Recovery Drinks with 4:1 Carbs Protein ratio

As a rebuttal to the Gatorade Tiger Focus drink that you consume before and during your competition, you know the competition isn’t resting on their laurels. I’m not referring to the golfers, I’m referring to beverage companies.

Everyone is trying to make a buck these days. What recession? Sports and high level performance are here to stay. As long as we put emphasis on winning Gold medals and World Records, and then put a dollar figure to it (i.e. Usain Bolt vs. Michael Phelps), any ergogenic aid to improve your game WILL sell.

That being said, there is a huge market for post-workout recovery drinks.

I discussed briefly the different types of energy drinks and various Carbs:Protein ratios asking he question “What is the best Post Workout Drink for Nutrition and Recovery?”

I even asked Exercise Physiologist Lyle McDonald his opinion on what is the best protein recovery drink for sprinters,

For those who insist on a 4:1 Carbs Protein ratio, Acclerade is by far the most popular product out there. There is also Endurox R4 but that is more expensive.

Below is a screen shot from the web site. Note the importance of magnesium on the chart, which I don’t think is a factor in drinks if you are taking ZMA before bedtime.


Protein, Protein, Protein

There’s plenty of evidence that protein after as workout does help recovery, and therefore help in performance. You don’t need excessive amounts, just enough to rebuild the body.

Even CherryPharm has a drink with protein.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a carnivore, someone who avoids red meat (i.e. chicken and fish eater), a lacto-ovo vegetarian, a true vegan, or a raw food dieter… your body needs some protein. Sure, a 24 oz Porterhouse steak is overkill, but I wouldn’t say no to it either!

One of my secrets of air travel on International flights (or when they used to server meals on Domestic flights) was always order the lacto-ovo vegetarian meal. Usually I end up sitting in the rear of the plane because of a seat sale, and therefore you get served first with the special meal request. This gives you plenty of time to wolf down your “dinner”, pop the laptop and enjoy your movie. Ever try to juggle your meal tray and laptop on those tiny seats?

The point I’m trying to make is there’s plenty of protein in lacto-ovo vegetarian meal, so if you don’t have meat, it’s not that big a deal.

Jimson Lee

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at
Jimson Lee
Jimson Lee
Jimson Lee
  • Can you point me to any specific research on ZMA? I’ve heard great things but can only find two studies, one did find some ergogenic effects (published in `99) while the other showed ZMA having no impact at all.

    Thanks for any direction you can provide.


  • @Chris – I had a stack of photocopied papers of ZMA research, mostly coming from SNAC/Balco, but I threw them out assuming it was all on-line.

    I’ll lookup the on-line versions on the Internet.

    The effects vary from each individual. For example, B6 can keep people awake (one of the ingredients in ZMA) so that would be counter-productive!