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Zipvit ZV3 recovery drink

9
£34.99

VERDICT:

9
10
Fortified carb/protein recovery drink to help you get the maximum benefit from your training
Weight: 
1,050g
Contact: 
www.zipvitsport.com

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This stuff is great – our favourite product in the ZipVit range. What you’re getting with the ZV3 recovery drink is an excellent blend of carbohydrate and protein, along with various vitamins and minerals, to improve your recovery after training and maintain your immune system.

A 70g serving provides you with 20g of protein – mostly in the form of whey protein – to promote muscle repair, and 43.2g of carbs – mostly in the form of easily digestible maltodextrin – to refuel your energy tanks, essentially.

It’s the details that set the Zipvit apart from the crowd, though. For example, ZV3 contains colostrum – derived from nutrient-packed milk – which has been shown to improve time trial performance. There’s beta–alanine in there, which may increase your endurance performance and lean muscle mass, and HMB (beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate, if you really want to get all technical about it) which accelerates muscle recovery.

If you’re not into the science, what it boils down to is that this mixture helps you recover faster and more effectively so you get the maximum benefit from your training. It’ll combat muscle stiffness and help you stay healthy.

So who should use ZV3? Anyone who wants to ride faster. Recovery is what it’s all about. Training in itself doesn’t make you quicker, it breaks your body down causing, among many other effects, micro-tears in your muscle fibres. It’s your body’s super-compensation triggered by the training that makes you fitter. In other words, your body reacts to the training by growing stronger, but in order to do that it needs the right recovery fuel on hand – which is where ZV3 comes in. It gives you what you need to recover quickly and completely. And the more you train, the more benefit you’re going to get from this drink.

You add two scoops to 250ml of water straight after you’ve finished your ride, or double that after a really long or hard session. Each tub contains 20 standard servings. It mixes up easily and our chocolate flavour went down easily.

It’s also available in vanilla and strawberry, and is suitable for veggies (although not for vegans). Like the other Zipvit recovery and energy drinks, ZV3 contains no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives.

Verdict

Fortified carb/protein recovery drink to help you get the maximum benefit from your training

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Zipvit ZV3 recovery drink

Size tested: n/a

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 39  Height: 190cm  Weight: 74kg

I usually ride:   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding,

 

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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2 comments

Avatar
simonmb | 13 years ago
0 likes

It's in the milk taken from cows within the first 48 hours after they've given birth. Sadly. My mind was racing thinking of all the other possibilities. I guess there must be a lot of very thirsty young calves out there.

Avatar
steve5bikes | 13 years ago
0 likes

I'm no expert but this is some of what Wikipedia says about colostrum:

Colostrum is a form of milk produced by the mammary glands of mammals in late pregnancy. Most species will generate colostrum within one day of giving birth.

So how do they get this stuff?

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