A review of the best recovery drinks and electrolyte drinks after exercise for muscle recovery, post workout recovery and to help restore electrolyte balance
The best supplements for muscle recovery
When you’ve finished a gym workout or done some intense exercise such as cycling or running, you need to ensure your body recovers quickly. Muscle fibres tear, you’re dehydrated, your glycogen levels are low and your immune system is tired. It is vital to feel hydrated, restore energy levels and feed your body with key nutrients soon afterwards. This can be achieved from electrolyte water and other electrolyte drinks, workout recovery drinks and protein recovery drinks.
To refuel after intense exercise, the ideal scenario is an intake of protein, carbohydrates and fluids. By taking these on board, your muscle tissues with repair, your strength with increase, your depleted glycogen stores will be restored, your muscle will build, your energy levels will increase and you’ll be ready to go again within 24-48 hours.
So after your workout, your ride, your run, your swim, or whatever sport you have taken part in (football, rugby, gymnastics, rowing etc.) it is vital to drink a recovery drink within 20 minutes of completion. You also need to eat a healthy and nutritious meal within an hour of finishing your exercise. This is often referred to as the ‘window of opportunity’.
Why 20 minutes?
This is when your body is most sensitive to insulin so your body can take on the nutrients quicker and start the rebuilding process. This is why many bodybuilders take Dextrose after a workout because the insulin spike will flush the sugars into your body and help restore your glycogen levels as well as aid the absorption of nutrients into the muscles.
So which are the best supplements recovery supplements and recovery shakes to take after a workout or other form of exercise? What else is needed for optimum recovery?
Athlete Store, For Goodness Shakes and Nectar Fuel discount codes
We have listed our four best supplements for post workout recovery and recovery after cycling, running etc below. We run many Athlete Store discount codes (who are the number 1 supplier of For Goodness Shakes and Nectar Fuel products) so make sure you check to see if any are available to use before you buy.
Nectar Fuel Hydro Tabs - Electrolyte tablets for muscle recovery
£6.99 for 20 Hydro Tabs
At first you might just think ‘I need a protein shake after a workout’ and that is it. Electrolyte drinks are often overlooked but they can make a big difference to your post workout recovery. If you’re wondering where to get electrolytes and want to find out why you should be using electrolytes in sports drinks then read on.
What are electrolytes and why should you use electrolyte tablets after exercise?
Sports drinks with electrolytes are for hydration to help maintain an electrolyte balance in your body after it has gone through the rigors of exercise. When you exercise, you sweat. When you sweat you lose nutrients such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. By losing these key nutrients, your future physical performance can be severely affected. Research has shown just a 2% loss of body weight through dehydration can lead to impaired performance.
So the addition of electrolytes after exercise helps maintain salt levels in your body and helps your body feel hydrated. Without these electrolytes, you may start to feel cramps, you may still feel dehydrated and your next workout or activity may be affected.
But don’t spend £2 on a sports drink with electrolytes in when you can buy electrolyte tablets and use them in water for 35p. NECTAR Fuel Hydro Tabs are therefore a great addition to your supplement cupboard making them one of the cheapest electrolytes online.
Electrolyte tablets have no negative side effects.
The health benefits of using electrolytes such as Nectar Fuel Hydro Tabs
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For Goodness Shakes Recovery Powder for muscle recovery
£21.60 for 12 x 72g sachets or £32.40 for 1.44kg tub
Athlete Store were kind enough to send me some sachets of this protein recovery drink ‘For Goodness Shakes Recovery Powder’ to sample for this review.
Having tried a few flavours, this protein recovery shake really does taste delicious. The banana recovery protein powder for instance isn’t too sweet and sugary like many protein powders. It has a strong banana taste and is creamy at the same time meaning it does actually taste like throwing some bananas in a blender.
As previously mentioned, after exercise such as a gym workout, taking on some protein for recovery is often important, particularly if you’re looking to build or maintain muscle mass.
Protein and carbohydrate muscle recovery shake after exercise
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For Goodness Shakes Recovery RTD (Ready To Drink) shake
£25.20 for 12 x 500g RTD bottles
Athlete Store also sent us two bottles of the ready to drink shake ‘For Goodness Shakes Recovery RTD’ and we were blown away with how good they tasted.
The milk chocolate flavour protein recovery drink was just like drinking a delicious silky chocolate milkshake that flows down your throat instantly. Forget some of the weak chocolate protein powder you can buy, this had a rich intense chocolate taste that actually tasted very chocolaty with no lumps that mixed with water instantly.
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Bronx Sport Max Performance Fuel for muscle recovery after exercise
£29.99 for 1kg tub or 2 x 1kg tubs for £54
Bronx Sport Max Performance Fuel is a bit different to the other three products mentioned. This is a recovery supplement but does not contain any protein in it. Instead it is packed full of some other key ingredients to help restore your energy levels and to build your strength. For example, each serving comes with 26g of carbs, 5g of Creatine and 72mg of ALA (alpha lipoic acid) to easily convert glucose into energy.
Max Performance Fuel contains dextrose to help restore energy levels after exercise so there is no need to buy a separate dextrose powder when you use this.
It is sold in a refreshing fruit flavour with a special deal current running for two 1kg tubs just £54 saving over £5 on your order.
Creatine for post workout recovery and recovery after sport
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ALA for post workout recovery and recovery after intense exercise
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