‘I Always Gave the Post-Workout Chocolate Milk Trend Side Eye—Until I Tried It’
Fitness “hacks” are everywhere these days. You’ve go to be a bit skeptical, or else you could drain your bank account buying weird gizmos and end up trying some bonkers stuff.
One fad I ignored for years: the hype surrounding drinking chocolate milk after a workout for muscle recovery. Surely, following up my workout with a sugary drink that tastes like a milkshake couldn’t *actually* be good for me, right?
Curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to see for myself if there were actually any benefits from drinking chocolate milk after my workouts during marathon training—and I chatted with some dietitians along the way.
The science behind drinking chocolate milk after a workout is legit
As it turns out, this is one trend with some legitimacy behind it. “Chocolate milk actually has this perfect ratio of carbohydrates to protein to accelerate post-workout recovery,” says registered dietitian Stephanie Hnatiuk, RD.
The extra sugar that’s added when you turn cow’s milk into a tasty chocolate treat means one cup of this bevvie has approximately 8 grams of protein and 24 grams of carbs. When you consume those nutrients within about 30 to 60 minutes of finishing a workout (which experts call the “anabolic window”), you’ll more quickly replace the glycogen that your muscles use for fuel—which can be especially helpful if you’ve just done a particularly long or intense session that’s used up lots of that glycogen, and you plan to hit the road for another workout less than 24 hours later.
“I like to say [chocolate milk] has the three R’s of recovery,” says sports dietitian Roxana Ehsani, RD, CSSD, LDN, who works with the Every Woman’s Marathon, which is sponsored by the milk industry. That includes “rehydrate,” since chocolate milk is a fluid with natural electrolytes; “refuel” since the carbs restock your glycogen stores; and “repair” since the protein helps to rebuild the muscle fibers that get broken down during running.
Ehsani points out that an older study from 2012 actually showed that when athletes rehydrated with two cups of fat-free chocolate milk after their runs, they were able to run longer during a subsequent time-to-exhaustion test than when they drank another carbohydrate-based control beverage. “We’re getting those carbs and we’re getting that protein directly into our bloodstream, and it’s working its magic to rehydrate, refuel, and repair,” Ehsani says.
It felt like I was ending my runs with a ‘little treat’ that’s actually good for me, which made this running nerd even more excited than usual to lace up.
I saw the benefits of post-workout chocolate milk firsthand
Several months ago, I accepted a complimentary bib from the Every Woman’s Marathon—which heavily markets dairy’s perks for athletes—so I figured I should at least give chocolate milk a shot during training.
I started making it part of my post-run routine, having a glass before (or while) I showered. And I quickly became a fan. Because, let’s be honest, chocolate milk is delicious. It felt like I was ending my runs with a “little treat” that’s actually good for me, which made this running nerd even more excited than usual to lace up.
Then one afternoon I came home from a sweaty run, and took a big swig only to realize the milk had gone bad. I quickly spit it out in the sink, then drained the bottle, and later bought a new one—but the same thing happened again the next week. All milk goes bad pretty quickly after you open the bottle, but I learned the chocolate variety seems to have an especially short shelf life.
After getting burned one too many times, I started sniffing it first, but I sometimes couldn’t tell whether I was actually smelling sourness or just imagining it out of fear. It felt like playing a dicey game of trick or treat every time I poured a glass. Would it be sour or sweet?
Eventually, I was assigned a story that had me testing various protein powders, so I ended up swapping those in as my post-workout drink (though I later learned from Hnatiuk that most protein powders don’t have enough carbs to fully replenish the glycogen runners need). I fell out of the recovery beverage habit altogether once I finished that project, and stopped drinking anything but water after my runs.
As I got deeper into marathon training, though, my legs started feeling extra heavy, even on days when I should’ve been pretty fresh. Sure, I was dealing with some cumulative fatigue from an overall increase in mileage. But I’ve run many marathons, and this was more exaggerated than usual. It seemed like my muscles just couldn’t wake up. I found myself not being able to hit my regular paces, and often making excuses to cut down my planned mileage.
Trust me, this isn’t a fun way to train for a marathon.
But Hnatiuk says it’s exactly what can happen if you regularly skip your post-workout recovery fuel. “Runners might find it difficult to train on back-to-back days or bounce back from their weekly long run,” she says, adding that you might also notice “an increase in delayed-onset muscle soreness after workouts, and a longer recovery time between hard sessions.”
My body clearly wasn’t recovering the way it used to. To be sure, experts say it isn’t totally essential to take in fuel during the anabolic window if you’re not working out again in the next 24 hours—your glycogen stores will fill back up to normal levels over the course of a day as long as you’re eating regularly. But as a working mom who fits in runs whenever I can, and often follows late afternoon runs with another early the next morning, it’s not uncommon for me to work out twice in a 24-hour span.
“We’re getting those carbs and we’re getting that protein directly into our bloodstream, and it’s working its magic to rehydrate, refuel, and repair.” —Roxana Ehsani, RD, CSSD, LDN
One Saturday, after a five-mile stroller run with my toddler, I popped into a 7-Eleven to grab a drink, and decided to buy a small bottle of chocolate milk. My pace had been lagging (again) and I was dreading the 17-miler I had planned for the next day. But the following morning when I headed out along the river, my body felt surprisingly snappy.
Hoping it wasn’t a fluke, I bought more chocolate milk for home, and started making it part of my routine again. Over the next few weeks, I started having more good runs, and it became clear: Being diligent about my post-run recovery fuel could make a real difference in how I feel on my runs.
Of course, chocolate milk isn’t the only way to recover, but it’s an easy, refreshing option that many runners find more appetizing than immediately eating a full meal. “There are plenty of other meals and snacks that create those macronutrient profiles,” Hnatiuk says. “But chocolate milk really fits in nicely as the poster child for post-workout recovery.”
Hnatiuk just warns that chocolate milk shouldn’t be your only source of fuel after running, since it doesn’t offer any fiber or the full 25 to 35 grams of protein that we typically need for recovery. “I think of chocolate milk as either something that you’re consuming just to bridge you until you’re sitting down to have a more complete recovery meal or something that you’re having as part of a meal,” she says.
For a more balanced option, she suggests adding some protein powder to your milk and having it with a banana. (Also, FYI: Those who are lactose intolerant can reach for lactose-free chocolate milk or chocolate soy milk, which has a similar protein profile to get the same benefits, Hnatiuk says.)
Chocolate milk is by no means some sort of special magical elixir; if I’m able to quickly eat solid food with protein and carbs instead, I’ll skip it. But when I just want something tasty and quick as I cool down, it’s hard to beat. Especially since I’ve now convinced my husband he needs to drink it, too, so I can be sure we finish the bottle before it goes bad.