BRT Insights - WW Kayaking & Hiking: After Sports Drinks Provide Carbohydrate & Protein for Recovery After Intense, Prolonged Workouts.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

After Sports Drinks Provide Carbohydrate & Protein for Recovery After Intense, Prolonged Workouts.

Extreme, all-day activities can deplete your body's reserves, so recovery drinks may be helpful to refuel your body.

Paddleboating, kayaking, rafting and many other sports provide vigorous, all-day fitness workouts. Recovery drinks may be helpful to replenish your body to be ready for another intense workout the following day.

• Protein Sports Drinks - Do they help athletes - Health Psychology Vanderbilt Univ.
"The two studies that researched the effectiveness of protein after exercise found compelling evidence that protein has an effect. While protein may not help you compete longer or faster, it can help you decrease muscle damage and soreness the next day."

• Carb-Protein Sports Drink Research Update - TrainingPeaks.
"Carbohydrate-protein sports drinks ... increase time to exhaustion, rehydrate athletes more effectively than carbohydrate-only sports drinks, reduce exercise-induced muscle damage, accelerate post-exercise muscle protein and glycogen synthesis and improve performance in a subsequent workout."

• Protein Sports Drinks Proven To Give Best Performance - ScienceDaily.
"drinks containing a mix of carbohydrate and protein are superior to carbohydrate-only drinks in improving cyclists' recovery from exercise."

• Adding Protein to Sports Drinks Fails to Boost Sports Performance - Senior Journal.
"Research also supports the practice of consuming protein after exercise to promote muscle recovery. However, the alleged benefit of consuming protein during exercise is controversial."

• Powering Muscles - Carb- Protein Sports Drink Better for Recovery.
"Liquid carbohydrate and protein supplements given early during a six hour post-exercise recovery period helped subjects better maintain subsequent time trial performance and power output, compared to supplements with carbohydrate alone."

Lowfat Chocolate Milk as an After Sports Recovery Drink.

• Milk - as good as sports drinks for athletes?: Consumer Reports Health Blog.
"there's been interest in the idea of using skim milk as an alternative to sports drinks. Naturally occurring sugar in milk, called lactose, gives it a similar concentration of carbohydrates to some leading sports drinks. Milk also contains electrolytes in the form of sodium and potassium."

• Chocolate Milk: Better than Sports Drinks? - NutritionData.com.
"Researchers at Indiana University are saying that chocolate milk is just as good as sports drinks in aiding recovery from intense exercise."

• Chocolate Milk: The New Sports Drink ? - CBS News.
"American swimmer Michael Phelps ... preferred to drink Carnation Instant Breakfast between races." "chocolate milk has an optimal ratio of carbohydrates to protein to help refuel tired muscles"

• Sports Drinks , Chocolate Milk & Water - spokanefitnesscoach.com.
"chocolate milk is actually a very good beverage to drink after strength training. It has the right balance of carbs and protein to help with muscle recovery."

• Post-Workout Sports Drink ? Try Cereal and Milk - medpagetoday.com.
"For refueling at home, "cereal and nonfat milk provide a less expensive whole food option as compared to sports drinks ... It also provides easily digestible and quality protein in the milk, which could promote protein synthesis and training adaptations."

Carbohydrate/Protein drinks readily available in our local grocery & drugstores.

Drinks that require refrigeration: Lowfat chocolate milk.
Drinks that don't require refrigeration: Ensure, Boost.
Powdered drink mixes: Carnation Instant Breakfast, milk powder + Nestle Nesquik.

After Sports Drinks Refuel Your Body After a Tough All-Day Workout!!

A full day of high-intensity class IV or class V kayaking, rafting, etc. will push your body to the limit! After Sports Drinks contain a higher level of carbohydrate to replenish your glycogen stores and some protein to rebuild your muscles. Intermediate and elite athletes may benefit from these rapidly-digested drinks to enable vigorous, prolonged workouts on consecutive days. If your body seriously needs refueling to be ready for another tough whitewater boating trip tomorrow you may want to start immediate refueling with a recovery drink at take-out before loading up your boats and driving to camp or to a restaurant for dinner.

Weekend warriors and occasional athletes may not have sufficient fitness to do a workout long enough or vigorous enough to require this kind of body replenishment. Although they can get sore and tired after doing more than they are accustomed to, unfit people who try using recovery drinks may only get fatter. For occasional athletes it may be best to focus on rehydration, stretching exercises, and a good, normal diet for recovery after workouts.