Recovery drinks are the best post-workout drinks to be used by athletes after daily workouts. They are meant to provide the essential nutrition in a balanced way so that the body and restore its strength the way you need it while boosting the workout goals and improved metabolic rate. To determine the best recovery drinks, you must know the nutritional composition and the energy level that it offers to select the most suitable option for your use.
Here is a quick preview of our top 10:
#1. Vintage Build Post Workout BCAA
#2. Legion Recharge Post Workout Supplement
#3. Optimum Nutrition Essential
#4. FITAID Recovery Blend
#5. Amino VITAL Rapid Recovery
#6. Vega Sport Recovery Apple Berry
#7. Evlution Nutrition BCAA Energy
#8. BSN Amino X Muscle Recovery & Endurance Drink
#9. MusclePharm Essentials BCAA Powder
#10. FitMiss Women’s BCAA for Post-Workout Recovery
Video Credit: Harry
Most of the recovery drinks you find on the market are made to match the average bodily needs that are undergoing workout and regular exercising routine. These drinks intend to provide necessary nutrients to restore muscles and energy and rejuvenate the strained muscles to tone them up as expected. To help our readers, we have carefully picked the best recovery drinks to support daily work out and tough athletic routine:
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Top 10 Best Recovery Drinks
#1. Vintage Build Post Workout BCAA
It takes time and dedication to build muscles. That’s why you need to choose a product that enables you to get a muscular body and not a bulkier one. The vintage Build recovery drink is a well-formulated workout and recovery drink for both males and females. If you are into sports or visit the gym regularly, you will need a good recovery drink.
This unique formula provides 3 powerful muscle-building ingredients from L-glutamine, creatine, and BCAA (Branched Chain Amino Acids). These ingredients provide the needed energy your body requires to gain faster recovery. The flavored drink tastes great and mixes well with a protein shake or just water.
#2. Legion Recharge Post Workout Supplement
As the name implies, Legion Recharge gives you back your lost energy, which leads to a quick recovery. When you recover from your workouts quickly, you are more likely to make better gains. That’s what Legion Recharge will help you achieve. It is very easy to mix and works almost immediately. A single serving after your post-workout is enough to give you the needed strength.
Legion Recharge contains pure creatine monohydrate. This is essentially the main supplement you can take if you want natural muscle growth. You will start seeing physical use within two weeks from the first use. If you are looking for the right drink for a speedy recovery after workouts, you can try this formula. It will work well for you.
#3. Optimum Nutrition Essential
Optimum Nutrition Essential is another properly blended formula that aids post-workout recovery. It contains 10 different delightful flavors you can choose from. The formula has zero sugar, I gram of carbs, and 18 calories per serving.
You can take the drink immediately after workouts and at any time of the day. Apart from the energy it gives, taking this formula can help you remain more focused during your activity in the day.
Yes, it helps with mental focus because of the 100mg caffeine content in the drink. If you’re not a fan of caffeine, you may not like the formula. In that case, you can try other caffeine-free drinks we have on this review.
#4. FITAID Recovery Blend
FITAID contains essential nutrients that help both your mind and body. It is an effective recovery drink you can take after your exercise. It also contains CoQ10, Tumeric, Glucosamine, Vitamins C and D3, as well as green tea extract. It does contain about 45 grams of caffeine from B-Complex. But it doesn’t have any added caffeine.
The different flavors of this drink make it appealing. You can choose from a wide range of flavor options and select the most ideal for you. There’s also a small content of Omega 3s, which provides more essential nutrients to the body. If you are interested in a proper post-workout recovery drink that tastes great, you may love this product.
#5. Amino VITAL Rapid Recovery
Here is another properly formulated recovery drink for sportspersons and all those looking to build their muscles. It contains essential ingredients that aid recovery and muscle growth.
The formula contains 4 supper ingredients that energize the body and revitalizes the muscle tissues. Arginine supports circulation. It repairs the body and helps to grow muscle. Valine is another good ingredient that helps to fight muscle breakdown during workouts.
Another important ingredient here is Isoleucine. This essential nutrient plays a major role in increasing endurance and healing muscle tissue. The fourth important ingredient, Leucine, provides energy during workouts and promotes muscle pain.
The above ingredients play very important roles to help athletes recover and grow their muscles most naturally.
#6. Vega Sport Recovery Apple Berry
Vega Sport Recovery drink is a certified choice for most athletes. It is the right drink for those looking to gain back their lost energy after a successful workout. However, this formula will not only help you gain back energy. It works to replenish your glycogen stores while helping you sharpen up your mental strength. If you are lacking endurance during workouts, this drink can provide a solution.
It contains essential ingredients such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium to help the body restore its electrolyte balance. For the energy part, Vega Sports Recovery contains 16g of premium carbohydrates. This will surely provide the required energy you need during and after workouts.
#7. Evlution Nutrition BCAA Energy
Evlution is a very popular supplement brand for athletes. This BCAA nutrition-packed formula has been certified and tested. It is formulated to boost performance and recovery. It is also an energy bank. Whenever you feel the need to gain more energy, this product will come in handy. You can take it any time of the day, but it works best after exercise or after exhaustion.
Evlution does not contain any sugars or carbs. But it surely has delicious flavors that will always lure you to drink anytime. In addition, it’s pretty easy to prepare this drink. Just take a scoop and mix in water or in your shakes. Then stir with a spoon. That’s all.
#8. BSN Amino X Muscle Recovery & Endurance Drink
BSN Amino X may not be as popular as some other recovery drinks we have mentioned here. But from our experience, the product surely works great. It is an ideal drink for those looking to push harder and gain more endurance.
However, a lot of people love this drink because of the faster time it takes to gain back energy after drinking. This is because it contains amino acids that aid faster recovery after exercise. The 10g of micronized amino acids per scoop does this magic. With 9 different tasty flavors to choose from, you will find the right drink for you. BSN Amino X mixes quickly and very easy to dilute in water or other drinks.
#9. MusclePharm Essentials BCAA Powder
MusclePharm is a well-known supplement product. It provides a superior patent-amino acid blend that contains valine, isoleucine, and leucine. super nutrients deliver the right amount of nutrients for the proper growth and development of the muscle. It supports the maintenance of lean muscle mass and prevents constant muscle breaks.
If you are a new athlete or you started going to the gym recently, muscle breaks can frustrate your early goals. It can cause you to skip training or gym sessions. But with the right recovery drinks, you can take care of this. MusclePharm can give you more endurance and help you recover faster.
#10. FitMiss Women’s BCAA for Post-Workout Recovery
FitMiss is specially formulated for women who want to maintain their lean muscle mass and reduce muscle breakdown during exercise. During workouts, the body goes through a tremendous amount of stress. Without the right drink or supplement, it may take you a long time to recover. But with the Fitmiss formula, this is no longer an issue.
It mixes well with water and does not contain any artificial or unhealthy ingredients. It contains zero sugar zero carbohydrates and zero calories. If you are looking to maintain your lean muscle, having a proper recovery drink after your workouts can help you. Fortunately, FitMiss is well formulated for that purpose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Note: The answers to the FAQs given here are general and not specific to any single product. However, below by far the most frequently asked questions about Recovery Drinks.
What does a recovery drink contains?
The recovery drinks, in general, contain carbohydrates and fluid as the most critical ingredient. This is followed by protein and electrolytes etc. Some other ingredients that you will normally find in many recovery drinks include fruit extracts, raisin tree extract, milk thistle extract, and ginseng, etc.
All ingredients work best if the end product is soluble with enhanced absorption that maximizes efficacy as well. As advice, recovery drinks should not be taken if they have little or no carbohydrates at all as it adversely affects the recovery process.
When should I take my recovery drink?
It is normally believed that the recovery drink should be taken right after your workout session. However, a couple of key points should be considered here. Firstly, the recovery drink should have been taken within half an hour post your workout session. Secondly, it should be at least 3 to 4 hours past your last meal.
Following this practice, your immune system, muscle-building process, and your entire body will respond quite well to the recovery drink intake. If you are a pro muscle builder or an athlete having a couple of workout sessions in a day then you can have both with the same routine as mentioned above here. If you prefer to take a recovery drink once only then it has to be after your first workout of the day.
Is it necessary to take recovery drink for muscle builders and athletes?
Muscle builders or athletes exert a lot, which takes a good toll on their body and energy. To recover from that, recovery drinks with their specific ingredients including carbohydrates, proteins, and certain extracts boost the muscle recovery process and compensate for the lost energy.
It speeds up the recovery process which otherwise with a normal diet may also come, but not that quick. Finally, it is not essential to take a recovery drink after your workout session. But, if you are a pro athlete or muscle builder then a recovery drink is required for quick muscle recovery post-workout and to rehydrate your body.
Which could be the best possible recovery drink after a workout session?
The best recovery drink after a workout session could be the one that has coconut water. It is because of the reason that coconut water has excessively high levels of electrolytes that includes magnesium and potassium.
According to an authentic study carried out in 2012, coconut water alone was considered as the best post-workout recovery drink, which was far more beneficial than both the water and sports drinks.
What are electrolytes that are found in recovery drinks?
They are nutrients that drive the balance of fluid in the human body. They are extremely important for our muscles and nerves to function. Potassium and sodium are electrolyte types that are normally added to the recovery and sports drinks etc.
The electrolyte replacement is not required especially when you are up for a short burst of exercise sessions. It is because sweat contains 99 percent water and less than 1 percent of electrolytes. By this, we can conclude that the replacement of electrolytes could be useful when there is continuous exercise activity of more than 2 hours. Moreover, this also applies when the exerting environment is hot as that will make you sweat more.
Is it possible to take recovery drinks if I am on strict dietary restrictions?
Dietary restrictions apply to certain cases. However, as far as the recovery drinks are concerned, they are almost always free from soy, gluten, lactose, caffeine, nuts, and any kind of artificial flavors. If still in any doubt and also as a best practice, you should always check the product label for its ingredient. This will give you the best idea to care for your dietary restrictions.
What is the normal shelf life of a recovery drink?
When a recovery drink is stored at room temperature with no extended exposure to direct sunlight, then the shelf life of the recovery drink is normally 1.5 years or 18 months.
On the other hand, storing the recovery drinks before the freezing point or at high temperatures will probably alter the formula and it would highly likely impact the efficiency of the drink in a negative way. However, these are just guidelines and you must intelligently decide based on the product and the information given on its label.
Is it OK to take a recovery drink when I am on medication?
This situation varies from person to person and medicine to medicine. As a best practice, you must consult your physician if you are using any medication and wants to take a recovery drink as well. Because your health is the basic thing you must look for and if it is not compromised only then you can get to your workout goals.
Are recovery drinks approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?
As per the law, dietary supplements of any kind are not approved by the FDA. However, the FDA does regulate them all. The best or quality recovery drinks are made under the guidance of the FDA and are normally compliant with all of the rules and regulations set by the FDA.
Some of the key rules of the FDA ask that any batch of a recovery drink is thoroughly tested for purity, identity, and strength. This ensures that the drink adheres to all of the pre-established quality specifications.
What does a recovery drink tastes like and how many variations of recovery drinks are there?
Recovery drinks can come in several flavors depending on the manufacturer and the most in-demand flavor in the market. In terms of variations, you can see two different types, sugar and sugar-free.
Many manufacturers do offer sugar and sugar-free variations of the same product to cater to all types of needs. The taste of sugar-free versions can be a little different due to the usage of natural sweeteners in place of normally processed sugar.
Generally, recovery drinks taste is acceptable. Make sure you choose the recovery drink that does not contradict your daily medication if you are taking any. Otherwise, you can find enough options to choose from and pick the nutritional composition that has the potential to recover your body the way you need.
Here we have given the top 10 best recovery products so that you may compare, check and find the best in a shorter time and with a greater probability to get a perfectly suitable drink for your routine workout.
Hopefully, you are now able to select your desired recovery drink with confidence, so that you would never get fatigued due to a tough workout. You will be able to re-energize yourself for better training and workout sessions.
Sources:
- Best Post Workout Recovery Supplements To Pack On Muscle & Improve Performance
- Post-Workout Muscle Recovery Drinks
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