I like the Skratch recovery drink, but I was looking at the ingredients and it pretty much looks like chocolate milk with lactase for digestion (and probiotics, but the latest research shows that injesting probiotics isn’t doing much). I feel like I could do this for much less cost per serving.
Anyone have any a recipe they love that hits the 4:1 ratio?
Not a drink…but something I do post big rides that end at home (trainer or otherwise)
Make a regular bowl of oatmeal and mix in a banana and chocolate whey protein
Comes out to around 375 calories - 275 from carbs and 100ish from the protein
If I’m racing or riding from my car I’ll often bring a thing of overnight oats (greek yogurt with raw oats and fruit stirred in) which gets me a similar ratio
I prefer whole foods over the mixes when I can get them (I eat a lot of processed carbs on the bike, so I’m rarely in the mood for a ‘shake’ of any sort right after a long ride).
That said - I do love the skratch chocolate recovery - it is just such a similar sweetness to gels, hydration, etc that I usually want something with a bit more substance (sometimes that’s a sweet potato, sometimes it is the things listed above)
Skratch Recovery is the best. For those of us old enough to remember drinking Quik Chocolate Milk. The chocolate powder variety. Everytime I have it It reminds me of being a kid. Even to the point of leaving some of the powder not dissolved so that you could eat it after you were done with the milk. Good stuff.
LOVED eating it dry! 
That’s exactly what I have, a pint of chocolate nesquick made with skimmed milk
If you know the ratios you want then just buy in bulk from your favourite supplier and make your own.
I buy whey protein and maltodextrin, along with sucralose, glutamine and flavour drops from wherever is cheapest at the time and you can make a mix to your own spec.
I’ve never worked out the ratios but I typically have 1 banana, 1/2 avacado, frozen berries, shelled hemp seed, chia seed, flax seed and spirulina, blitzed with water. Could use coconut water or coconut milk/ Oat milk. I don’t measure just tip them in but at a guess a couple of tablespoons of the seeds and one of spirulina.
This is also my breakfast smoothie
An option to avoid whey and dairy.
I just replicated the ingredients from a drink I had. I forget the measurements but just made the macros work out: dextrose,protein powder, BCAAs, glutamine.
EDIT FOR QUANTIY IMAGE:
Here is the link to my recipe.
My main problem was cramping during late night sleep.
I drink 500ml after a 1 hour ride. Double that after longer exercise.
I have started drinking it during long exercise to maintain body fuel.
Note that I don’t take protein after workouts, I get enough from my diet.
I’m quite happy with the drink.
I have-not had cramps since I started taking it.
P.S. – Make sure you use high quality seas salt. Baileen is my preferred. If it tastes too salty, adjust salt measure to taste.
M.
Are you trying to avoid lactose or just trying to do it cheaper? Because chocolate milk is going to be the cheapest per serving, hands down.
500-700ml Water
1 ms Whey Protein
1-2 ms Maltodextrin
1 ms Ovaltine (Ovomaltine/Einmalzin)
ms = measuring spoon
Just being cheap. I can tolerate lactose pretty well so I don’t really need the lactase addition. Looking at nutritional information and it looks like 8oz of milk with 20g of sugars added and some cocoa powder pretty much mimics Skratch.
8g protein and 32g of carbs (12 naturally in the milk, 20 added). I’m looking at the different sugar options now.
I’m going to have to start adding whey powder or similar into my drinks. I’ve been monitoring my food intake for two weeks and as an older athlete I’m struggling to get the recommended higher levels of protein every day
Milk contains high amounts of casein, which takes quite long to digest. Wouldn’t see that as good option for a recovery drink, which need to be quite quick to absorb. Water with whey (as protein) is a much better option.
I personally avoid milk as dairy doesn’t go well with me. My recovery shake is a banana, frozen strawberries and mango, 1/2 cup each, honey, and a scoop of protien powder, I do pea protein but if I could I would do vanilla whey isolate.
I go for SiS Rego Rapid Recovery shake with water these days. I’ve never used a protein recovery powder with a high carb content before, so I’m experimenting for a few months to see how it goes. One month in, so far so good. The high carbs in it definately curb my food cravings for longer, which is esp important if I know I cannot eat a meal for 1-2hrs post workout. It helps me during the week after work when I’m time crunched. On weekends I don’t really need recovery shakes because I can cook a meal immediately. Nutritional info for the SiS Rego;
And I also use the SiS Go Energy bars if I’ve trained remotely and I know I don’t have access to food for 30-60mins, such as trail/bush running, and also after swimming sessions as my pool is 30mins from home. Basically all carbs but immediately cures that post swim/run hunger. Info;
I’ve purchased maltodextrin from cytomax before and it was great. It was kind of a sandy white texture. I recently purchased more from amazon that just came in a plastic bag, a little cheaper, and it is more of a powder and I haven’t used it. What form did you buy it in? By the looks of the powder it seems like it will just clump up into a paste but we will see.
Yes maltodextrin has a habit of clumping if you don’t miss it well but a blender will easily take care of it. You can actually make your own energy gels using a blender to combine maltodextrin, water, honey/agave nectar (so you are getting both glucose and fructose) and flavorings.
As for a recovery shake, after long hard rides I blend together
450g skim milk
A banana
An apple
100-200g carrots
20g vanilla whey powder
1/2tsp salt
1/2 tsp glutamine
1/2 tsp BCAA
Enough water to make it thin enough to drink
Notes:
You can use adjust the whey powder and/or add maltodextrin to balance the 4:1 ratio.
Post hard workout isn’t a great time for lots of fibre as it can slow the digestion process so if you don’t eat much fiber on a regular basis be careful not to get carried away with veggies.
I buy 50lbs bag of maltodextrin from Honeyville farms. If you catch it on sale it’s not much more than $1/lbs (a lbs of maltodextrin is ~1500calories if I remember correctly). I use it to make energy gels and drink mixes which I can customize to my needs and cost me practically nothing when compared to pre-mixed products which run about $0.01/cal.
Yup. That’s the stuff and what it looks like. I add water to my mix in a protein shaker before a ride and give it a good shake. It’s then next to me on the trainer and if I remember I’ll give it another shake or two during a rest intervals and drink it during the cool down. Generally it mixes fine.
@Vision646 and I were discussing these on a BCAA thread so just to add my current mixture to this thread here’s what I posted there in case it’s if interest.
From what I’ve read more recently around the issue is that while whey protein is the ideal recovery protein it is the high leucine component of the whey that is one key drivers in the process and whey in itself may not have the ideal ratio of leucine as it comes.
are a couple of quite few articles I’ve come across.
Thus my newly made batch of recovery shake contains
65g Maltodextrin (1g/kg bodyweight)
16g Whey Protein (to make a 4:1 carb/protein ratio)
5g BCCA (to make up the leucine deficit it the Whey)
7g Glutamine
5g Creatine
3g Beta Alanine
for a 100g serving mixed with water and a sucralose based flavouring.
@JulianM Hi, question for you and everyone else. My recovery shake always has had 20ish grams of protein from protein powder and for the carb portion some tart cherry juice and frozen fruits (wide range, mangoes, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc)
Whats the benefit of maltodextrin vs real foods and their assoc. benefits. I start to get concerned when Im adding too many powders and adding real fruits seems like a no brainer
