I’m always in the mindset that if you can save money by doing it yourself and you can actually do it yourself, then you should!
That is why when I saw the cost of the P90X recovery drink was $49.95 for a 30-day supply, I knew I had to figure out a way to make my own alternative with the same self-healing benefits for much, much less.
Why Use a Recovery Drink in the First Place?
This is a really common question I get asked all the time. Post-workout nutrition is almost as important as the workout itself. After an intense workout, the body has what has been called a“window of opportunity” where if you take advantage of this time with proper nutrition, it helps you seriously increase your recovery rate.
“A workout does not make you faster, stronger, or bigger – a workout breaks your muscles down. Muscle recovery is what will ultimately determine the results you’re going to get.”
The After Workout “Window of Opportunity”
Immediately after your workout, your muscles are depleted of nutrients. The good news is that during this time, your muscles are also ready to be fed. Getting carbohydrates and proteins to your muscles as soon as possible will enhance your muscle recovery rate, which is a very good thing.
The Right Nutrients in the Proper Ratios Make All the Difference
You can’t just go out, get a Big Mac and expect your body to repair itself at an optimal level. You need a combination of simple carbohydrates and a fast-digesting protein source in the proper ratios to maximize your muscle recovery rate.
Two Key Ingredients:
Simple Carbohydrates & Fast Digesting Protein
When you ingest simple carbohydrates like dextrose after a workout, it causes an insulin spike. This insulin spike is what will help replenish the depleted glycogen stores within your muscle caused by working out.
Fast digesting protein like whey protein will increase the rate of protein synthesis. This repairs the muscle breakdown exercising caused.
Proper Ratios of Carbohydrates to Protein
Consuming only one of the key ingredients, while better than nothing at all, is far from optimal. Multiple studies have shown that in order to get the most from this window of opportunity, you need a carbohydrate to protein ratio that is 4:1.
Combine 4 parts simple carbohydrate to 1 fast-digesting protein and you have a recovery drink that contains the main P90X recovery drink ingredient profile – for pennies on the dollar!
How I Make My Own P90X Recovery Drink Alternative
There are two ingredients we need: dextrose and whey protein. I have not found a cheaper source of dextrose than the Gatorade powder you can find in most supermarkets or even in your super Walmart. Update: Now Foods sells a pure Dextrose Powder that costs about a dime per serving.
The brand of whey protein I prefer is 100% Whey Gold Standard by Optimum Nutrition, which you can find on Amazon.com and in nutritional supplement stores. I use vanilla or strawberry for this type of thing, since chocolate with Gatorade just seems nasty.
Here is the recipe:
3 servings Gatorade Powder (14 grams of carbs each)
12 grams of protein (most brands will be a half a scoop)
8-Oz of water
Simply stir all ingredients together.
The above gets you about 42 grams of simple carbs and 12 grams of fast-acting protein, which equals around 225 calories. This is very similar to the P90X Results and Recovery formula of 40 grams carbs, 10 grams of protein and 220 calories.
What My Recovery Drink is Missing
I’ll be the first to admit my homemade P90X recovery drink is not perfect. While it does contain the fundamentals of the original recipe, like most do-it-yourself projects, it is not 100% perfect.
The real P90X Results and Recovery Formula contains added vitamins, antioxidants, l-arginine, l-glutamine, and creatine. These added ingredients do provide additional benefits when it comes to faster recovery and are likely why the P90X recovery drink is priced the way it is.
L-arginine is an amino acid that helps support a healthy immune and hormone function and has been known to convert to nitric oxide, a neurotransmitter that improves circulation by helping blood vessels relax.
L-glutamine another amino acid that also supports the immune system and has been shown to help muscle wasting during times of intense working out.
Creatine is an organic compound naturally made by the body and is mostly found in muscles. Creatine supplementation has been shown to improve exercise performance and increase muscle mass. Creatine creates energy in the muscles, allowing them to work harder.
You could technically purchase all of the above ingredients separately and add them to your made-at-home P90X recovery drink, but it would start to get a little cumbersome and expensive.
Conclusion
I’ve put it out there, so you have my cheaper P90X recovery drink. However, if you think the P90X drink would be better for what you get, here is a money-saving tip:
UPDATE: The P90X recovery drink is no longer produced by Beachbody. It has been replaced with the Beachbody premium line of supplements. I will review this new line in a future post.
Thanks for posting this! I used to love the old R&R formula as well and when the price was increased that much it just isn’t an option for me so this is great! I read on another site that you could add Emergen-C packets to the mix to incorporate more vitamins and minerals that the old formula had in it. I’ve just ordered all of the ingredients and they will arrive next week…looking forward to trying it out!
Hi Joel, You’re welcome! And thanks for the Emergen-C tip, I will have to look into that. Bethany
Hi Bethany,
I wanted to thank you for publishing this recipe, especially now that BB changed their R&R formula earlier this year. For what it’s worth, I used the following mixture based upon your article to obtain the 4:1 carb:protein ratio:
Gatorade Orange mix, 46g
Body Fortress Vanilla Crème Isolate Protein, 13.3g
Water, 12oz (only because that’s what R&R suggested with a 60g serving)
I apprehensively gave it a taste test and was pleasantly surprised. The taste was great, just a tiny hint of solute. The cost is about $0.65 per serving compared to about $2.30 per serving with the old R&R formula. As you stated, a few things are different in my mix per serving: +16g sugar, -10 calories, -15g cholesterol and missing most of the supplemental vitamins. It does happen to have about 70% of the R&R arginine level, though.
I looked at scaling back the Gatorade to reduce the sugar ratio, but that seemed like a wash since it’d be such a small serving size. I mean, we can’t blindly follow the ratio or we might be taking in 4g of carbs and 1g of protein for a serving. I know the R&R has 40g of carbs & 10g of proteins, which meets the 4:1 ratio, but any idea how they determined the quantities need for recovery?
Hi Jim, Thanks for the comment. The 4 to 1 ratio is recommend because muscles are depleted of glucose when you perform intense exercise, after exercise you want to replenish these stores as soon as possible to enhance muscle recovery. Bethany
What a revelation!
A little about me:
1) Love P90X recovery drink
2) Love Chocolate Flavor
3) Hate Vanilla Flavor – clearly I had second thoughts about the above “recipe”
Since they stopped making the P90x drink and are forcing the much expensive alternative onto customers, I started looking for alternatives. While an alternative would be ok, the only thing I was kinda sad about was the fact that I’ll miss that P90x flavor, the feeling of recovery after drinking it, and (this might be odd for some of you) the watery consistency, which I like much better after a workout than that of a thick shake.
So I saw the above recipe and decided to go shopping. Went to a Costco, and with many many second thoughts, picked up the Vanilla ON protein (even though the chocolate one was right next to it). I also picked up the Gatorade powder at Costco (Arctic Freeze). Brought it home, and was still having second thoughts about all this. On a gut feeling, I decided to get the lime flavored gatorade powder, since I had absolutely no idea what the Arctic Freeze flavor would taste like.
Anyway, did my P90X today. Very half-heartedly, mixed my Vanilla ON protein with the lime flavored Gatorade, and then took a sniff. It smelled ok. Took a small sip, and wow, it immediately reminded me of the P90x drink. This comes amazingly close to the real thing! At least close enough for me.
The only sad thing is that of the sugar content with the above recipe. With a daily intake limit of 35gms, it really hurts to take 21 gms with this shake itself. This is where the Beachbody recovery drink still shines with only 7g of sugar.
Value wise:
The above recipe will cost you: roughly $70 for 3 months ($50 ON protein + $4×5=$20 Gatorade powder)
Beachbody recovery drink will cost you $360 for 3 months ($80 for 20 days)
I’ll just take it easy on my sugar through the day and stick with the above recipe.
Many thanks Bethany, and do post an update if you figure something out with the sugar! I’ve heard honey is a good source of dextrose too, maybe one day I’ll try that.
Hi Tarun, You’re welcome, and thank you for sharing your experience! I like the idea of adding in honey, I would try to go with a local raw honey if you can for some added antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. A tsp of honey should add about 6 net carbs of sugars which will be slightly lower on the gi scale than dextrose, but I don’t necessarily believe that to be a bad thing. It’s a little sad to see the original p90x formula go. You are not the first I have heard from. I can say the new line of performance supplements are costly, but like most of the Beachbody supplements you find, they use top of line ingredients which factors into the cost. Bethany
Beth,
I came across your alternative, and found it to be interesting. What could be used to make up the “what’s missing” is some Creatine powder. The problem I have is the serving sizes. Gatorade powder directions say 1 scoop to 32 oz of water (or a “serving” of 1/3 scoop to “about 12 oz”); my Six Star Whey says 1 scoop to 6 oz of water, and my Six Star Creatine says 1 scoop to 8 oz of water. My thought was to mix 1/3 scoop Gatorade, 1/2 scoop Whey and 1/2 scoop Creatine to 8-12 oz of water, enough so it will dissolve. Your thoughts?
Hi Jeff, I think that amount of water would be fine, the Gatorade powder and creatine should dissolve for the most part, I would just keep a spoon handy or use a blender bottle to prevent it from settling. Bethany
My Wife had type 2 diabetes and I am wondering how using this Gatorade powder will impact her if she is to use the full amount of Gatorade powder versus using 2/3 of a scoop to get less sugar in her body.
Does anyone have any information on that or alternatives?
Hi Kevin, When dealing with medical issues it always best to consult with a doctor. But the reason behind using less than a full scoop of the gatorade powder is you want a 4 to 1 ratio of carbs to protein. This is ratio that has been shown in studies to help protein synthesis after intense workouts the most.
Hey Bethany,
I’m wondering about alternatives to the whey powder (whey + my stomach = uuunnggh). What about nuts, like almonds or cashews? I’m vita-mixing, so the stress on the machine isn’t an issue. How about (in a 4:1 ratio) bananas, blueberries, and cashews?
Hi Heidi, There are other protein powder like hemp or pea protein if you are sensitive to the dairy proteins. The nuts would not be a good option after workouts as they are slow digesting, you want a faster digesting protein at this time. The fruit is fine. Bethany
is this a legitimate replacement for the P90X recovery drink? has it been tried and tested? I mean, i know that the Gold Standard whey is a favorite by many, but is adding in all the simple, sugar carbs from the Gatorade an appropriate mix? It just seems a little loose around the edges, if you know what i mean…
-a
Hi Andrew, You could always try both and see how they compare to one another. Bethany
so i’ve been using different Protein powders lately after my p90 exercises. I’ve been wondering if there is a better formula and found your Gatorade idea is interesting. I’d been previously using an entire scoop of powder with about 12oz of skim milk. Now im wondering if I should cut back my dosage to half a scoop of protein power and toss in a scoop or two of Gatorade power like you mention in the above posting.. Im a bit concerned that adding the Gatorade powder w/the all the sugar it contains may sabotage the positive benefits of the post workout drink. Do you recommend this 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein (even with the high sugar content), over just using a full scoop of the Gold Standard Protein w/Skim Milk?
Hi Andrew, After intense workouts is the only time you really want to get a simple sugar like dextrose into your system. Not to get overly technical, but you want to create a blood sugar spike, this helps transport the protein to your muscles, helping speed muscle recovery. Bethany
okay, thank you for all the info! Are you currently using the same recipe posted above (3 scoops Gatorade to 1/2 Scoop Protein powder), or have you adjusted the amounts at all? thanks again!
hey Bethony. One last question. Have you considered substituting orange or apple juice in place of the Gatorade powder? It seems that this may be a more healthy way to get the simple carb intake.
Hey Andrew, I’m not having a protein shake after my workouts right now, it’s dinner time right when I finish my workouts so I’m going with a whole food meal. I would not change ratio, but you can play with it and see what workos best for you. As for juice, grape juice is often recommended for the simple carb source. Bethany
Hi Beth,
Thanks for this post! I’m all about finding a cheaper alternative with similar benefits, so this recovery drink was right up my alley. I do have one question, is there any concern for the amount of sugar in this? There is the same amount of sugar as there is carbs in the Gatorade powder, so that means 42 grams of sugar vs only 26 in the original recovery drink. Would it be worth while to reduce the amount of Gatorade to save on the sugar, at the expense of having less carbs?
Thanks!
-Shawn
Hi Shawn, Yeah, I asked my boyfrined about this he said he used to about 2/3rds of a sccop of Gatorade powder to get the ratio closer. Bethany
Hi Beth,
I was looking for the net of alternative post workout drink after Insanity and found your site (which im so glad I did!). Would this be ok to do alternative for post workout drink? Because I have whey and would just need to add Gatorade powder.
Many thanks!
Hi Sean, Yes, this is fine for after Insanity workouts. Bethany
hello! can we get all benefits of recovery drink formula,by food after workout??
Hi Dritan, It depends, for the P90X workouts, I would suggest the recovery in drink as the workouts are so intense. For other workouts, whole foods that contain carnbs and protein should be just as effective. -Bethany
Hi Bethany,
I found your site when i was searching for insanity reviews. Since then I come here every day and always find something that interests me!! I realy like it.
About recovery drink, can you tell me if a juice of 2/3 oranges with 10gr whey is ok to an after workout? I have to train my brain because i always think i will get fat eating carbs. (sorry my english, i’m portuguese)
Thanks
Angela
Hi Angela, sounds good to me. As long as you eat the right carbs you won’t get fat, I know I had the same problem getting used to it. -Bethany