Got milk? Buffs do
WT has substitute for sports drinks
Got chocolate milk?
In a day when all sorts of sports drinks are available and the original thirst quencher, water, still works wonders, athletes are turning to low-fat chocolate milk after workouts to replenish what sweat and hard work have taken from their bodies.
At West Texas A&M, athletes in all sports began drinking chocolate and whole white milk last fall. Replenishment is key in keeping athletes at the tops of their games, WT strength and conditioning coach Sarah Ramey said.
"There is a 30- to 60-minute window that is critical in getting quality nutrition back into your body," she said. Chocolate milk provides a 3-to-1 ratio of carbs to proteins. That's good, Ramey said.
It's both physical and mental nourishment, she said.
"The athletes have commented on how much better they feel the next day and also later in the day," she said. "An athlete who feels good is more apt to maintain good workout habits.''
Ramey also learned her athletes enjoy the taste, even those who aren't big on wearing milk moustaches.
"I don't like milk," senior wide receiver Charly Martin said. "But I love this."
One who tries to get an edge, Martin said milk not only gives back, it adds.
"It builds muscles so you can take advantage of a workout," he said. "I'm always trying to gain."
Ramey jumped aboard the milk wagon while at the University of Colorado, which had a dietician on staff. The Boulder Buffs chugged Muscle Milk, a protein supplement that imitated real milk.
Why not drink the real thing?
A few years ago, an endurance test was conducted with athletes mounting stationary bikes and riding like it was that bike ride in France. When they stopped pedaling, the athletes drank chocolate milk, a sports fluid drink such as Gatorade and a drink that targets replacement of carbohydrates.
The cyclists then worked out again. The ones who drank milk at the break were able to go about 50-percent longer than after taking big gulps of carb drinks. There was hardly any difference between milk and the fluid-replacing drinks, the study showed.
A newer study, published last year in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, debunks the notion that supplements are better than the real thing when it comes to athletic performance.
A team of researchers learned milk contains key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, in quantities that sports drinks can't match. We have been told for years that milk builds strong bones.
"There's no protein in Gatorade," Ramey said.
The only downside may be that chocolate milk is what it is. Creative names such as "Rain," "Frost" or even "Tiger" don't apply.
But consider this: Supplements, Ramey said, are not regulated by the government.
"You don't know what's in them. Some do 4 or 5 percent of what they're supposed to do," she said.
Another positive for milk was that it was cheaper than buying all the other stuff and working in milk, too.
OK, so the price of milk has gone up like gasoline since the studies were conducted.
But here's good news at WT - Plains Dairy is donating 400 half-pints (school lunchroom-size containers) each week as a corporate sponsor.
"Free-99 is a great price," Ramey said, laughing.
Receiver Carl Johnson at first was hesitant about drinking milk after working out.
"I thought, 'This is crazy. Why chocolate milk?' he said. "But it makes you feel like you have something in you. I like chocolate milk more because it tastes better."
Johnson one day drank 10 half-pints. He's not doing that again.
"It messed my stomach up. You can't print what it did," said Johnson, who arrived at WT two days before two-a-days began last summer. He's been on campus all this summer, participating in weightlifting and running workouts. He has guzzled plenty of chocolate milk.
"I feel great," he said.
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1 comment:
Dude, I'd have to do the skim milk or I'd swell up like a fat toad frog.
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