Recently I’ve been wondering if protein/recovery drinks actually do anything for you.
I’ve been using maximuscle promax for 2 months and have noticed jack sh*t in my recovery or bodyweight. This stuff is also 50 euro a tub.
I’d like to know what shakes (or supplements) people have used that had noticible effects and would strongly recommend to me.
Thanks
Well it’s hard to say when you haven’t listed your training, diet, etc. I looked up the ingredients list for that product and it contains 23g PRO, 2g CHO, 2g Fat. Not much of a recovery drink there. Recovery formulas typically have a 2:1 or even 3:1 ratio of CHO:PRO. You aren’t getting the benefits of a recovery drink without a carbohydrate source added to the drink.
Sorry to say but protein shakes aren’t a quick fix-- just a convenient and easier way to fill any gaps you may have in your diet.
I’m aware they’re not a quick fix 
but i expected something decent when combined with my diet (good food, just hard to get enough calories).
I think for such small benefits of the drink I was considering spending the money on therapy.
So a good shake would be say 50g carbs/25g protein? I was led to believe that carbs were the spawn of satan in a protein shake.
I would even go up to 80-100grms of very fast acting carbs.
In a recovery drink carbs are the exact my friend. You need the carbs to start the insulin spike, shuttle the aminos to muscles, refill glycogen stores, etc. I agree with tamfb, post workout 80-100g is a good start. Carbs are NOT the enemy post workout.
My worry is that the carbs in these drinks will be mainly sugar. I just checked out surge recovery on T-nation which has 51g of carbs but 42g of sugar, I might as well eat a chocolate bar with my shake.
Not true, dextrose is a simple sugar, otherwise known as d-glucose. I’ve used dextrose post workout for months and have gotten leaner. All sugars are not equal. You could go with a maltodextrin powder as well, they’re very cheap in bulk. I bought 11 pounds of dextrose for 10 dollars at a local supplement store.
By the way, the Surge Recovery formula was in large part developed by John Berardi (who has a PhD). You are probably familiar with his work, if not I’d check out some of his articles. The man knows his stuff.
Go read any scholarly article about carbohydrate-protein drinks for recovery and most if not all will conclude carb-protein mixtures are far more effective than protein alone.
I normally recommend to my athletes if they are going to eat a candy bar post workout is the best time for that type of activity.
Thanks for the education guys. Time to get a shake with carbs!
No problem! Glad to be of help. Let us know how it goes and if you feel better, recovery, body comp, etc.
I agree that chocolate milk kick ass pwo. Even more in pre-w situation (If you are not fat to begin with).
First, recovery drinks and PWO shakes are two different things. Recovery drinks usually refer to drinks used to replenish electrolytes etc., maybe something a sprinter might use between races. PWO shakes are designed to be used after a serious workout, on the track or in the gym, to spike insulin levels allowing for more rapid and complete protein synthesis for muscle repair while limiting the catabolic effects of cortisole, among other things. Carbs are very useful for generating the insulin spike, but you still need the quality protein. Check out www.trueprotein.com. They have many very inexpensive, good quality, pre-mixed, protein powders including PWO shakes. You can also customize your own shake. They have a sale going on now on a whey protein mix that comes out to around thirty-five cents per serving (23g of protein). You can add the sugar of your choice, and/or oats, and waxy maize. You can also customize the flavors. This seems to be the supplier of choice for many bodybuilders and powerlifters I know from other boards.
I don’t want to get into a huge discussion on this, but Chocolate Milk post-workout is a complete joke! Read the actual study, not what some one who knows nothing about actually says. My Fiance is a C.S.C.S. and an R.D. and if you read the actual study, it is garbage.
Actual study used 9 people! Those nine people were tested on post-workout recovery of chocolate milk versus gatoraid only, not a protein and carb milk. No shit that it showed up that chocolate milk tested out better, it’s a carb and protein versus a carb only. They did not test whey protein and simple carbs versus chocolate milk. I wonder why. Also, this one study was funded by the dairy counsel. And they blew it up to make it seem that it was a good post workout option. Then once it got out, everyone else just ran with it without even knowing where the data or info came from. It drives me crazy. It’s such marking hype. I could go on forever about this.
I agree, this research is BS, for pwo there is better options available than chocolate milk. But It is still a good option in my opinion.
But as a pre workout chocolate milk kick ass and I haven’t been able to find something that can fuel me for so long. The casein in milk is also great and the digestion of carbs is not enough fast to create a glycemic crash like some sugar formula.
Just my experience and some warriors in the gym, no BS research
p.s thank you for the BS alarm! It’s important to question “science”
Including that put forth by the supplement suppliers.
I use Proglyscosyn with my guys. There is a huge difference when we don’t take it. I have noticed it myself as well. It can be pricy, but it’s worth it.
Proglyscosyn is whey isolate and dextrose, a good combo, but it comes in at over $2.00 per 25g of protein. That is pricy. I think there are many other options, consisting of the same basic ingredients, that are a lot more affordable. How is the taste?
I use whey concentrate from true protein, 5 lbs for like 25 dollars, and bulk dextrose. Way cheaper, taste isn’t bad either.