When exercising, your body turns to its glycogen stores as its primary, most efficient source of fuel. These glycogen stores are in both the liver and muscles throughout the body. Two and a half hours of high intensity exercise without refueling can completely deplete liver and muscle glycogen stores.

Though most people don’t exercise for such a duration, it doesn’t mean that we can’t also suffer from depleted glycogen stores; high intensity aerobic exercise that lasts for just one hour depletes more than 50% of the glycogen stores in one’s liver (assuming the stores were full to begin with). Successive days of training without proper recovery (in the form of refueling with food) can gradually lead to empty glycogen stores, which result in decreased performance; your body just can’t run efficiently without glycogen during exercise.

What’s the best way to replenish your glycogen stores after a workout? Timing is key. Some people don’t like to eat directly after a workout, but eating within 15-20 minutes of a workout actually accelerates rates of glycogen storage by a whopping 300%. Conversely, eating two hours post-exercise reduces glycogen synthesis by about 50%. Yikes! Why? Two hours after exercise, your body no longer processes the food as recovery fuel, and the energy will most likely be stored in some other form (e.g. fats). Recovery is impaired, which could contribute to one’s soreness on the following day.

What should you eat? Ideally, one would consume a blend of carbohydrates (to refill your glycogen stores) and proteins (to repair your muscles). It has been said that chocolate milk has the “golden ratio” of carbohydrates and proteins; however, it’s most important to simply get something into your system as soon as possible. After workouts, eating foods with a high glycemic index (i.e. sugary foods or drinks, which are usually a no-no) is several times better than eating nothing at all. Exact needs depend on workout length and one’s body weight, among other factors. If you have to take time to prepare a meal, to shower, or to drive back home or to the office, it is easy to miss the essential time-frame.

Tip: Before every workout, plan out a quick snack that you will be able to consume when you’re done exercising, no matter what.

Workout well, refuel well, recover well. Repeat.

While some people drink water to hydrate themselves and to keep their muscles from cramping, others turn to sports drinks, such as Powerade or Gatorade to hydrate and replenish electrolytes. However, a key to becoming a stronger and healthier person is to eat protein after you exercise to help  you recover and be more effective with your workout. Protein is needed to rebuild muscles that are torn down during exercises, so it is essential that one obtains the right amount of protein. One way to do this is via chocolate milk!

Chocolate milk is not only good for its source of protein. For instance, a sports nutritional specialist from Pennsylvania named Althea Zanecosky once stated that chocolate milk is one of the best drinks to consume after exercising because ”You get protein to rebuild muscle. You get carbs to refuel muscle. You get lots of liquid to rehydrate, but you also get the minerals to help you rehydrate.” If one compares it to plain milk, water, or a sports drink, such as Powerade, one will see that chocolate milk has double the carbohydrate and protein content. It also has a  high water content that will replace fluids lost as sweat. Of course, one other bonus to remember is that it is a source of calcium and also contains a little bit of sodium and sugar.

Of course, a lot of people do not want to drink milk after they exercise, especially chocolate milk, because they are running to lose calories. They think that drinking chocolate milk will defeat the purpose of exercising. Yes, chocolate milk contains more sugar, but there are low fat or fat-free options available that will work as well. However, the sugar is good for you to some degree because it will help your body refuel from the exercises performed.

This childhood favorite just may become your new favorite sports drink!

For more information on other tasty pre- and post-workout food items, read Save Money on Supplements.

Before your workout, drink a cup of coffee.  Athletes used to frown on this because it is a diuretic.  Those working out take in as much water as they can during the workout.  Coffee may cause you to lose water and therefore decrease your muscle efficiency…so it was thought.

Taking in some coffee before the workout gives you a needed boost of energy from the caffeine.  That is the obvious result.  What is not so apparent is caffeine actually is a pain inhibitor.  A study done at the University of Illinois researched the effects of coffee on athletes.  It was discovered it blocked certain pain receptors in the brain.  This means when you get to the point you are feeling the pain and usually decide to stop can be pushed even further.  “No pain, no gain.”

Coffee before the workout, and for afterward another treat for you.  Chocolate milk.  Not only is it delicious, it is better for you than almost every other drink at replenishing your fluids.  Water is the best at replacing the water you lose, obviously.  However, chocolate milk does have water and does replace those fluids.

Many turn to sports drinks for replacing the electrolytes lost.  Sports drinks actually have too many of these carbs and often are best for you when watered down.  Also they have almost no protein, which is the most important nutrient for muscle recovery.  Chocolate milk has all the essential carbs and sodium to aid in water retention and electrolyte replacement.  Not to mention, chocolate milk also contains protein making it even better than sports drinks.

Save money on expensive supplements, and buy two cheap alternatives that are even better for you.