Homemade post-workout shakes: 3 recipes with quantities

You finish training, glance at the clock and the panic sets in: apparently you have thirty minutes to get protein in or the session doesn't count. Relax, breathe and put the tub of powder away. The window isn't that narrow and you don't need supplements named after superheroes: the fridge at home can produce a perfectly good post-workout meal. Here are three recipes with quantities, so you don't have to guess at anything.

First, turn down the urgency

The idea that you must down your shake at a sprint, practically before you've put the dumbbells back, has generated far more anxiety than muscle. What really matters is spreading enough protein across the day, not timing the minutes after your last exercise. The post-workout moment is a convenient and valid option, but it isn't the only one that counts.

So if you get home and would rather shower before you eat, nothing terrible happens. Your muscle doesn't dissolve and your training isn't wiped. That said, on to the fun part.

Recipe 1: the classic shake (around 28 g of protein)

This one has the best effort-to-reward ratio, because it takes two minutes and tastes like childhood. You'll need 100 g of ricotta or fat-free quark, 1 banana, 250 ml of skimmed milk and 70 g of oats. Everything into the blender, a little ice if you want it cold and, if you have a sweet tooth, a drizzle of honey.

It makes a generous glass with about 28 grams of protein, carbohydrate to top up your stores and enough substance that you won't be hungry again half an hour later.

Recipe 2: the yoghurt bowl (around 30 g of protein)

For those who hate drinking their food. Put 250 g of natural Greek yoghurt in a bowl, add 40 g of oats, 30 g of chopped walnuts and a sliced banana. A handful of blueberries if you fancy it. It takes as long as opening the pot and delivers around 30 grams of protein, plus the good fats from the nuts.

Recipe 3: the savoury toast (around 20 g of protein)

Because sometimes you leave training wanting real food, not pudding. Two slices of wholemeal bread, two eggs scrambled with a handful of spinach and, to raise the game, half an avocado. You'll be around 20 grams of protein and you'll leave the kitchen feeling you've eaten a meal rather than a snack.

The best protein isn't the one in a tub, it's the one you're willing to eat every day without finding it a chore to prepare.

Victoris philosophy

And if you like the powders, that's fine too

Let's be clear: protein supplements aren't the enemy. They're convenient, portable and perfectly valid. What they aren't is essential, magical or superior to a yoghurt with oats. If they suit you because you eat out or you're always in a rush, use them without guilt. And if not, the fridge has been doing the same job for a lot less money since forever.

Pick one of the three recipes, buy the ingredients this week and you'll see how little it costs to recover well.