Something I have often struggled with is getting the balance right for my nutrition when I’m training for an event. I find it all too easy to justify to myself that I have earned a slap-up takeaway after a week of training. Making sure you get the right balance of nutrients to allow your body to recover and to strengthen is really important. As I approach my race this is something I’m starting to focus on again. Time to put the Christmas binging behind me!
After you’ve pushed your body hard during a workout, you need to replace the fluid that has been lost through sweat and also the glycogen that you have used from your muscle stores. Glycogen is used as fuel during exercise, and is produced from the carbohydrates in your diet. If the body’s glycogen stores run low, you will feel tired easily when you are training. The storage of glycogen in the muscles is increased when protein and carbohydrate is consumed together, soon after exercise. The optimum ratio is around 3 to 4 parts carbohydrate to 1 part protein.
Perhaps surprisingly, low fat chocolate milk is a great recovery drink as it contains this ideal ratio of carbohydrate to protein. A study conducted by the University of Texas demonstrated that it performs well compared to purely carbohydrate based drinks. They conducted their research on trained cyclists who performed two high intensity workouts in the same day, taking either chocolate milk or a carbohydrate only supplement (of the same calorific value) after the first workout. Consuming chocolate milk post-exercise resulted in better recovery, as illustrated by physiological markers such as plasma insulin. The chocolate milk group also demonstrated improved performance in the second workout. Although this study was only on a small number of subjects, 5 male and 5 female, there has been subsequent studies performed that support these conclusions.
All of which is good news! Chocolate milk is not only good for me; it also satisfies my need for a reward after a workout. With my long runs starting to stretch out over an hour now, the promise of that reward makes the final couple of miles a little easier to bear.
By haley8 (Playa Potrero Road Trip Uploaded by JohnnyMrNinja) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
Running The Bath 