A recovery shake is made up of whey protein, which is preferably a whey isolate, not a whey concentrate, and a quick absorbing form of carbohydrate to replenish depleted glycogen stores. You can find this from excellent sources such as fruit and crushed fruit purees. It’s great to help you get in shape as research has shown that individuals who drank a whey protein shake after a workout lost 9.2 pounds more than those who tried to lose weight with diet alone.
Recovery shakes can improve your post-workout wellbeing, as the whey protein provides nutrients to the muscles after exercise to begin the repair process, and the carbohydrates help replenish glycogen stores in the muscles that have been depleted during the workout. The shake also helps to build muscle tissue, which will increase your resting metabolism and burn more calories even after you’ve stopped exercising.
However, a common mistake you can make is to think that you can replace your meal with a recovery shake. The shake does give your body the nutrients it needs to start the recovery process, but you need to have a meal roughly an hour later to give your body the fuel and calories it needs to function properly. The calories in your shake are free bonus calories, and only give you the nutrients you lost during your workout, not enough to replace a whole meal’s worth.
Also, be warned about skipping your recovery shake. This puts your body in a catabolic, or muscle wasting, state. Your body will be looking for nutrients to start the recovery process, but there won’t be any available, so your body breaks down muscle tissue to get what it needs. In turn, this slows down your metabolism and burns fewer calories, not just during your workout but all day long. Drinking a shake maximises the effect of strength training, which has been proven to actually burn calories at an elevated rate for about 48 hours after a workout.