Written by Gunther Niklas
Your post exercise routine can have a big impact on fitness gains and athletic performance. Most swimmers often neglect an after swimming recovery plan. Recovery is an essential part of training. It allows you to train harder at the next practice. After completing a challenging practice, serious swimmers need to start thinking about recovery. Intense exercise depletes the body of glucose. To maximize glucose replacement, the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Dietetic Association recommend taking in a serving of carbohydrates within 30 minutes after a long and vigorous workout. During these thirty minutes, your body is best able to absorb nutrient, making it vital to get some high quality protein and complex carbohydrates back into the body as soon as possible.
Chocolate milk has been gaining popularity recently as a post workout recovery drink. At the Eastern States Clinic, Dara Torres mentioned drinking chocolate milk as a post workout recovery. Before endorsing his own brand of post recovery drink, Michael Phelps would drink instant milk after workouts.
Several studies have shown that plain old chocolate milk may be as good -- or better -- than sports drinks like Gatorade at helping athletes recover from strenuous exercise. One such study, published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, helped to counter the notion that high-tech, expensive supplements are better than whole foods when it comes to athletic performance. They also note that milk contains key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, in quantities that sports drinks can't match.
Milk vs. Sports Drinks
Common sports drinks such as Gatorade supply those carbohydrates, as well as
fluids and electrolytes lost through sweat. However, more recent research
suggests that adding protein to the mix may further hasten recovery. Hence the
new wave of drinks such as Endurox R4 that include protein as well as higher
doses of carbs.
In the study, nine male cyclists rode until their muscles were depleted of
energy, then rested four hours and biked again until exhaustion. During the
rest period, the cyclists drank low-fat chocolate milk, Gatorade, or Endurox
R4. During a second round of exercise, the cyclists who drank the chocolate
milk were able to bike about 50% longer than those who drank Endurox, and about
as long as those who drank the Gatorade.
The findings suggest that chocolate milk has an optimal ratio of carbohydrates
to protein to help refuel tired muscles, researcher Joel M. Stager, PhD,
Indiana University kinesiology professor, tells WebMD.
It also has been estimated, that more
than two-thirds of teenagers should be drinking more milk anyway because they
don't get enough calcium in their diets.
Drinking milk for its vitamin D and potassium content is also a bonus
for athletes.
Cheryl Zonkowski, director
of sports nutrition at the University of Florida, said reduced-fat chocolate
milk is offered to about 530 student-athletes. "It contains 170 total
calories, with 29 grams of carbohydrates and 8 grams of protein, a 3.6-to-1
ratio. Optimal recovery ratio for carbs to protein is between 3-to-1 and
4-to-1," Zonkowski said. Milk also contains vitamins A, D, B-6 and B-12;
plus niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc.
Each week, athletes from
among the University of Florida's 12 Gator teams drink 12 cases of 50,
eight-ounce containers of 1 per cent chocolate milk available in weight rooms
and training facilities. Timing is important since optimal recovery takes place
immediately to about 30 minutes following exercise, Zonkowski said.
Other everyday foods are also being touted as fitness fuel. University of Texas researchers found that a bowl of whole-grain cereal, such as corn flakes or bran flakes, and milk are also great for post-exercise recovery.
Sources:
Chocolate milk athletes, October 21, 2009, Susan Salisbury The Palm Beach postStudy Shows Chocolate Milk May Help Athletic Performance, By Melissa McNamara
Eastern States Clinic, October 17-18, 2009.
Karp, J. International Journal of Sport
Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2006; (16: 78-91). "Nutrition and athletic
performance -- Position of the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of
Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine,"
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/adap1200.cfm. Svrluga, Barry, "Olympics
Swim Trials," Washington Post, July 13, 2004,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44785-2004Jul12.html. Jeanne
Johnston, department of kinesiology, Indiana University at Bloomington. Joel M.
Stager, PhD, department of kinesiology, Indiana University at Bloomington;
Keith Ayoob, EdD, RD, associate professor of pediatrics, Albert Einstein
College of Medicine. Edward F. Coyle, PhD, professor, kinesiology and health
education, University of Texas. Roberta Anding, clinical and sports dietitian,
Texas Children's Hospital, Houston.
