For Goodness Shakes 3:1 Sports Recovery Shakes (12 pack)

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

This product is a recovery drink, designed to help muscles recover and repair after exertion. It is not designed for use DURING a ride.

Under "why You Need to Recover", the For Goodness Shakes website says:

"Muscle soreness and stiffness occur when you stress them (exercise) causing disruption to muscle fibres and inflamation. Lactic acid building up doesn't help matters either.

Muscles that are sore, tired and inflamed are in a weakened state and cannot perform at full power. Reducing the effects of training so that the body can return to its normal state will help you get back training at full power faster ... By consuming a carbohydrate protein based drink after training, subjects experienced reduced muscle damage and felt less muscle soreness after resistance training compared with a carbohydrate only drink. ... For Goodness Shakes provides the optimum blend of protein and carbohydrate to promote protein synthesis, reduce protein degradation which helps to stimulate muscle tissue repair and adaptation."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

The website goes on to say: "After exercise, the body is in an anabolic state: hungry to repair and rebuild muscles and make adaptive changes. ... To help the body repair and rebuild, you need protein. Whilst the body can produce some types of protein it cannot produce 9 'essential' amino acids (protein building blocks). After training the body needs at least 6g of these amino acids with at least 3g carbohydrate to produce the desired recovery effect post-exercise. A carbohydrate/protein based recovery drink made from milk contains a rich source of 'complete protein' - with all the 9 'essential' amino acids from whey and casein proteins. ... For Goodness Shakes contains 16g of protein and 46-59g of carbohydrate (depending on flavour) and is made from milk's natural whey and casein proteins."

Unlike energy products, where you can more easily gauge performance, it's hard to be sure if a recovery product is working or not. If you feel good when you go out trainming next time, is because of the drink, or for someother reason? However, it is possible to confirm that the texture of For Goodness Shakes is pleasant, the tatse is delicious, and there are no ill-effects on the stomach.

Recovery drinks are not cheap compared to carb-only energy drinks, but the price of For Goodness Shakes is about on a par with similar recovery drink products. Here's a rough comparison with two other brands:

For Goodness Shakes Recovery Drink - 1440g tub of powder costs £32 (enough for 20 drinks, with a 3:1 carb-to-protein mix).

SIS Rego Rapid Recovery - 1600g tub of powder costs £48 (enough for 30 drinks, with a 7:4 carb-to-protein mix)

Sponser Recovery Shake - 800g tub of powder costs £20 (enough for 20 drinks, although this product can be mixed with milk or water, so the carb-to-protein ratio varies)

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Taste and texture. Refreshing and non-sticky. Very easy to drink after a hard ride or training session.

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

It's hard to gauge just how much your muscles might be recovering after drinking For Goodness Shakes compared to similar drinks from other manufacturers. Sometimes it comes down to persoanl choice on aspects such as taste. On that front, this drink is delicious and would score a 9 or 10, but the price - while fair - isn't astounding, so it earns an overall score of 8.