In this gym you may notice that we have a banner hanging in the back of the gym that says ‘PROGENEX’ this is a type of recovery drink & meal replacement shake, the creators of which sponsor our very own Michelle Kinney. The opinions on recovery drinks and meal replacement shakes are about as varied as the products they cover. Here is mine:
If you are trying to slim down you probably do not need to take any sort of recovery shake. However, if you are happy with where you are at physically and are looking for an easy meal or something to help give you more energy after a workout recovery shakes are a viable options. There are a plethora of different brands and varieties. I have had experience with a few
Muscle Milk – Muscle Milk is carried almost anywhere you can get groceries. While it tastes good, it has always had too much sugar for too little protein for me. I think if you are looking for a meal replacement shake or anything like that then Muscle Milk is a perfectly reasonable choice.
Gold Standard Premium Whey- I think this is carried exclusively at GNC but I cannot affirm that suspicion. This protein has significantly less sugar than muscle milk, and tastes decent as well. It’s a little bit more pricey, but not atrociously so. If you are looking for a meal replacement shake for post work-out or in the middle of the day and do not want the sugar of muscle milk this, I think, is the way to go
Chocolate Milk- The poor man’s recovery drink. Significantly more paleo than those listed above. It’s kind of the gray zone, if you will. It’s cheap comparatively speaking, however it also comes with alot of sugar. I would only suggest this for directly post work-out and even then only if you are looking to gain a few pounds and have more than one strenuous activity in a day. ?Milk should be avoided if you have an auto immune disease. ?Be careful with this one, in some people it can cause inflammation.
Progenex- the recovery drink made by CrossFitters for CrossFitters. This is a great young company with a great product. I loved Progenex and it has a pretty decent mix of sugar and protein and shouldn’t lead to an unnecessary weight gain if you don’t over do it. However it is on the higher end of the recovery drink spectrum. If you’ve got a little extra income and want an meal replacement shake or post-wod shake I highly recommend Progenex:Recovery.
Chocolate Coconut Water- This is not necessarily marketed as a recovery drink, however it has electrolytes galore and is less processed than almost anything out there. Regular coconut water is 100% pure paleo, however I am not a fan of the taste so the chocolate helps soothe my girlish taste buds. Again the chocolate coconut water is in the same gray zone as chocolate milk. It’s very affordable and available at your local Costco. If you happen to be a poor college student and need something quick and cheap chocolate coconut water is the way to go.
All in all, recovery shakes are not needed if you are not trying to gain weight, or you only do one workout a day. ?If you are only doing one workout a day, your glycogen stores will be replenished within 24 hours, so by then you should be ready to go again without spending the money.
Chris aka TI
Do you guys take recovery shakes? Which is your favorite?
Mike working on his ups! Click here to check out more pics on Flickr!
