Feed Me! [Post Work Out Recovery Drinks]

A short while back when I did a post on my Edinburgh Marathon Training Plan, there was a short section called ‘Feed Me’ that briefly covered my fuel strategy. In trying to figure out what post run recovery route to take I asked on Twitter and received a few responses. Promax Recovery powder, Friji Milkshakes and Lucozade Sport Recovery Powder were the main suggestions.

I haven’t managed to get my hands on Promax Recovery yet, however I have tried the following after my workouts:

SIS REGO Lucozade Sport Frijj Milkshake

Firstly, I have to make it clear that I am not a nutritionist. Any comments I make I’m only going by info I’ve learned from reading up on the interwebs.

I’ll try and keep it all pretty concise. That way, if you need any more info you can search and read up further before making any decision for yourself. The review will be broken into 3 sections: Nutritional Value, Availability/Price, Taste then a round up.

Nutritional Value

I pulled together the table below which shows what’s going into your body (carbs & protein at least) when you take it:

Any cells highlighted green are where I’m estimating that it beats the other recovery drinks. I left the sodium cells with no fill as I’m not sure on this. I was under the impression that you lost Sodium when sweating (?). From the amount of green cells, you might want to assume that Lucozade Sport, in this instance comes out as best for you per serving. However, it doesn’t provide as much protein of carbs, per serving as the other two. This is no doubt down to the fact that Lucozade Recovery has the smallest serving amount out of the 3.

Personally, from the table above, I’d say the SIS REGO Recovery comes out pretty well. It has a low sugar count, which can only be good

If it’s protein & carbs in sheer brute force you’re after then the Frijj milkshake tops the lot with a massive 19.5g of protein and 63g of carbs per serving!

Word of warning however. The Frijj milkshake is made of just that, milk. After reading a few articles and forums on the web and the packaging on the SIS product, it became clear that milk based products are digested slower than those mixed with water and therefore you may not receive the maximum value from the product after your workout.

Both the SIS & Lucozade products recommend mixing their powders with water. SIS recommend drinking within 20minutes of finishing exercise for max benefit. Lucozade recommend drinking soon after exercise. Since Frijj isn’t actually a sports product, they just want you to enjoy it straight from the fridge.

Availability/Price

Lucozade

I could only find this to buy online and at my local Tesco. NO WHERE ELSE!! pretty shocking actually. In terms of cost, it’s £9.99 per small tub (380g) which provides 10 servings (99p per serving).

SIS REGO

Again, this is available online. The only ‘real’ location I could find this product was my local running shop. In terms of cost, it’s £9.99 for a 500g tub which provides 10 servings (99p per serving).

Frijj

You can get them almost everywhere. A 500ml bottle (1 serving) will cost anywhere between 49p – £1.05 dependant on where you buy and what deals are on at the time.

Taste

Lucozade

Tropical? Hmmm, that’s debatable. That said, it mixes relatively well and you get used to the taste. Just don’t shake it in a shaker to mix otherwise you’ll have a couple of litres of foam rather than a drink.

I’ll give it 3 out of 5 for taste.

SIS REGO

The only one I’ve tried here is strawberry flavour. Actually, it’s pretty nice. tasted kind of like Nesquick. It didn’t mix so well and at the end of the drink there were a few lumpy bits which wasn’t so pleasant.

I’ll give it 4 out of 5 for taste.

Frijj

Frijj come in a wide range of flavours but my favourite is chocolate. I love Frijj. But, they are very sweet.

I’ll give it 4 out of 5 for taste

Round Up

So, you’ve read my brief guide to 3 post run recovery drinks. They all have their pros & cons, like high protein & carb content but slow to digest, etc. It all depends on individual need and preference at the end of the day. But, I’m going to pick one as a favourite and one that I’ll continue to use for the foreseeable over the rest.

SIS REGO Recovery.

I think this provides a good balance of post run nutritional needs, good taste and it’s a little easier to get a hold of for me than the Lucozade product. Although, that’s not to say i wont have the odd Frijj now and again.

I’d love to hear any comments and suggestions you might have on recovery supplements, so please submit a comment!

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runningfairy says : April 10, 2010 at 4:37 am
Great review Paul!

Its tough as I think depending on what you want to achieve, is dependant on what exactly it is you want from a recovery drink. Also, obviously, how long youre out on your feet for.

In my eyes, you want something that:

a) isn’t going to mean you have to remortgage the house – but again, this is dependant on where your priorities lie, and as runners, we take ourselves pretty seriously, but there is a limit. If you’re buying promax every two weeks, thats more than a David Lloyd gym membership per month (£80 in case youre unsure). So for ME I look at the protein/carb calculations and wonder if I need the suggested ‘serving size’ and get round it by having one scoop instead of two within each drink.

b) Gets the balance between weight management and recovery. This is also v tricky. We all get so caught up in protein/carb/fat grams and generally tend to over estimate our actual needs as runners. Unless we’re doing ultras or marathons weekly, there is only a small increase for carbs as the body can only store a fixed amount in the muscles as glycogen (and yeap, the rest gets stored as fat). A GREAT book that covers a lot of this is by Fernstrom, called The Runners Diet (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Runners-Diet-World/dp/1594862052). Regardless of where you are with your diet its worth a read as she uses a nice balance of actual food and supplements to get the best from your training. Solid base in nutrition that is sports specific.

c) Something you like. So many supplements are grim. The Frijj is actually genius and works extremely well as a higher protein snack or ‘fast-food’ meal replacement if you’re out and about or if you’re unable to eat enough calories for training then it works well as a pre-bedtime snack. My only beef with it would be it is all simple carbs (sugar) so would make a great pre-run snack IF it wasn’t made with milk so it wasn’t so slowly released and a great POST-run snack if the protein was absorbed quicker (again with the milk), but again, depending on your goals and what you need to achieve using it between meals and sessions is a great idea as its relatively cheap and as long as you can tolerate milk, is also a good way to make sure you’re not gorgeing out on shop-bought goodies or sweets if you get caught out while you’re out.

I find all of this fascinating as unless you write down everything you eat and measure it all out you’ll never truely know what your carbs/protein/calorie intake is and I would be fascinated to know how out of line we all are (if at all) with our nutrient balance and exercise needs. I think, as boring as it is, and as obvious, like you said, I think if you’re even aware of what youre eating and how to maximise your recovery you’re more than likely achieving something positive if you’re aiming for a balanced diet. Supplement on the harder runs and don’t OD on sports drinks for the easier ones.

Thanks for this Paul, always a pleasure to read your work.

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Mel says : April 10, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Up until last week I never used recovery drinks. I always just had a massive glass of tropicana orange juice and a chocolate bar when I got back from a long run. That seemed to be doing the trick.

Last week and for the next 3 weeks up until my taper however I have also used SIS recovery drink as I use these gels on long runs too.

I honestly haven’t noticed a massive difference between my orange juice/chocolate bar routine and the SIS recovery drink.

I’m sure the SIS will be doing a better job helping my muscles tho so I’m gonna stick with it.

Anything that mighy help is a bonus. X

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sniktrunning says : April 14, 2010 at 11:30 am
Thanks for the comments folks. Great additional insight there!

I think something mentioned in b) is spot on, that unless we’re running marathons or Ultras all the time then post recovery drinks may be over used by lower mileage runners (myself included).

Mel – After long Sunday runs I used to do the fresh orange and choc (or something similar) thing too. Only difference being – which I read somewhere – that the fluid was half water, half orange with a small pinch of salt mixed in.

I’ll definitely be taking the suggestions on board. I also like the idea managing recovery supplement intake. If I don’t need as much, why use it! I’ll still use recovery drinks though, since as Mel says, anything that might help is a bonus.

Thanks for the professional advice V, you should charge for it in future

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runningfairy says : April 14, 2010 at 11:50 am
Ahhh behave Paul!! lol

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