Chocolate Milk in your Recovery Program

The Grand Tour season has started for the pros and as summer approaches I hope to put some distance behind me on the bike as well. So far I have ridden over 2000 miles since January 1, including 5 centuries during the first two weeks of January and 500 miles all most all of those miles from just four rides in April.

I am always amazed at how these professional riders can knock out 200km day after day. One key to training for these rides is recovery. Coaches and athletes often tout the trifecta of Training, Diet and Recovery to make the greatest strides as an athlete and avoid injury.

Although it is not necessarily the latest news, I thought I would add a post on using simple old Chocolate Milk as a recovery drink over fancy and expensive alternatives with marketing names that scream "tech-science," and here is why:

"What’s exciting about this comparison is that both of these products have been highly heralded and hyped in their respective arenas. Surge in its exact formulation doesn’t have any peer-reviewed research behind it. However, Berardi et al reported that a solution of similar construction to Surge (33% whey hydrolysate, 33% glucose and 33% maltodextrin) was slightly superior for glycogen resynthesis at 6 hrs postexercise compared to a 100% maltodextrin solution[1]. Effects on muscle protein flux were not measured.

Chocolate milk has thus far had an impressive run in the research examining its applications to various sporting goals [2,3]. It has performed equally well for rehydration and glycogen resynthesis compared to carb-based sports drinks, and it has outperformed them (and soy-based drinks) for protecting and synthesizing muscle protein. A standout study in this area was a comparison of chocolate milk, Gatorade, and Endurox R4 (a sports drink with a 4:1 carb to protein ratio) [4]. Chocolate milk was equally effective as Gatorade for total work output and prolonging time to exhaustion. Interestingly, both of the latter products outperformed Endurox R4 in both tests. The researchers speculated that the use of maltodextrin rather than sucrose (yes, you read that correctly) as the dominant carbohydrate source was the Achilles heel of Endurox R4. More on the virtues of sucrose instead of straight glucose for exercise applications will be covered."

Read the full article here: Chocolate Milk