Benefits of drinking milk after resistance training
More fat loss and greater muscle gain compared to soy or carbonated beverages is reported in this study from McMaster University Medical Centre in Hamilton, Ontario.
Of course, this is skim milk.
First the details
- 56 young men (18 to 30 years of age) were put through a rigorous, 5-day-per-week weightlifting program over 12-weeks.
- Following their workouts, they drank one of 3 beverages
- 2 cups of skim milk
- A soy beverage with equivalent protein and energy
- A carbohydrate beverage with an equivalent amount of energy (roughly the same as drinking 600 to 700 milliliters of a typical sports drink)
And the results.
- The milk-drinking group lost nearly twice as much fat — 2 pounds.
- The carbohydrate beverage group lost one pound of fat.
- Those drinking soy lost no fat.
The gain in muscle was also greater among the milk drinkers.
- 40% or 2.5 pounds more muscle mass than the soy beverage drinkers
- 63% or 3.3 pounds, more muscle mass than the carbohydrate beverage drinkers
- There was no difference between groups in strength.
The bottom line?
The researchers concluded, “Chronic postexercise consumption of milk promotes greater hypertrophy [enlargement] during the early stages of resistance training in novice weightlifters when compared with isoenergetic [equal energy containing] soy or carbohydrate consumption.”
8/12/07 10:48 JR
