The Truth About Chocolate Milk for Muscle Recovery & How to Use It Right

After an intense workout, athletes often face a common challenge: muscle soreness. The aches can make returning to the gym and sticking to a training program tough. Chocolate milk for muscle recovery could help. Studies show that the delicious drink can help athletes recover faster from workouts, so they can get back to training and meet their fitness goals. Alongside chocolate milk, incorporating some of the best recovery tools for athletes—like foam rollers, massage guns, and compression gear—can further enhance recovery and performance. This article will explore the research behind chocolate milk for muscle recovery and provide helpful tips to recover faster and feel stronger.
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Pliability’s mobility app can be a valuable tool for achieving your muscle recovery goals and getting back to training sooner after stressful workouts. The app uses simple videos and targeted routines to help you recover from soreness and improve your mobility, so you can feel better and perform better.

Is Chocolate Milk Good for Muscle Recovery?

Whether you enjoy chocolate milk regularly, as a weekend treat, or as an occasional dose of childhood nostalgia, it probably wouldn’t be the first option you think of for post-workout recovery.

Unless you’re on TikTok, perhaps, according to many people on the social media platform, chocolate milk is not only delicious, but it offers benefits comparable to sports drinks after a workout. So is there any evidence to support this? Let’s take a look.

Rehydrating After a Workout Is Important

Water accounts for between 50% and 60% of our body weight. It has many important bodily functions, including helping to keep our body at the right temperature through sweating. We lose water naturally from our bodies when we:

• Sweat
• Breathe
• Go to the toilet 

So it’s important to stay hydrated to replenish the water we lose. When we don’t, we become dehydrated, which can strain our bodies. Signs and symptoms of dehydration can range from thirst and dizziness to

• Low blood pressure 
• Confusion

Sweat and Loss

Because of their exertion levels, athletes lose more water through sweating and respiration (when their breathing rate gets faster). If they’re training or competing in hot or humid environments, they will sweat even more. Dehydration impacts athletes’ performance and, like all of us, can affect their health. 

Athletes must rehydrate quickly during and after training or competition. Sports scientists and dietitians have researched the composition of different fluids to understand which ones rehydrate athletes most effectively.

The Beverage Hydration Index

The best hydrating drinks are those the body retains the most once they’ve been consumed. Scientists have determined how various options stack up by conducting studies where they give people different drinks in standardised conditions. 

To this end, they’ve developed the beverage hydration index, which measures to what degree different fluids hydrate a person compared to still water. According to this index, beverages with similar fluid retention to still water include:

• Sparkling water
• Sports drinks
• Cola
• Diet cola
• Tea
• Coffee
• Beer below 4% alcohol

Hydration Choices

That said, alcohol is best avoided when recovering from exercise. Beverages with superior fluid retention to still water include:

• Milk (both full-fat and skim)
• Soy milk
• Orange juice 
• Oral rehydration solutions

This body of research indicates that when rehydration after exercise, unflavoured milk (full fat, skim or soy) is better than sports drinks. 

But What About Chocolate Milk?

A small study looked at the effects of chocolate milk compared to plain milk on rehydration and exercise performance in futsal players (futsal is similar to soccer but played on a court indoors). The researchers found no difference in rehydration between the two. 

No other published research looks at how chocolate milk compares to regular milk for rehydration during or after exercise. But rehydration isn’t the only thing athletes look for in sports drinks.

Endurance Boost

In the same study, drinking chocolate milk after play (the recovery period) increased the time for the futsal players to become exhausted in further exercise (a shuttle run test) four hours later. A review of several clinical trials also showed this. 

The analysis found that chocolate milk lengthened the time to exhaustion during exercise compared to different placebos (such as water) or other drinks containing:

• Fat
• Protein
• Carbohydrates

Expert Opinion

“Chocolate milk can be one of the best options for post-workout recovery,” says Kimberley Wiemann, RDN, a registered dietitian based in Long Island, New York. “Not only does it provide a combination of protein, carbohydrates, hydration, and electrolytes, but it’s usually more affordable than many supplements on the market.” 

There’s some research to back this up. In a 2019 meta-analysis of 12 studies, researchers found that chocolate milk provides similar or superior post-workout recovery effects compared to other sports recovery drinks or a placebo. The study notes that more research is needed.

Chocolate Milk: The Unexpected Recovery Drink That Packs a Punch

While chocolate milk can be great after a grueling workout,  it isn’t a magical recovery aid. This workout includes: 

• A long run
• Ride
• Strength training class

It isn’t always necessary. It’s more on when to opt for chocolate milk vs. when it might not be necessary below.

So What’s the Verdict?

Evidence shows chocolate milk can rehydrate better than water or sports drinks after exercise. But there isn’t evidence to suggest it can rehydrate better than plain milk. Chocolate milk does appear to improve athletic endurance compared to plain milk. The best drink for athletes to consume to rehydrate is the one they’re most likely to drink. 

While many TikTok trends are not based on evidence, chocolate milk is a good option for recovery from exercise. And it will be cheaper than specialised sports nutrition products. You can buy different brands from the supermarket or make your own at home with a drinking chocolate powder.

Calorie Consideration

This doesn’t mean everyone should turn to chocolate milk when thirsty. Because of the added sugar, chocolate milk has more calories than plain milk and many other drinks. For most of us, chocolate milk may be best enjoyed as an occasional treat.

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When to Drink Chocolate Milk for Muscle Recovery

Heller generally recommends drinking chocolate milk within an hour of finishing your workout. That time frame allows your muscles to recover more efficiently and top off glycogen stores, but still gives your body enough time to cool down and feel ready to eat. 

"When you're working out at a high level, sometimes you really just don't feel like consuming much for a little bit until your body settles down," Samantha Heller, RD, a registered dietitian and senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Health, explains. Your post-workout snack timing is highly personal, so listen to your body.

Timing Matters

If your stomach can't handle a glass of chocolate milk so soon after a workout, it's perfectly fine to wait. Just try not to delay refueling too long after an incredibly intense endurance workout, as it "can lead to dehydration, fatigue, electrolyte imbalance, or poor muscle recovery or cramping," Wiemann says. 

Research points to the importance of a post-exercise meal within 30 to 60 minutes of working out, when muscle glycogen (energy) stores are at their lowest. "I generally recommend eating or drinking something in the first 20 minutes after a workout," said Mike Huff, former Duke University Sports Performance Program coordinator.

Refuel Window

"At that point, your muscle fibers have been depleted and they're ready to suck something up," he explains. And not taking steps to replenish your muscles right away can hurt your next performance, big time, says Karp. 

"Elite athletes may only have six to seven hours between workouts. It's much more important for them to make a full recovery, and strategies like these can maximize that," he explains.

Why Chocolate Milk?

Flavored drinks stimulate your appetite and allow you to drink more, replacing water lost as sweat from the workout. And you consume more if you like what you're drinking, found Stager. His athletes clamored for chocolate milk and shunned other high-carb options such as:

• Endurox R4
• Energy bars
• Energy gels

Post-workout food options don't have to end at the supermarket shelf either. A trainer, basketball player, and avid weightlifter, Huff loves creating his blend. His homemade high-carb, high-protein beverage is a mixture of:

• Bananas
• Peanut butter
• Carnation 
• Instant Breakfast (a powder rich in calcium, protein, and carbs)
• Milk

Carb Choices

Liquid and solid carbohydrates are equally good. Your body doesn't care, as long as it gets what it needs, says sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, R.D., author of The Cyclist's Food Guide. "You just have to learn which sports snacks settle best for your body, such as gels, gummy bears, dried figs, animal crackers, de-fizzed cola, whatever," she said. 

Stager continues to recommend milk to his athletes, and Karp, a runner and coach, has permanently switched from Gatorade to chocolate milk to recover from his daily runs. "It's easy, it's cheap, and it's got everything that I need after my workout," he notes. Suppose your body can't tolerate the lactose in chocolate milk.

DIY Recovery

Combining simple sugars, such as a traditional sports drink, and protein like whey, egg white, or soy protein powder will most likely give you the same benefits as drinking chocolate milk after workout sessions.

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What About Regular Milk and Plant-Based Milk?

Not that into chocolate milk? No problem. Regular white milk will still give you a solid protein-to-carb ratio after exercise. The chocolate simply packs a bigger bunch in the carb department. But if plain ol’ milk is your preference, go for it and get any additional carbs from a healthy snack, such as:

• A banana 
• Oatmeal

What are the Best Dairy-Free Options?

If you’re lactose intolerant, vegan, or don’t drink dairy milk for another reason, chocolate soy milk is an available option, too. “Soy milk contains about 7 grams of protein per 1 cup serving, which is just slightly less than cow’s milk,” she says, although exact amounts can vary by brand and whether you pick a sweetened or unsweetened option. 

“Soy milk alone only contains about 4 grams of carbohydrate, which may not be enough to replenish energy stores after a high-intensity workout. With the addition of chocolate, it’s more likely to meet carbohydrate needs.”

Milk Alternatives

Pea protein milk is another option. It has roughly the same amount of protein as soy milk, but fewer carbohydrates, so you’d want to add either chocolate or a healthy, carb-rich snack to refuel after a challenging workout. While almond and oat milk are okay to drink, they don’t have enough protein to make them suitable for post-exercise muscle repair. 

If these are your preferred beverages, pair them with a protein-rich snack, such as half of a peanut butter sandwich. And of course, you can veer away from milk options altogether and opt for other post-workout snacks and drinks after an intense workout if you’re not a fan.

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