Drink it up

We've all seen guys in muscle shirts chugging Muscle Milk, we've seen girls in high pony tails pounding down the Gatorade, and we've seen bikers in the Tour de France catch water bottles and Powerades and down them while riding their bicycles. Powerade, Gatorade, Muscle Milk, and H2O are so mainstream that we often forget that there are other drinks that can enhance our sports performance and expedite post-workout recovery. While the sugar-spiked sports drinks and protein-packed smoothies and mixes top the charts and can be seen on any tennis court, basketball court, or even swimming pool, we need to know that there are plenty of other options. Fortunately, for those of you who don't dig the orange-flavored electrolytes or artificial-vanilla of protein powder, there are many healthy, tasty, and easy ways to get your post-workout fix for fluid. 
Two of these strategies are probably twelve feet away from you right now--yes, I'm talking about ingredients that you most likely keep well-stocked in the fridge (I am taking a bit of a gamble by assuming that you're in the kitchen right now, but I figure it's a risk I'm willing to take :P  ). Your new favorite after-sports drinks are (drum-roll please) Orange Juice and Chocolate Milk.
I know. You probably feel like you've just been transported back to the third grade and are trying to pick from the drink cartons in the cafeteria (2% milk, chocolate milk, OJ, or water ?). But perhaps this is one of those times when we actually were doing things right when we were little--instead of overcomplicating with different ions and electrolytes, over-purchasing with deals of "Buy 6 get 1 free", and over-consuming because we feel that we need to enhance our muscles every time before, during, and after we work out. 

A beautiful picture of OJ in case you've never seen one...

The actual amount of sports drink that you need to ingest differs completely between person to person and from day to day, but it's important that you know these two super-easy super-wonderful choices that you can add to your arsenal.
OJ
Good ol' OJ is more or less an American household staple. We use it to jump-start our days, ward off colds, and stay healthy. A small glass of orange juice after working out helps restock your body's naturally-needed sugars and gives a few healthy carbs. Also, in the winter-spring season, the little bit of Vitamin C boost after working out helps keep your body strong, healthy, and replenished. OJ can also help with muscle cramps, and replenishes your store of necessary components of sugar after heavy sweating. (Make sure to try to get 100% juice, fresh-squeezed juice, or even an orange).

Chocolate Milk
Maybe as little kids we all had it right! Athletic research has shown that chocolate milk--for an athlete who's just had a grueling workout--can be more effective in replenishing protein, carbs, sugars, and even water content than sports drinks, plain milk, or even water! Milk hydrates, and helps restore the moisture and sugars lost in sweat to our bodies after sustained workout. However, we smart about your chocolate milk. Choose 2%, 1%, or fat free milk and attempt to find as healthy a chocolate sauce as possible (avoid high fructose corn syrup as much as you can). Also, although it may not seem like it, chocolate milk is a "big gun" in the sports drink world; AKA don't drink it (if your intent is to help your body as much as possible) you're doing a light workout--drink up the milk if you do conditioning, long distance running, a long tennis match, etc.
Funny how the best things for our body are the things we always have around, isn't it? Perhaps those GOT MILK? adds were on to something...