intensity then you can use more body fat for energy vs glycogen. Burning fat from exercise tends not to signal your brain to rapidly replace those lost calories, you have fat reserves for a reason. When you exercise at a higher intensity you use a higher and higher proportion of glycogen, depleted glycogen sends a very strong signal to your brain to re-stock as quickly as possible.

You also burn far more energy exercising harder, you tend to get less efficient compounding energy loss per distance, and at least on a bike obviously there is a big increase in wind resistance.

If you are on a low-carb diet (a bad idea for serious exercise) then the difference between slow and fast/hard workouts will be compounded. You will not have large glycogen stores to readily available and your body will be more adapted to using fat. there has been a lot of research into low-carb diets for marathon running because the biggest issue for "marathons is hitting the wall", when you simply run out of glycogen and collapse. It seems appealing that training under a diet high in protein and fat and somewhat restricted in carbs will help adapt the body to run a marathon using more fat. In reality it doesn't work and in all the trials a high carb diet performs much better. Low-carb wasn't disastrous but participants suffer form lower training quality and saw no advantage during actual races.


If your ultimate goal is to loose weight then a calorie deficit with non-optimal carbs is likely effective and the additional fat will help keep the starving feeling reduced. If your goal is the best training, optionally with some weight loss, then a smaller deficit is needed and you should cut out the fats and replace *some* of those calories with additional carbs.
 
I no expert, and I don't have a specific diet, I have a high metabolism and every person is different, but if I feel I need to recover, I normally drink a "goodness Shakes" recovery drink, seems to work for me.

The other option I have because of when I'm eating meals and what types of meals, I sometimes eat a recovery bar from high 5 or a protein bar if I need the protein
 
I dont limit my carbs at all, they're the only thing that give me decent energy.

I usually eat like curry and rice or beans on toast or ravioli on toast or chilli etc. Small portions as I'm trying to loose weight. I follow that up a few hours later with a bowl of frosties or porridge. As soon as I get to work i have my bananas. I usually have two. Sometimes I'll get a Muffin from Sainsburys too.

I've cut my energy drinks out, I used to have 2 a day minimum but now I have maybe 1 a week.. I've cut chocked and crisps completely.

I arrive at work at 6 pm and eat, I'll have small meal at 9:30pm usually cereal sometimes nothing and then a decent meal at 1am. I then don't eat until the following night as I don't get home tI'll around 7:30am and I go straight to bed hence the shake.

Maybe I should look a protein shake instead of a recovery shakeep.

I've lost 9kg since January 1st this year
 
I'm going to be totally blunt, your diet sounds **** and it's no wonder you're not recovering.
From that it sounds like you're eating one decent meal at 1am and the rest is just rubbish, what does your 1am meal normally contain?
 
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