Shake, Shake. Shake, Shake, Shake It!

You probably don't know this, but in my former life, I was a dancer.  Oh yeah, believe it.  In fact, here's a little video.  Just keep your eyes peeled, and you just might see me doin' my thang:

Did you see me?  No, you didn't.  That's because I wasn't really a dancer.  However, that's a pretty catchy song, right?  I'm not a smart guy, so I have to find things to remind me of what I'm supposed to do, like shake it!  But not in the dancing sense.  I'm referring to the nutritional sense.  As in a post-workout shake (I know, that was quite a stretch to get from that song to a recovery shake, but I made it work, right?).

I try to power down a recover shake after every workout, regardless of how easy or hard it was.  Recovery shakes can vary just about as much as anything else in the world.  The key is finding what works well for you.  There's some basic nutritional guidelines to follow, but as long as you're close, it's good enough.

My typical post-workout shake ingredients

In general, you want to have quality protein, quality carbohydrates, and a small amount of sugar to encourage your body to begin the digestive process.  I usually roll with milk (sometimes skim, sometimes almond or coconut or soy, or whatever else I happen to have at the time), a scoop of protein powder, a scoop of wheat germ, and some fruit.

Don't kid yourself into thinking that if you drink a post-workout shake that you don't need any other food.  You still need to consume more quality food over the course of the next hour.  Stay away from the junk food as best as you can.  Everything you eat within that first hour after working out is going to effect your recovery dramatically.  So, if you eat garbage, your muscles will recover like garbage.  But eat healthy, and your muscles will be fueled with the healthy goodness!  And not only will your muscles recover well, but you won't feel the dramatic energy drop that usually occurs around an hour after a tough workout.  So shake it!