Itsjustb

God, I must be getting old...I'm talking about Ensure!

I'd like to get some opinions on Ensure drinks as a recovery drink and/or a protein supplement. I'm very skinny (8.5% body fat) and smallish (5'9" or so, 140 lbs). I'd like to 1) build more muscle (I've given up on gaining weight by adding fat) and 2) recover better from exercise (I bike up to 20 miles, do 10 miles round trip every day, and play Ultimate Frisbee when I can).

I've attached the nutritional info from the type of Ensure I'm drinking (the added protein variety) as pictures--the web site didn't have a text version I could copy-and-paste.

Thanks for the input!

Beej

Jarery

I commute almost double what you do every day and don't require any expensive 'recovery' powders. If i do a brevet or fast century on a Sunday and want to commute on Monday, I'll do a recovery drink then. I'm not quite old yet, but I'm pushing close to 50. If i do a fast ride home and feel drained, whey powder mixed with milk/smoothie type drink is all I need.

Commuting home in the early evening leaves enough time till the following morning to recover normally just by eating dinner, snacks, etc without doing anything special. Recovery drinks are made for recovering in a short time period. But marketing makes us all by into it

Itsjustb

Thanks Jarery. Yeah, you're right. Tho I do know I felt a lot better when I drank Endurox religiously after Ultimate....just not good enough to justify $33 for 28 servings.

The_Spaniard

you found one of my secrets, i use ensure, yes i know im only 19, wateva it works great between meals, specially when you take protein powder allot it nice to get a change in taste. plus they dont taste bad at all. I discovered it because my mom runs a in home care facility which she gives all her patients/clients wateva you want to call them ensure to boost there diets. Really ensure is good stuff tho. wash it down with some gatorade or watered down gatorade and u got a good post workout combo.

pista

My recovery drink is water, lots of it.

Machka 

Long distance cyclists of all ages use Ensure.

I drink it for a pre-ride breakfast because I can't stomach solid food at the hours of the morning I get up to do my rides (3 am, 5 am, etc.).

I drink it toward the end of my 300K+ rides when I start having digestive problems.

And sometimes I drink it after too.

sharptailhunter

Sorta along the same lines, I use Slimfast as a recovery drink. I think it has been working well. Has some sugars, protein, and fats. Chug one chilled after a hot ride, it's great!

volball

+1

buddyp

just a heads-up - slimfast has lactose in it, so if you have a problem with lactose stay away. Ensure (at least some kinds of it) are lactose and gluten free. I use it (and the generic store knock-off) sometimes after rides, like when I'm away from home and I can't make my usual post ride drink

Longfemur

Yuck, too much protein as a recovery drink for me. I think I would throw up. Much prefer carbs pre and post ride if necessary. They get absorbed faster. Ensure or any other protein source would be fine later on though (although I personally think it's better to eat actual food). My favourite recovery drink after a ride is actually fruit bar popsicles.

EJ123

Yum, corn syrup..

ronjon10

Ensure (non high protein varieties) has the "magic" 4-1 carb / protein ratio. It really works well for me as a recovery drink. It does have hfcs in it, which is actually fine for recovery, but I don't touch ensure otherwise.

feethanddooth

i drink muscle milk all natural version for recovery. but i split the amount of powder in half. with milk it ends up around 40g of protein. no carbs in it but thats what food in the following hour is for. only drink it on either long or very hard short rides(1 to 1 1/2 hours race pace). find it keeps me feeling fresh for the commute/ride/race the next day

Machka 

Then I take it you wouldn't enjoy a recovery pizza? After my rides I eat whatever I want.

EJ123

That's a lot of fat for after workout.

Machka 

Mmmmm ... fat!!

But you've got to ride for several hours before consuming the fat, to offset the calorie intake.

Machka 

Here you go .... "What RAAM Riders Really Eat"
(in case you didn't know, the RAAM is the Race Across America: https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/sub...?N_webcat_id=1 )


https://www.ultracycling.com/nutritio...iders_eat.html

Note how Ensure rates #1 on the list!
Note how pizza is #2.

zonatandem

Real food and water are my standbys.
Fruit and maybe granola type bar, dextrose. Water is great. On long rides (200 Mi) used to carry one bottle of double strength tea (caffeine).
Most of this fancy supplements stuff is pricey/tasteless/hype.

Velo Fellow

For cheap, "real" food while riding...Prunes. They're moist, easily chewable, carb rich, easy to carry. Grapes are refreshing but pop them with your front teeth...I damn near choked on a whole one last fall.

Post ride, I mix a little Ovaltine with milk and whey protein....and then follow with water, cereal and fruit or somesuch. Like others, I'll drink Ensure or SlimFast just before early morning rides.

pista

Recovery drinks and food is all marketing. Just go about the rest of the day like normal. Eat normal, relax a little and sleep good. Sleep is probably the best recovery drink there is. Ensure is nothing but ensuring that you will spend more money on nothing.

sharptailhunter

I agree with the sleep but disagree with the rest. There is another topic about recovery being discussed on this forum as well. Some interesting thoughts. One thing I have a hard time with is when someone on these forums makes some statement such as "ensuring that you will spend more money on nothing", when he has no proof to back it up. It's easy to make some sort of empty statement like that and hide behind some screen avatar's name. Heck, even some anecdotal evidence, such as "I have found this to work or not work for me" is better than meaningless blanket statements. If you really want to convince me one way or another, use the scientific method and do a test then I may believe you.

The_Spaniard

recovery drinks help, and im sure most people who use them actually use them for there purpose, and not as meal replacements etc. I use them because really it does make recovery form workouts allot faster. Anything cna be a recovery meal/drink as long a sit has the nutrients needed to resupply the body etc. Recovery drinks and ensure and such have good amount of nutrients so i use them and i see results. Completely agree with sharptail.