Fun and Fitness for the 40-Something

Remember when Gatorade was a break-through innovation, mainly used by professional athletes? Now store shelves are lined with a wide, neon-colored array of sports drinks targeted at the run-of-the-mill exerciser. But how do you choose? Do you want a drink with carbs or protein? Or both? The results of a recent study should make the choice easier. And the best news is that there’s a far tastier (in my humble, chocolate-loving opinion) option than typical sports drinks.

A study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that drinks with a mix of carbohydrate and protein were more effective than carbohydrate-only drinks in improving cyclists’ recovery from exercise. The mixture, given early during a six-hour post-exercise recovery period, helped the cyclists better maintain subsequent time-trial performance and power output.

In the study, 15 male cyclists (ranging in cycling ability from recreational to elite) completed a time trial where they cycled as far as they could in 60 minutes on exercise bikes. After a morning session, they rested for six hours and consumed either a protein-containing sports drink or a carbohydrate-only version. Both formulas had the same energy content.

After their six-hour rest, the cyclists did another 60-minute time trial. According to the lead researcher, “Both groups showed a reduction in performance in the afternoon session. However, the reduction in distance traveled and power output during the afternoon exercise was significantly less among those who had the protein and carbs drink, relative those who just had the carbs.”

The takeaway seems to be that we should go for post-workout drinks that have both carbs and protein. I’m not a fan of sports drinks, so I don’t know which brands have which ingredients. But I do know of one appealing alternative that boasts an impressive carb-protein combo: chocolate milk. One cup provides approximately 26 grams carbohydrate and 8 grams of protein. And research backs it up as an effective and nutritional recovery aid, so drink up.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 8:03 am and is filed under General Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.