Many sport disciplines, such as rugby, boxing, track and field athletes require a combination of low body fat levels and increased muscle mass to be able to achieve bursts of energy and rapid recovery.
CONSUMING MILK AFTER RESISTANCE TRAINING STIMULATES MUSCLE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS
In order to achieve optimal lean weight gain, resistance training will provide the necessary stimulus for muscle growth while a balanced diet supplying a balanced amount of energy, carbohydrates, protein and fat will provide the athlete with enough energy and nutrients to facilitate optimal muscle growth. Examples of the nutritional requirements of a strength-training athlete are shown in Table 1.
The timing and composition of the post-exercise meal is also important, since athletes should initiate re-fueling with carbohydrates and protein soon after training to optimize glycogen recovery and muscle gain, followed by the consumption of regular small meals.
The role of milk in sport
Milk has the ADDED ADVANTAGE of containing a wide spectrum of amino acids and a good ratio of carbohydrates and protein in a natural food matrix
The role of milk in lean mass gain has been investigated in several recent studies. When considering milk as a complete food, three recently published studies have established the positive impact of milk on muscle gain:
- Drinking low-fat (2%) milk or a milk-based carbohydrate – protein beverage immediately after muscle-damaging resistance training helped to preserve more muscle than did a sports drink or water.
- Milk ingestion resulted in the uptake of important amino acids, which is representative of net muscle protein synthesis. Thus, low-fat and fat-free milk is suitable for ingestion in the recovery phase following resistance exercise and provides an excellent alternative to protein-based sports supplements.
- Although combining resistance training with consumption of either milk or soy-based proteins to promote muscle mass maintenance and gain, skimmed (fat-free) milk taken after resistance exercise promotes greater muscle protein accretion. Regular consumption of milk proteins after resistance exercise is thus likely to support lean mass accrual.
- Young, novice, male weightlifters during the early stages of resistance training built more lean body mass after regular consumption of fat-free milk than soy or carbohydrates.
Examples of selected dairy drinks (300 ml portion) for post-exercise nutrition
|
Drink
|
Energy
(kJ)
|
Protein
(g)
|
Fat
(g)
|
Carbohydrate(CHO)
(g)
|
Estimated CHO contribution during recovery period (%)*
|
|
Full-cream milk
|
879
|
9.75
|
10.3
|
14.4
|
21
|
|
Low-fat milk
|
699
|
9.78
|
6.03
|
14.6
|
21
|
|
Fat-free milk
|
438
|
10.2
|
0.54
|
14.6
|
21
|
|
Low-fat drinking yoghurt**
|
1056
|
7.8
|
3.3
|
47.1
|
67
|
|
Low-fat flavoured milk**
|
750
|
9.0
|
4.5
|
27.0
|
39
|
|
* Example: 70 kg athlete aiming to consume 1 gram carbohydrates per kilogram body weight within the first two hours after training.
** Nutrition panel information of leading commercial products on the South African market
|
References
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