Elivar Recover recovery drink

Elivar Recover is a recovery drink mix with an equal amount of protein and carbs, aimed specifically at those aged over 35. It's tricky to be certain that one recovery drink works better than another, but this one seens to work well for me.

The speed at which you can recover after exercise slows down as you get older – that's a fact of life. It's one of the taxes that Old Father Time imposes on older athletes. It's a graduated tax too: the older you are, the more you pay.

That's unfortunate because, as you know, recovery is what it's all about.

"Recovery. That's the name of the game in cycling. Whoever recovers the fastest wins." That was one of my favourite Lance Armstrong quotes until, you know, the business with the drugs and that. It's still true though. Even if you're not competing, recovering as efficiently and effectively as possible allows you to maximise the health and fitness benefits of any ride.

Recovery products typically supply you with carbohydrates and protein in a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio – something like that. However, Elivar believe that you need a much higher proportion of protein to recover properly as you get older so the ratio of carbs to protein in Elivar Recover is 1:1. Well, more or less: you get 28g of carbs and 27g of protein in a 65g chocolate flavour serving, 28g of protein and 30g of carbs in the strawberry flavour.

The protein in Elivar Recover comes from whey and casein, the idea being that the two together will sustain muscle repair over an extended period of time.

The carbs come largely in the form of isomaltulose which is low glycaemic. That means your body will absorb the carbohydrate over a long period to replace the glycogen that your body has used up during training.

Elivar also includes vitamins B6 and B12 to support your immune system, and calcium and vitamin D to maintain your bones, which is a particular concern as we get older.

Mixing up Elivar Recover is simple. You just put 65g in a waterbottle with 500ml of water, shake it for 30 seconds or so and you're good to go. It goes down very easily, with a taste and texture a lot like a milkshake. In fact, I mixed it with milk sometimes and preferred it that way, although Elivar say you should mix it with water.

How do you measure your recovery? It's very difficult and a whole bunch of different factors influence things: how hard you train, how long you train for, how much sleep you get, diet, and a load of other things. Fewer aches the day after training? Well yes, that is an indicator but it's very hard to quantify. What I can say is that I took Elivar Recover after long and/or high intensity sessions and I was always ready to go again the following day (and, being a veggie, I can struggle to get enough protein at the best of times, so having a good source here was probably particularly beneficial for me).

I'd say that if you find yourself struggling to recover fully between sessions, the Elivar Recover is certainly worth a try. That goes double if you find it hard to sit down for a meal as soon as you finish training – if you ride to work or something like that.

A 900g tub containing about 14 servings is priced at £34.99 (about £2.50 per serving). A box of 12 single serving sachets is £29.99 (again, about £2.50 per serving).

Verdict

Very good recovery drink with an equal amount of protein and carbs, aimed specifically at the over 35s